Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-08-11
Practical Suggestions
as to Ho,u to Gro,O
Alfalfa in Io,ua

The time for the farmer to think Of
fall seeding of alfalfa is here again
Each August witnesses larger acre
age of this valuable hay seeded in
Iowa. In choosing piece Of ground
to seed alfalfa the following points
should be considered: the texture,
drainage and fertility of soil, the need
of incubation and condition of soil in
reference to acidity.
The soil should be deep, open, and
easily worked. It. is absolutely essen:
tial that the ground be well drained
either naturally or by the use Of tile.
To secure the best results, piece Of
ground that Is reasonably fertile
should be chosen. Many very good
stands Of alfalfa have been secured
without incubation. This. however, is
more than likely due to the fact that
the soil already contained bacteria
Where the ground or seed is not in
oculated, it often results in a COM
plete failure to secure a stand.
In we'll drained soils there is not
usually the trouble found with acid
soils. Before seeding, however, a sam
The litmus test is most common and is
very easy to conduct A handful Of
soil taken a few inches beneath the
surface is wet thoroughly and pressed
into a ball. This is cut into halves and
piece of blue litmus paper placed
between the halves which are pressed
together again. This is left stand fif-
teen minutes, then removed and exam
med. If the blue litmus has changed
to red color, the soil is acid and in
need Of lime.
After the piece Of ground has been
chosen, the preparation of seed bed,
the lining and manuring Of soil, the
incubation of soil or Seed the time
and method of seeding and the kind Of
seed must be considered The ground
may either be summer followed, or be
used for some crop such as winter
wheat, red clover, or oats cut for hay
and removed early. In either case the
ground should be first plowed. and then
disced and narrowed thoroughly. Fol-
lowing this the ground should be
disced or narrowed thoroughly every
ten days or two weeks or at least after
every rain until seeded. the purpose
Il
to keep sufficient moisture in the
ground to insure termination of seed
The rolling Of ground previous to
seeding also tends to make the seed
bed more firm
To secure the best results, especial
ly in soils of only medium fertility
the application Of good manure. ct the
rate of from eight to twelve tons per
acre is recommended. The lime should
be applied after blowing and disced in
thoroughly.
The incubation may be done in two
ways, either by inoculatng the soil or
the seed. If there is an alfalfa field
or sweet clover patch near. which
has good vigorous plants, and has an
abundance Of tubercules on the roots,
soil may be secured and spread as
uniformly as possible over the field at
the rate of 800 pounds or more per
acre. This should be applied in the
evening and Immediately narrowed in
to prevent the germs being killed by
the sun.
A great deal of work has been done
in developing pure bacterial culture
for inoculatfng alfalfa seed. Many OF
success and should be used on the seed
if soil containing bacteria is not avail
able. "a
The ground should be seeded about
the middle of August and when pos
sible just before rain. The seed
should be drilled in from one half to
one and one-h half inches deep It is
recommended that the field be gone
over twice. once each way, seeding halt
the seed each time where a uniform
stand is desired Some authorities
vary as to the amount Of seed to SOW
per acre, but twenty pounds is con-
sidered the safest amount.
The common American type or va
riety Of seed is recommended for Iowa
Altho not quite SO hardy as some va
rieties such as the Grimm, it is
cheaper in price and has given as good
results Care should be taken to make
sure the kind of seed desired is Sc
cured.