The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-01-23

.UNINOCULATED AND INoCULATED PLANT.
The aim should be to get the soil fine
ly pulverized, thoroughly compacted
and comparatively free from weeds.
The surface two or three inches should
be fine and loose, and below this it
should be sufficiently firm to favor the
capillary movement of water, yet por-
GUS enough to permit good drainage
and free circulation of air through the
soil Fall blowing Is desirable In Sec
lions where early summer seeding is
practiced. If fall plowed the land
should be thoroughly disked as soon as
1t win work up well in the spring and
should then be narrowed until seeding
time at intervals sufficiently frequent
to keep down the weeds and to make
perfect seed bed. Where land is plowed
In the spring for alfalfa at least four
to six weeks should intervene between
the time of blowing and seeding, dur
ing which time the land should be har-
r0wed every ten or twelve days to keep
down the weeds and to conserve the
moisture. Where the soil is inclined to
be too loose or when there are any
clods the roller pulverizer is an excel
lent tool to use. When alfalfa is to
follow winter wheat or other small
grain crops a thorough disking, fol
lowed by frequent borrowings, will Of
ten be all that may be required, pro-
vided the land is worked shortly after
the grain is removed. When blowing
in this case Is necessary the prepara-
ton Of the seed bed will often be facili-
tated by disking ahead Of the pillow and
by following the plow at once with q
pulverizer and harrow. On land that
has been In an early maturing cult
waited crop, such as potatoes, peas,
sweet corn or soy beans, no other prep
aration will be needed than the neces-
sary borrowings.
Nitrogen fixing bacteria should be
provided, unless the soil is known to be
supplied naturally with these germs.
incubation may best be accomplished
by scattering over the area to be seeded
surface soil taken to the depth of four
or five inches from another field upon
which the crop has been previously
successfully grown. The soil should be
broadcasted, at the rate of from $50 to
500 pounds per acre, and narrowed in
Immediately. The spreading should
take place on cloudy day or late In
the afternoon, as the suns rays are
destructive to the germs. Soil from the
roots Of sweet clover plants also will
inoculate alfalfa. Care should be tax
en- to avoid introducing noxious weeds
or fungous diseases. The practice Of
sowing small quantity of alfalfa with
the regular seeding of clover or other
hay crops each year for few years be-
fore 1t Is intended to devote the land to
alfalfa has In some cases apparently in
troduced sufficient bacteria for inOcu-
lating the succeeding crop of alfalfa.
Another method which may be used is
that of inoculating seed with an arti-
6cial culture, a limited quantity of
which can be procured from the United
States department of agriculture, free
Of charge. Full instructions for use
accompany each bottle Of culture. This
culture is produced also for distribu-
ton by the laboratories of several of
the state agricultural experiment sta
tons. The combined use of the soil
and the artificial culture gives added