Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-04-18

out adding something in the shape q
fertilizer, either barnyard manure O
commercial fertilizer, and these sam
things ought to- be, and are, true OF q
Ifalfa, although In some degree certai
grasses, like timothy and red top, tina
feed upon the surface soil. require NOR
fertilizer than the deep rooted plants.
It costs no moro to re-seed alfalfa thal
Il does red clover and every seeding ai
ter the first is bound to be better, ant
to contain larger patches than the on
preceding, until Il occupies the entir'
surface. Sometimes IL takes quito {
series of years for alfalfa to ,becom'
thoroughly established.
This is talked about very fervently BY
some people az being inoculstion Of tht
soil. Now, artificial incubation Of th'
soil is not satisfactory. Iquestion II II
will even pay anyone to bother with Il
whether using ground upon which alfal
70 has been grown, or using the artificial
inoculation that 10 manufactured. II Ii
true, however, that the soH becomes ha
bituated-or rather the plant becomes
habituated to the soil. II this be inocu'
lation, so be It. apprehend that were
we to move to Mexico We would have to
become habituated to the custom and
the climate before We could thrive to
any great extent, and this seems to be
true to plants In new territory.
Alfalfa is plant of recent experiment.
alton in Maine, and In the east. It has,
however, become established In certain
dairy sections In New York and Connec-
ticut. There are places In Massachu-
setts where there are large and success
ful fields. 1t grows as far north ss the
Canadian line, although at the present
time It has not been long enough estab-
lished to see what 1t can do. There is
no question but that 1t can thrive in
very many places where 1t Is now
thought II could not, II 1t is sown on
sufficiently well drained soil; and II the
soil 10 not naturally we'll drained In
ridges that easily takes care OF the super.
fuous moisture, 1t is useless, and worse
than useless, to undertake to raise alfal.
fs.
On fat field that Is not we'll drained,
the surface may be dry and yet, eight
inches below the surface the ground be
sopping wet. Alfalfa roots extend into
this water long way. The water
standing around them causes the plant
to turn yellow and finally to die.
However, on dry land, even II not very
fertile, considerable crops Of alfalfa may
be grown. This applies to the plains
land and alfalfa does not suffer from
drought as ordinary crops on plains land
do, owing to the fact that the root tap is
SO long. My experience on plains land
is limited. have, however, seen sever
al fields that were very successful on
this kind of land, but In every instance
fertility was added to the surface and, II
alfalfa stands for series of years and is
to produce abundant crops, 1t IL abso-
lutely necessary that fertility be added.
HARvEsTIN9
Il 10 one of the unfortunate things OF
the east that but small portion OF the
farmers harvest hay as soon as they
ought.
It Is imperative, in the case of alfalfa,
that 1t be cut before 1t comes into gen.
eral bloom. One good farmer with
whom am acquainted has rule that, II
he can step into his field of alfalfa and
can count twenty-four purple blossoms
within radius of . rod, he Immediately
cuts his alfalfa.
The method of curing alfalfa Is very
similar to that Of curing red clover. 1t
should be moved Immediately after din
ner and the next morning, before ten
O'Clock, be raked and punched into small
lunches while still green, taking pains
not to jam the punches down. Il should
be allowed to stand in this way until the
next morning, when forkful should be
taken fro m the top and shaken lightly
upon new spot Of ground. Then an
other forkful should be taken from the
bunch and put on top of this, until the
entire bunch has been taken up, leaving
it continually In the heap. This keeps
the leaves In the green state until they
have thoroughly exhausted the juices OF
the stalk and when this 10 done the al.
falfa IL opened slightly to the air and put
in the barn. Usually two days In the
punches is necessary, X the weather IL
good. II the weather is bad longer
time is required. 81
Alfalfa hay made in this way is very
acceptable to any kind of stock-horses,
sheep, COWS and even hogs. Hens, also.
are very fond of the leaves, such portion
of them as they can eat; and there is
small excuse for any farm in the state OF
Maine not having at least small patch
of alfalfa upon 1t. This article 10 not to
encourage the farmer to plant plots larg-
er than one-quarter of an acre until he
understands thoroughly what is requir-
ed and knows the conditions under
which alfalfa is grown and has made up
his mind for himself whether 1t 10 . crop
he should grow.
I wish, however, that hundreds of
farmers would try small plot II they
have ground that has previously been
we'll titled and is free from ground roots
and weeds. If they have not, hope no
farmer will undertake 1t.
The letters which follow have been re-
ceived from growers of alfalfa In this
state:
WEST BATH. Me Feb. %, 1915.
"Our way of raising alfalfa is to SOW q
little with the other grass seed, when
seeding down, until We get the soil In
OCui8t6O, tuou oOW htS0ou Poooos w 49,
acre In the spring on q good seed bed
with grain az cover CROP, You should
he able to cut two or three crops Q year
for an indefinite period, growing better
each year, II it 10 top dressed every year
and never cut later than September 10
and the soil we'll drained.
1--WE get good second crop when It ID
too dry for anything else to grow and
third crop II the first is cut early enough
and the weather 10 good. We think II Is
q very good crop to raise, II II 70 not
necessary to keep all of your land In .
short rotation.
"There is no reason why any one can
not raise alfalfa, II they can get their
land inoculated. That 10 the hardest
part. We have not found any quick, easy
way to do this and We have no success
without incubation; but, II We can get q
few plants to grow the first time, We get
more the next time We seed down. 1t
takes number Of yearsto get field in.
oculated In this way. We have tried
coil from an old alfalfa field, but without
much success, although 1t did some
good.
HENRY ROSE d Sons"
WATERvILLE, Me-, Feb. 26, 1915. :
'Your inquiry about my experience
with alfalfa at hand,- would mot care