Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-27
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
BY DR. ANDREW M. SOULE

| die. This will not be due to any
material defect in the land, but on
account of the inability Of the plants
| to gather sufficient amount of nj
trogen out of the air to meet their
requirements.
If one examines the roots Of an
alfalfa plant early in the growing
season one will find that they are
covered with little white knots. In
some respects they resemble warts
such as develop On the human hand.
Den might consider them as evidences
of diseased condition of the alfal-
ia root. On the other hand, they
contain bacteria which have the
power of assimilating nitrogen out
of the air. The larger the number
of these little knots or eXcrescences
on the roots Of alfalfa the harder it
is likely to be. Alfalfa is a new
crop in the south, and hence the bac-
terra in question are not inherent in
the land. They must be needed
upon it in an artificial form, and in
such quantity as to insure their null
tiplying with a sufficient degree of
rapidity to satisfy the needs Of the
alfalfa crop which may have been
planted thereon. Sometimes the
land is acid or so deficient in lime
that the bacteria starve to death.
AS a result the alfalfa also starves,
even though a good stand has been
obtained. A good many farmers
have tried alfalfa and had this ex-
perience, and on that account err
roneously concluded that it could not
be grown successfully. This is a
mistake, however, because there are
thousands Of demonstration patches
of alfalfa now scattered throughout
the southeastern states, and which
have been producing profitable hay
crops for from ten to twenty years.
Alfalfa is not an easy crop to es-
tablish. That is one reason probably
why more of it has not been cul-
tivated up to the present time.
You have to begin whole year
ahead to prepare land satisfactorily
for this crop. Those who would
plant it this fall should be making
their plans to that end now. Take
good area of fairly we'll drained
land and pillow it thoroughly. Be-
fore doing this scatter at least two
tons of crushed lime rock over the
surface Of it. Plant the land to
cowpeas or any other legume that
you prefer. Fertilize the cowpeas
with 300 pounds of acid phosphate
and 100 pounds kainit. When they
are in good condition to make hay
turn them under just as deeply as
possible. You should harrow the
land Immediately and then roll it.
In other words, bring the subsur-
face moisture up to the surface as
quickly as possible. To prevent it's
escape into the atmosphere and the
drying out of the land harrow the
soil and thus obtain a dust mulch.
AS rule the cowpeas should be
turned under about the first of
September. The time for accom-
pl1shing this will vary according to
the seasons, the date of planting,
and the length of time it takes a
given variety of cowpeas to ma
ture. The work should be done by
at least the 18th of September.
You should then handle the field as
a fallow. If seasonal conditions are
at all favorable SOW alfalfa about
the first of October. 1t is very de-
sfrable that this be done on the
higher elevations Of the Piedmont
section. On the lower elevations
of this territory seeding may be
done October 18th, and along the
edge of the Plains country seeding
may be done. as late as November
LIST. Early seeding is, of course, de-
sirable because the alfalfa plants
need to be encouraged to make
good root development before cold
weather comes on.
After the cowpeas have been
turned under and the land has
been fallowed for a few days apply
two additional tons of crushed lime
rock. Harrow this into the surface
OF the soil. Ten days later put on
500 to 1000 pounds of a formula
containing about per cent nitro.
gen. 10 per cent phosphoric acid
and per cent potash. This also
may be narrowed into the surface
soil.
The best alfalfa seed we have
found is that which comes from
the western part of our own coun.
try. There appear to be strains
which we have obtained from for
eign countries and which offer
great promise, but they are not
available for distribution as vet.