The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-03-26
FARM BUREAU NOTES.
ALFALFA


Clover saying it was the best crop 10
proceed Alfalfa. 1t sent roots deeply
into the soil, made 1t more porouS so
that it would have larger water ca
pacity, inoculated the soil with alfal-
ia bacteria left an increased amount
OF plant food and the soil was left in
such condition that the alfalfa roots
would make terrific growth the first
year.
There are three varieties of alfalfa
which are we'll adapted to Mellette
county. They are Grimm. Cossack
and the common Dakota. 1t is hard
to say which is the best to plant as
they are all good. They are all
drouth resistant and resistant to ex-
treme cold. The main requisite to
successful alfalfa growing are the pro
per preparation of the seed bed, good
seed and incubation.
The seed bed should be well work
ed. Spring breaking should be about
five inches deep. Then double disc
twice SO that the soil is we'll worked
and stirred. Then harrow till the
soil is in fairly fine condition. On
such work it would be advisable to
use a corrugated roller If one can be
had. The latter is an invaluable
piece Of machinery in the preparation
of any seed bed
Inoculation is the next item Of i'm.
portance. There are three ways of
inocuIating soil for alfalfa. The first
and best is the growing of sweet clov-
er on the piece on which alfalfa is to
follow. In this way your soil will be
inoculated naturally. This is the
best way. The next best way is to GO
to an alfalfa field which has been
growing alfalfa successfully for sew
eral years, dig down around the nod
uled roots and secure quart Of dirt
for each ten pounds Of seed you ex-
pect to plant. This dirt should be re
moved from the sun, taken In the
shade, sifted and allowed to dry.
WhJH dry sack and put it in the dark
till ready for use. The day you ex.
pect to plant your seed, take half a
gallon of hot water and small can Of
LePages glue mix thorougly and
sprinkle on your seed which has been
spread thinly on the floor. Just use
enough of the mixture SO your seed
will be very damp but not wet.
Then sprinkle or sift your inoculated
dirt on the dampened seed till no
more will adhere to the seed, Stir
thoroughly. Your seed will be dry
enough to plant in half hour.
The third way to inoculate seed Is
to buy the commercial inoculant from
any seed house and merely follow di-
rections on the bottle. Using the lat
ter costs about Is cents per acre.
1t is best to plant alfalfa in the
spring together with some nurse cror,
preferably oats. The rate of seeding
10 OISilU w UCiI pOuIluS pei acre UTOdU-
cast. If sowed in rows with a drill
with the intention to cultivate, two
to five pounds is sufficient. Owing to
the fact that Cossack alfalfa has
tremendous spread one to two pounds
Is sufficient,
Alfalfa should yield about one ton
per acre on the average in Mellette
county, that is, on the high ground.
Along the creek bottoms the Weld
should be around two tons. The state
experiment farm at Cottonwood gives
the average yield as 24OO pounds per
acre.
Alfalfa is one Of the greatest feeds
known and should be on every farm
in Melette county as it Is one Of the
crops that is very adaptable TO our
conditions. For seed production our
climatic conditions are ideal and west
ern South Dakota is rapidly becoming
the alfalfa seed garden of the United
States. A good crop of seed will net
a hundred dollars per acre.