Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-02-20
Herald Post-B 10
cottonwood Farm,
Mekinock, N. D.,
Fehruarv 90. 1918.

Cottonwood Farm,
Mekinock, N. d.. =.
February 90, 1918.
To the Editor Of The Herald: -,
Please print what you think VIII
do some good Of the Following letter
to my fellow farmers.
"A word in time will prevent dtsap-
pointment later on.
! In thinking over my past expert
ence with Alfalfa I thought !
write a few words, and 1t may do some
good. II we know OF something that
Is good for ourselves Me should share.
it with U fellow men. don't pre-
tend to know much for I = only
what some men call an uneducated
hayseed. What little I do know I've
picked up through the School Of Elk
perience and Observation. Alfalfa Is
going to be U greatest OF forage
crops and can be grown successfully
and surer than clover II the right
kind Of seed is chosen and proper
work DONE. I intend to seed down
acres annually for three or four years
for hay-and it is a sure cure for
most Of our weeds except mustard.
There is nothing, that will build up
our soil like Alfalfa and " is the
best subsoiler known to
We have a se%ven-acre lot fenced for
hogs and calves, two acres In trees
and the balance Alfalfa. A year ago
we put in a concrete we'll and found
from two summers growth, roots
seven feet long. I wrote of this to the
man / bought the seed from. b. Byron
Bobb, grower Of the genuine Grim
seed, whose address is Haynes, N. D.,
and who wins the blue ribbon. every
time. He told me he has seen roots
twenty nine feet long. Just imagine
our soil full of roots loosened up to
such a great depth n all the rain
that falls during the summer Will
soak in and benefit our crops in the
growing season. Winter Of 1918 was
q hard one on Clover n Alfalfa. l
was told by a travelling machine man
that ours was the only Alfalfa he had
seen for many miles Of country. In
1917 we cut our Alfalfa twice and on
we'll drained low land three good
crops. Our land was left entirely
we were short Of hay. Last spring
there were many that thought our
Alfalfa was frozen out the same as
the rest, and came to see and were
convinced that Alfalfa cdn. be grown
successfully in the most yer win
ter, providing o have the genuine
Grim seed and do honest work in
preparing the soil. I paid 80 cents
per bushel for my first, now it sells
for 60 cents, but going up. Not a
plant of u Alfalfa froze out. except
a round patch burned off by the gen.
uine greasy black a1kali.
We sing of the glorious Red, White
and Blue, n well we may, for there
is not a country on1the globe like
ours, but some Of the North Dakota
farmers have to work in the grey,
~vrI{ ~, ~n@ hloo1, o1Io1i r nev~ oSSnovi.
mental stations are doing a lot OF
good work for us, but the problem of
alkali in the soil against vegetation
is never touched on. and so far is a
sealed book to the successful work.
ing of that kind of land. First i'm
quiry I sent to a botanist in 1881, but
got no information. Second and the
last time I will bother any professor
about it. was ten years ago, and he
than he did. When I look over the
past since 1880 it has been plenty of
uphill work with that kind of land.
In the early years u good low land
would drown out and alkali land
would burn out. Nc danger Of the
farmer now, for we have made over
! 1000 rods Of drains in our 360-acre
feet across and that land will now .
produce with any in the state. In re-
gard to the different kind Of alkali.
that is a sticker but I am glad to say
: that with patience and perseverance
some fof that kind of land al be re-,
claimed and can become the best of
land. We have a two-acre lot Of
land where the grain used to burn off
in the early SOS, in patches, but now
and will produce grain Of any kind
and fine vegetables. and natures
earlier by at least 10 days, which is
a great blessing some years. Our
average yield of wheat last year was
Is 1-2 bushels per acre; pretty fair
for spotted land but the two-acre plot
that had intensive cultivation ave us
a yield Of SIS bushels per acre. which
proves there is hope for lots of the
poor land in the valley. I've farmed
for 80 years but only know a frac-
ton of what I would like to know, for
in agriculture there is q broad field
for study. I've been on the watch
for years in looking over different
kinds Of farm papers for prevention
OF the loose smut or bunt which cuts
down Dur yield of grain annually by
millions Of bushels in the world.
Some years 6 I experimental with
a small plot in picking out all smutty
heads before they came in contamina-
ton with other adjoining plants. I
had walks through the plot and as
soon as a head was opened enough. to
show the diseased condition I pulled
the plant. The following year that
grain was 'sowed on clean land and
proved beyond a doubt that proven
ton of hunt can be successfully done
to at least IS per. cent, If the whole
neighborhood will do likewise, for it
will spread, by the threshing machine
and spores will be carried by the
wind.
Charles O.. Olson.
C~Ottonw0od Farm