The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1918-02-01
Seed Of High terminating Power
Should Be Plantel-Lime
Sour Soil
INNOCUlATION MADE EASY
Spring Sowing Shsu'l be Done
Hay lis, Fall BY Aug. Is
Summer Following
prepared Especially for this News.
paper by the Editors Of NATION
AL ALFALFA JOJRNAL.)

AL ALI Air. n wv Lei
With the seed bed In proper con-
dition the farmer is ready to proceed
with his seeding. Just a word first
as to the seed itself. The %injunc-
ton. plant only northern grown
seed" will bear repeating right
here. Let those words sink in
and heed them. Buy only SEED OF
known high termination. BE sure
the seed has been tested. Seed
hat shows 90 per cen Or better is
the only kind to SOW.
There are different ways OF SOW
ing the seed. Some use special
alfalfa and clover seeding machin-
cry, The ordinary grain drills with
special grass attachments are much
used. And then there is the good,
old-fashioned method Of broadcast
ing. Here again each man must
make his choice put your seed in
by the method that is handicst for
you.
Spring Seeding, May I 10 ~.
Now that important word.
Caution" again. Look out every
minute for the depth at which you
1ti In ~ ~ - tiic
proper depth-don't go any deeper,
under any circumstances. than 1ia
inches. Best results are reported
from seeding Is pounds to the acre.
where no nurse crop is used. The
seed should be covered at once by
a light narrowing.
For spring seeding the best time
is around May l to IS, for the
markham fit11nc-fh IF Yo r ~ &C
Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska
and Wisconsin. Seed planted then
without a nurse crop and kept clean
will yield a moderate crop Of alfalfa
hay by September 1. and the plants
will get sufficient growth between
hat date and the freeze-up to be
able to withstand the winter. If
1t is desired to SOW a nurse crop,
about Is pounds of alfalfa and three
pecks of oats or barley should be
sown to the acre. A yield Of grain
Of n considerable value cannot
be expected.
Sometimes no crop IL sown. but
for four months the soil is fire.
Quently cultivated in order to keep
down the weeds and conserve mois-
ture. This amounts to sulnme fall
lowing. and is very successfully done
in sections where the land is foul.
The land is plowed when the weeds
are several inches high and then
| persistently narrowed until August.
One reason for fall sowing is that
It enables the farmer to gather n
full crop from the land before
planting to alfalfa. Flowing for
fall sowing should be done in July
as soon as the crop Is off the ground.
The seed should be put In not later
than the middle Of August. II as
much as five or six weeks will
elapse between blowing and seeding
time the furrow may be about six
inches deep.
How To Inoculate.
As with spring blowing, the near
er the blowing time to the seeding
time the shallower the blowing
should be. As with spring sowing.
the soil should be we'll conditioned.
1t should be smooth and firm and
mellow and pulverized to a depth
of an inch. Methods Of sowing are
identical with those for spring.
With fall rains the plant gets a
good start before freezing-up time,
and the next summer is ready to
produce it's two or three crops
the So NE as the spring planted sect
produces the second season. In no
Ease should fall sown plants be cut
the first year.
Pull up a healthy alfalfa plant and
you will find "~grape-liae' looking
punches or clusters on the roots.
Inside OF each of these grapes
ere millions OF bacteria. They are
necessary to the life of alfalfa.
They gather the nitrogen from the
air and aid the plant in assinilating
that nitrogen into its tissues. Gen
orally the.soil does not contain these
bacteria, sc they, as well as the seed,
have to be planted. This process
Is what Is called INCUBATION.
It is absolutely necessary for sue
cassful alfalfa raising.
To inoculate 0 can gather soil
from a successful alfalfa or sweet
clover field and mix 1t with the
soil OF the proposed alfalfa field.
This is the "soil method The work
must be done on a cloudy day. Be
tween 400 and 500 pounds to the
acre are required. A better way
Is the pure culture" method. From
the government or from a manufac-
turer secure the culture-each can
contains an amount for a given
number OF acres-pour this on the
seed. mix thoroughly and sow the
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