The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1916-09-07

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Advantage Of
seized r arn1ing
Alfalfa in diversified farm
ing is very important thing
to the farmers of the United
States. This country would be-
a great deal better if diversified
farming was practiced more
than it has been, and / believe
the farmers will have to pract-I
ice it more than it has BEEN
and ] believe the farmers will
have to practice it more in
order to maintain the fertility
of the soil.
Alfalfa in diversified farming;
is being practiced more and
more every year. The word
diversified means the act Of
having or raising different
kinds of grains, and different
stock. A farmer practicing
diversified farming on farm
of three hundred and twenty
acres, should not have more
than 80 acres Of cash crops. BY
cash crops we. mean the act Of
raising either wheat, flax, oats
potatoes, barley and grass
seeds. He should also have
80 acres Of pastures including
Bronze grass, native grass
western rye grass or red top
and timothy; 80 acres for raiss
ing hay crop such as timothys
clover, sweet clover, red top
and alfalfa which is one Of the
oldest forage crops known, and
the remaining 80 acres should
be kept for cultivated crops
such as root crops, corn, kaffir'
corn and potatoes.
Hay is said to be the most
important crop for enriching
| the soil, especially when it is
one Of the legumes; the rails
ing of corn means summer falI
lowing in this country, and
where alfalfa is being grown il
tends to bring more settlers in
to the country.
Alfalfa is proven to be worth
more per acre than thirty bus.
hel of wheat to an acre.
This is a statement that tBE'
majority of the farmers of US.
do not believe, but as those
things are being taught in our
schools it means that the COM.
ing generation will practice
diversified farming more cor
rectly than our forefathers. BY
raising and selling wheat it
means the same as selling the
fertility from the soil; on the
other hand by raising alfalfa it
brings fertility to the soil.
Alfalfa is worth more per ton
in nourishment than any other
kind of hay because it is a
known fact that two-thirds of
the nourishment in alfalfa is
found in the leaves, and it is
one Of the greatest feeds for
both horse and cattle.
The alfalfa root is said to
penetrate into the soil to great
depth, and will even go through
hard pan subsoil. This proves
that by raising alfalfa the soil
.is flied with humus, and by
having plenty Of humus in the
soil moisture is preserved.
Rotation of crops in agricul-
ture and. horticulture is the
system or practice Of growing
a recurring series of different
annual crops upon the same
piece Of land. The system is
based on the fact that different
crops absorb different quanti
ties Of the various inorganic
constituents or elements of
the soil. thus i1npoverishif1g it
for crops Of the same kinds, but
leaving it unimpaired, or even
improved, for crops feeding
upon other elemental parts.
Different soils and climate re-
2quire different schemes of rota-
tion, but it il tolerably uni
versal rule that seed crops
should alternate with pulse,
roots, hay crops and idle land.
I believe q rotation Of crops for
North Dakota should be as fol-