The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1915-05-01
Ten Year Old Alfalfa Still Producing

Mr.. G. F. Marsh, County Agent,
who has been investigating the alfalfa
fields in the northern part of the
county the past week, reports that on
the farm of Mr.. John Bair, Vinegar
Hill, he found a field of four acres
that had been producing from three
to four tons per acre for the past ten
years. Mr. Bair told him that it was
the best milk producing feed he had
ever had and that he could work his
horses on the pillow all day without
grain when feeding alfalfa. Mr.. Cecil
Smeltzer of the same place, has a
small piece that has given very heavy
yields for number of years. Charles
Moore of Colora. has nine acres of
mixed timothy and alfalfa that is
giving good returns.
Samuel Tyson, of Rising Sun, has a
nine acre field that for the past five
years has averaged from four to four
and half tons each year. Some far
mers laugh at the theory of inocula-
ton and call it all fairy tales, but the
truth of the theory is shown very
clearly on one side of the field In
order to test this question, Mr.. Tyson
left strip without inoculating the
seed for the first two years he said
that there was very little difference
as the land was well MANFRED and the
alfalfa lived on the nitrogen in the
manure and what was already in the
soil, but after this was used up the
alfalfa on the inoculated land gradu-
ally began to fail, while now there is
almost no alfalfa on the strip while
there is a good stand on the rest of
the field.
This will explain why so many of
the alfalfa fields iniCecil county have
died out after the first or second year
lack of incubation.
Mr.. Tyson sowed Is acres last fall,
but owing to a combination of late
seeding and dry fall the root growth
was very short and the greater part
of it was heaved out during the whit
er. This did not discourage him in
the least as when Mr.. Marsh called
he was busy drilling alfalfa on it
again.
In order to show the value of al
falfa as soil renovater, Mr.. Marsh
said that Mr.. Thos. Reynolds, Rising
Sun, grew 100 bushels of corn to the
acre last season on four acres of al
falfa sod. He had seven acres of one
ySol Olu d.IdllSl IildI ne ulu NOT Inlnk
was thick enough to leave so started |
to pillow it. When he had it about half |
done the warm weather came and it |
made such rapid growth that he was
sorry that he had started blowing it,
as he now thinks that it would have
paid better than any other part of his
farm. AS he has had alfalfa for sew
eral years he will miss it greatly and |
does not know what he will do for |
winter feed for the cows. This ex-
perience shows the wisdom of getting
another field sown to alfalfa before |
blowing up the alfalfa one now has.
He will sow four acres this fall, fol- |
lowing potatoes and also one acre this
spring with oats as an experiment.
Mr.. w. X. Bird, Rising Sun, will
also sow four acres this fall and one
acre this spring as an experiment, and |
also to provide inoculated soil for the |
fall seeding.
He told Mr.. Marsh that he went Wis
iting and that his horse had two feeds |
of alfalfa while away. and that when
he brought hi mhome that he threw
all his hay, which was good mixed
timothy and red clover, out of his
manager. and would not eat it.