The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1940-04-25
sAUK CENTRE HERALD, Sank Centre, MINI.

SAUk Vi
furnish an additional incentive for
its use as pasture.
Practically everyone now realizes
that good stand Of alfalfa yields
a better return Of high quality feed
per acre than any other crop that
can be grown on sandy soils, says
County Agent e. c. Lenzmeier.
I But in some sections Of Stearns
county where the soil is light, this
high yielding crop Is not grown
more generally because Of trouble
in securing good stand, Mr.. LEM
meier explains. Recognizing this
problem, the State Agricultural Ex-
tension Service at University Farm
has prepared a new folder, Get
ting Alfalfa Stands on Sandy Soil.
Soils Specialist George H. Mes
ON, author of the folder, points to
six reasons why stands may be
poor, and give tips on how to cas-
lily and cheaply avoid the trouble
1hCoC Oh &c. LAIN VI AiAAlC III tllC sui,
poor seed, need Of innoculation Of
seed, poorly prepared seeded, i'm
proper depth Of planting and lack
Of sufficient moisture.
Recommendation in the folder
are the result of experimental work
at the Coon Creek Sand Expert
mental Field. Free copies may be
secured from the county extension
office in st. Cloud
The lateness of the planting sea-
son for 1910 will undoubtedly cause
large number Of wheat growers
to plant a lesser acreage or pos
sibly no acreage at all of spring
wheat, according to the county
agents office. Wheat is one crop
that must be sown early to get
good yields. While Stearns county
has not recently been considered
an important wheat producing
county, the total acreage of wheat
in the county is quite substantial,
running ordinarily around 10000
acres. Due to the lateness Of the
season perhaps more growers
would do well to reduce their plant
ing of spring wheat and choose
other crops instead.
Among the recommended var
ieties Thatcher still leads the list
from the standpoint of resistance
to rust and other diseases. All in
all no variety has yet been uncov-
cred that over a wide area beats
the Thatcher for both yield and
milling qualities.
| Experimental work on wind ero-
sion control will soon be started in
Stearns county. During the past
week liver Nygaard, Of the Soils
Conservation Service at Faribault
was in the county and worked with
the county agent on plans for wind
erosion control. The sand land
area Of the county along the Mis-
sissippi river on the east side, the
Sank River valley from Sank Cen
ire to Richmond, and the area
south of the North Fork river in
the southwest corner of the county
! in many instances represents a
problem with wind erosion. Two
cooperators will be linded up for
the experimental work this year
and the location of these will be
in the east side of Brockway town.
ship and the southwest corner OF
st. Martin township. Only one field
| 1~1 Co f1,ie
year in order to get both the CO
operators and the community il
which the cooperators are located
familiar with the strip farming
idea. The fields in question viii
be strip cropped with the strips
ranging in width from 10 to q
rods.
Under this arrangement the first
year rough cultivated strips will be
left for buffers for the planted
strips adjacent until some time
late in the month Of June. Al
that time the seeded strips next
to these buffer strips will in turn
offer the necessary protection sc
that the buffer areas can be sown
These buffer strips will then be put
to a number of different crops
Since the fertility on some Of this
sand land soil is rather low, some
of the strips will be put to buck.
wheat or soybeans to plow under
Others will be planted to sweet
clover to be left for 1941 protection
to the adjacent strips which car
then be planted to crops immediate.
ly in the spring. Still some Of the
other strips will be utilized fol
catch crops for hay such as mil
let, sudan grass, or soybeans.
In some of this sandy soil area
large acreages of crops have beer
cut off by blowing sand and in sc
doing have removed almost all Of
the top soil in the area, leaving red
sand or gravel subsoil exposed tt
the surface which for the most
part is almost entirely unproduc
tive. Wind erosion made it's great.
est Roadway in Stearns county dur.
ing the drouth of 1888, 1884 and
1885, when large areas of unpro-
tected soil started blowing in some
of the areas mentioned. Here long
and wide areas offered a splendid
opportunity for wind to get a full
sweep in the exposed areas and
tons of topsoil were blown away tc
other areas and cut off large acre.
ages Of growing crops that were
just few inches tall such as small
grains or corn.
With the Importance that dairy.
ing occupies from the standpoint