Omaha daily bee., 1916-07-23
;SANDHILL FARMS ....
J NO LONGER JOKES
Work of Valentine Experiment
Station Shows What May
Be Accomplished.
GOOD RESULTS ATTAINED

N~sF Nm - hl.i " wv
Work done at the Valentine agricul-
tural experiment station of the state
has shown that alfalfa can be grown
in most sections of the sandhills
country. and the University OF Ne
braska in bulletin, just issued from
this station, recommends that where
possible it should be made to take the
place of intertilled forage crops, be-
cause it would do away with the dan
ger Of soil blowing.
The bulletin points out that alfalfa
is here of more value than any other
forage crop that can be grown. En-
periments have shown that for the
sandhill section of the country alfalfa
exceeds all clovers, including sweet
clover, in its adaptability to condi-
tions and that it is of more value than
any of them and costs less to seed.
Sweet clover has been found more
adaptable to hardpan lands than to
this sandhill land, though for time,
many were. inclined to believe that
sweet clover could be made to do we'll
in the sand.
Sandhills Need Humus.
The bulletin points out that the dry
valley bottoms and the better portions
OF dune sand lands are the principal
farming lands of the sandhills country.
Under cultivation this land needs
above everything else, preservation Of
humus, or organic matter, to enable it
tn and the
blowing of soil No method of i'm
proving the range land in the sand
hills country by the introduction of
new grasses has been discovered, but
the native herbage is said totnnprove
it rapidly tits not overgrazed, and
il fires are kept from running over it.
Generally speaking. the pasturage on
the ranges of the sandhills region is
of good character
Continuing further in the summary
the bulletin gives of crop and grass
conditions in the sandhills, it says:
"Alsikc and reda5clover, :, especially
the former, are we'll adapted to wet
valley meadow conditions, and when
sown in with the native, grasses are
valuable for increasing the protein
element in native hay.
: Some Crops Not Good.
SLENDER wheat, bronze, and western
wheat grasses are the only grasses
THAT succeeded in making stands I'm
der dry soil conditions On cultivated
ground at the substatiors None'No
them made much hay, and it is. qres-
tionable if.it is profitable to attempt
grass growing on any but .Wetaval.
ley bottoms under the prevailing ton4
ditions of climate.
Sudan grass has yielded as high as
l,l67 pounds of hay on light sandy
soil when sown in rows Il inches
apart. Sown broadcast, it yielded
l,649 pounds per acre. 1t is much rel.
ished by stock.
None of the other varieties Of
grain sorghums tested at the substa.
ton equaled the upright, headed
dwarf milo in yield. The yield
amounted to liz bushels per acre or
light soil in 1918. This was the, high
est recorded yield of three years in
vestigation. -',.,,.. ,&, F5l&F,
"Feterita is a good yielding grair
sorghum and stands drouth well, but
has not fully natured on the higher
upland soils. As forage crop it il
not relished by stock.
Corn Must Be Acclimated.. .,... 81.
Corn yielded 1876 bushels per acrt
under conditions similar to those un'
der which milo gave liz bushels. Al
the substation the variety known u
Minnesota Number IS, gave heaviest
Weld Corn in the sandhills hal
shown a very decided local character
Imported corn rarely does well unit
! acclimated. ,a.
I "Of the so-called small grains
<grown under conditions similar tt
grain sorghums and corn, the heavies
Yields were obtained from winter rye
ll.8 bushels; emmer spelts, ll.sl
bushels; and winter wheat, l1.3O
Along with the return given by thu
milo maise, this shows remarkable
uniformity of yield in bushels per acre
All of these yields are strictly com
parable with that of corn-l3.o'
bushels.
Potatoes Do Very Well.
THE Irish cobbler potato has out
Welded all other potatoes in tests GOV
ering three years The best depth II
olant in light sandy soil is from fou
to five inches. The best yields wer
obtained with rows spaced forty-tw'
inches apart, and twenty-four inche
in the row. The most profitable siz
Of sets was medium quartered.