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Title: The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits : Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer
Author: Coburn, F. D. (Foster Dwight)
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Notes
Texts printed in italics and bold face have been transcribed between
_underscores_ and =equal signs= respectively. Small capitals have been
replaced with ALL CAPITALS.
More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text.
[Illustration: _F. D. Coburn_
It is the pleasure of the publishers to present to those who are
interested in alfalfa, the man who declined an appointment as United
States Senator, that he might continue to direct the affairs of the
Kansas State Board of Agriculture in general and of farmers in
particular.--Orange Judd Company.]
The Book of Alfalfa
HISTORY, CULTIVATION AND MERITS.
ITS USES AS A FORAGE
AND FERTILIZER.
[Illustration]
* * * * _Spanish clover, such as has
Usurped the Occident and dwells
On Sacramento’s sundown hills,
And all the verdant valley fills
With fragrance sweet and delicate
As wooing breath of woman is._
--_Joaquin Miller_.
_By_ F. D. COBURN
Secretary Kansas Department of Agriculture.
Illustrated
1912
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
New York
Copyright, 1906 by
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
New Revised Edition Copyrighted 1907 by
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
_All Rights Reserved_
_Printed in the U. S. A._
[Illustration: THERE ARE SOME SILENT SUBSOILERS THAT DO THEIR WORK WITH
EASE, AND IN THEIR WAY, MORE EFFECTUALLY THAN ANY TEAM OR PLOW EVER
HITCHED. THE CLOVER PLANT IS RIGHTEOUSLY FAMED AS ONE OF THESE, BUT
ALFALFA IS ITS SUPERIOR. ITS ROOTS WORK, SUNDAY AS WELL AS SATURDAY,
NIGHT AND DAY; THEY STRIKE 5, 10, 15 OR 20 FEET DEEP, MAKING INNUMERABLE
PERFORATIONS, WHILE STORING UP NITROGEN, AND WHEN THESE ROOTS DECAY THEY
LEAVE NOT ONLY A GENEROUS SUPPLY OF FERTILITY FOR ANY DESIRED CROP, BUT
MILLIONS OF OPENINGS INTO WHICH THE AIR AND RAIN OF HEAVEN FIND THEIR
WAY, AND HELP TO CONSTITUTE AN UNFAILING RESERVOIR OF WEALTH, UPON WHICH
THE HUSBANDMAN CAN DRAW WITH LITTLE FEAR OF PROTEST OR OVERDRAFTS.]
“Its long, branching roots penetrate far down, push and crowd the
earth this way and that, and thus constitute a gigantic subsoiler.
These become an immense magazine of fertility. As soon as cut, they
begin to decay and liberate the vast reservoir of fertilizing matter
below the plow, to be drawn upon by other crops for years to come.”
The Author’s Foreword
This volume, however strong its statements in favor of alfalfa may
appear to those unacquainted with that plant’s productivity and
beneficence, is by no means presented as an argument that everyone
should raise alfalfa. It is intended rather as a conservative setting
forth of what others have found alfalfa to be and do under wide
variations of soil, climate, condition and locality; of its
characteristics and uses; the most approved methods of its raising and
utilization, and the estimates of it by those who have known it most
intimately and longest as a farm forage crop and a restorer and
renovator of the soil.
The author believes in alfalfa; he believes in it for the big farmer as
a profit-bringer in the form of hay, or condensed into beef, pork,
mutton, or products of the cow; but he has a still more abiding faith in
it as a mainstay of the small farmer; for feed for all his live stock
and for maintaining the fertility of the soil.
To avoid the appearance of both special pleading and exaggeration the
statements have been guarded, and many of a laudatory nature, which
fully authenticated facts seemed to justify, have been omitted, as
neither the author nor the publishers have desire or willingness to
extol unduly a commodity so little needing it as that of which the
volume treats. Alfalfa’s strongest commendations are invariably from
those who know it best; none are incredulous who know it well, and none
have grown it but wished their acreage increased.
F. D. COBURN.
Topeka, Kansas.
1906
Introductory
BY
Former Governor W. D. Hoard, of Wisconsin
_Editor Hoard’s Dairyman_
I am exceedingly gratified by the preparation and publication of a new
and larger work devoted to the subject of Alfalfa. The earlier effort by
Mr. Coburn upon the same subject was in many respects a classic, and I
am sure farmers everywhere will now hail with joy the advent of a
kindred work by him, still more complete.
It is strange, this late awakening all over the Union and in Canada to
the feeding value and possibilities of this marvelous plant. Again, it
is wonderful to me that within a few years farmers everywhere are being
compelled to revise their judgment as to their chances of success with
it. A large correspondence on this subject comes to me from every state
in the Union and the provinces of Canada, and success is being had in
the growing of alfalfa where not more than three years ago it was deemed
impossible to make it live. Of course the question of growing alfalfa
contains a thousand or more chances for good or poor judgment. Men who
are not too conceited, too ignorant or too stubborn to learn by reading
other men’s experience will go ahead rapidly and soon make a success of
it.
I believe this alfalfa movement is the most important agricultural event
of the century. For the production of beef, mutton and milk, the
combination of corn ensilage and rightly cured alfalfa hay, furnishes
almost a perfect ration, requiring but a small addition of grain feed.
Both of these can be cheaply and easily produced on nearly every farm in
the land. In my herd of nearly fifty registered and grade Guernsey cows
these feeds constitute the sheet anchor of my dairy work.
No one more literally abets the growth of two blades of grass where one
grew before than he who effectively urges the cultivation of alfalfa
upon those who are strangers to it, and no one is more truly working for
the benefit of agriculture, the basis of all prosperity, than he who
proclaims its excellence as the foremost forage.
_Hoard’s Dairyman_ will do all in its power to enhance the circulation
and reading of such a book as Mr. Coburn has made.
W. D. HOARD.
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.
1906
Publisher’s Announcement
All the plates of the “Book of Alfalfa” were destroyed in the disastrous
fire that consumed our mechanical department January 28, 1907. We have
taken advantage of this emergency and present the present volume in a
new and revised edition, with the additional material furnished by the
author.
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY.
Table of Contents
Page
The Author’s Foreword iv
Introductory v
CHAPTER I
History, Description, Varieties and Habits 1
CHAPTER II
Universality of Alfalfa 13
CHAPTER III
Yields, and Comparisons with other Crops 20
CHAPTER IV
Seed and Seed Selection 27
CHAPTER V
Soil and Seeding 44
CHAPTER VI
Cultivation 67
CHAPTER VII
Harvesting 79
CHAPTER VIII
Storing 93
CHAPTER IX
Pasturing and Soiling 107
CHAPTER X
Alfalfa as a Feed Stuff 125
CHAPTER XI
Alfalfa in Beef-Making 138
CHAPTER XII
Alfalfa and the Dairy 143
CHAPTER XIII
Alfalfa for Swine 154
CHAPTER XIV
Alfalfa for Horses and Mules 165
CHAPTER XV
Alfalfa and Sheep Raising 171
CHAPTER XVI
Alfalfa and Bees 175
CHAPTER XVII
Alfalfa and Poultry 180
CHAPTER XVIII
Alfalfa Food Preparations 182
CHAPTER XIX
Alfalfa for Town and City 187
CHAPTER XX
Alfalfa in Crop Rotation 189
CHAPTER XXI
Nitro-Culture 197
CHAPTER XXII
Alfalfa as a Commercial Factor 204
CHAPTER XXIII
The Enemies of Alfalfa 206
CHAPTER XXIV
Difficulties and Discouragements 220
CHAPTER XXV
Miscellaneous 223
CHAPTER XXVI
Alfalfa in Different States 231
Index 325
List of Illustrations
Page
1. F. D. Coburn _Frontispiece_
2. A Typical Alfalfa Plant 1
3. Typical Stems and Foliage of the Alfalfa Plant 1
4. An Eight-year-old Alfalfa Plant 6
5. Crown of Plant Shown in the Preceding Illustration 6
6. Alfalfa Blossoms Enlarged 7
7. Intergrading Types of Seed Between Alfalfa and Sweet Clover 12
8. Seeds of the Weed Known as Buck-horn 13
9. Alfalfa Seeds Magnified Five Diameters 13
10. Sweet Clover--Alfalfa--Yellow Trefoil 26
11. Three Distinctive Types of Alfalfa Seed Magnified Twelve Times 27
12. Yellow Trefoil Pods 32
13. Alfalfa Seed Pods 32
14. Sweet Clover Pods 33
15. Bur Clover Seed Pods 33
16. Yellow Trefoil: Black Medic: Hop Clover (_Medicago lupulina_) 37
17. Three General Types of Alfalfa Seed 44
18. Dodder Seed Magnified 45
19. Alfalfa Seed Magnified 45
20. Dodder Plant on an Alfalfa Stem 46
21. Dodder (_Cuscuta arvensis_) 47
22. Alfalfa and Dodder Seed (Actual Size) 47
23. Dodder (_Cuscuta epithymum_) 47
24. Bur Clover Pod 66
25. Yellow Trefoil Seed Pod 66
26. Alfalfa Seed Pod 67
27. Spotted Clover Pod 67
28. Gathering Alfalfa Hay into Windrows with a Side-delivery
Horserake 78
29. Cutting a Fine Field of Alfalfa 79
30. Gathering an Alfalfa Crop in Page County, Iowa 92
31. Alfalfa Harvesting Scene in Yellowstone County, Montana 92
32. Mast and Boom Stacker, with Six-tined Jackson Fork 93
33. A Derrick Stacker 93
34. Lattice Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Cattle 106
35. Box Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Sheep 106
36. Lattice Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Sheep 107
37. Box Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Cattle 107
38. Trocar and Cannula 119
39. Alfalfa Field in Central New York 124
40. Fourth Cutting of Alfalfa in Shawnee County, Kansas 124
41. A Second Cutting of Alfalfa (July 28) in Shawnee County,
Eastern Kansas 125
42. Kansas Farmer Viewing One of His Alfalfa Fields 138
43. Harvesting Alfalfa in Ohio 139
44. Showing Advantage of Early Fall Sowing 154
45. Five-year-old Alfalfa 155
46. Alfalfa One Year Old, Showing Effects of Inoculation 170
47. A Good Type of a Four-year-old Alfalfa Plant 171
48. Alfalfa Plant and Roots Showing Bacteria Nodules 196
49. Tubercles on Clover Roots 197
50. Peculiar Nodules in Groups on Small Rootlets 206
51. Alfalfa Roots Showing Normal Nodules 207
52. Gopher Poisoning Tool 214
53. And There’s Still More to Follow 220
54. Dead Prairie Dogs 221
55. Pot Culture Experiments at University of Illinois 230
56. Six Months’ Growth of Alfalfa Foliage 231
57. Cutting Alfalfa in Southern California 256
58. Baling Alfalfa in Southern Oklahoma 256
59. A 400-ton Rick of Alfalfa 257
60. A Cable Derrick, Provided with a Grapple Fork 257
61. Sweet Clover (_Melilotus alba_) 288
62. Yellow Trefoil (_Medicago lupulina_) 289
[Illustration: =A Typical Alfalfa Plant=
as it appears before the blossoms are developed. From Michigan
Experiment Station Bulletin No. 225]
[Illustration: =Typical Stems and Foliage of the Alfalfa Plant=
when beginning to blossom the most suitable for hay. Grown in Shawnee
County, Kansas, on unirrigated upland prairie with a “gumbo” or hardpan
subsoil. From the season’s third cutting, August 20; height 24 and 26
inches]
ALFALFA
(_Medicago sativa, Linn._)
_CHAPTER I._
History, Description, Varieties and Habits
HAS ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN
There appears no record of a time when alfalfa was not in some portions
of the world esteemed one of Nature’s most generous benefactions to
husbandry and an important feature of a profitable agriculture. Its
beginning seems to have been contemporary with that of man, and, as with
man, its first habitat was central Asia, where the progenitors of our
race knew its capabilities in sustaining all herbivorous animal life,
and where, possibly, it too afforded the herbage which sustained
Nebuchadnezzar in his humiliating exile, and eventually restored him to
sanity and manhood.
It was carried by the Persians into Greece with the invasion by Xerxes
in 490 B. C., utilized by the Romans in their conquest of Greece, and
carried to Rome in 146 B. C. Pliny and other writers praise it as a
forage plant and it has been in cultivation in parts of Italy
continuously from its introduction. Some writers are disposed to aver
that it was brought to Spain and France by the Roman soldiery under
Cæsar and early thereafter, but more probably it was not introduced
into those countries until several centuries later. It is known to have
been cultivated in Northern Africa about the time it was first brought
to Italy; and the name “alfalfa” being Arabic the inference might be
reasonable that it was introduced into Spain by the Moors from Northern
Africa at the time of their conquest of Spain about 711 A. D., but this
is of small consequence to the twentieth century. From Spain it crossed
to France, and later to Belgium and England. It was highly spoken of by
an English writer of the fifteenth century.
AMERICA INDEBTED TO SPAIN
But in those ages Europe was not so much interested in agriculture as in
war. Land tenures were not well fixed and ownerships were uncertain.
Spain, however, was to perform at least two important services for half
the world, if none for herself. She was to reveal to civilization a new
continent, and give to it the most valuable forage plant ever known. And
so, in 1519, Cortes, the Spaniard, and his remorseless brigands carried
murder, rapine and havoc to Mexico, but gave alfalfa. Less than a score
years later Spain also wrote in Peru and Chili some of the bloodiest
pages of human history, but left alfalfa there, where it has since
luxuriantly flourished. If it was brought to the Atlantic coast of the
United States in that century, it was not adopted by the Indian
inhabitants, who were not an agricultural people, nor by the early
European settlers.
It was not until about 1853 or 1854 that it was introduced into northern
California, the legends say from Chili, but it had been grown by the
Spaniards and Indians in southern California for probably a hundred
years, having had a gradual migration from Mexico. Strange to relate,
while it is even now on the Atlantic coast discussed as a new plant,
there is good evidence that it has been in cultivation on a small scale
in the Carolinas, New York and Pennsylvania for probably one hundred and
fifty years. Certainly there are small fields in those states that have
been producing for over sixty years, and there are to be found articles
and letters written far earlier showing that it was then known and had
been proven. One Spurrier, in a book dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, and
written in 1793, spoke highly of alfalfa, called “lucerne;” told how it
should be cultivated, and that three crops of valuable hay could be cut
annually. In the “Transactions of the Society for the Promotion of
Agriculture,” published at Albany in 1801, it was favorably mentioned,
and in the “Farmers’ Assistant,” printed in Albany in 1815, alfalfa was
praised and the statement made of its yielding 6 to 9 tons of hay per
acre “under the best cultivation and plentiful manuring.” Yet its
cultivation did not spread. The inertia of farmers, or perhaps their
indifference to new ideas, in the early days must have been marvelous.
According to Spurrier the difficulties were not considered greater than
now; he said one planting would survive many years and the yield was
three times as great as that of any other forage plant. The seed was no
doubt introduced there from England or France; it was probably scarce,
and difficult to secure from growings in this country.
THE NAME AND ITS ORIGIN
The name “Alfalfa” is from an Arabic word meaning “the best fodder,”
which honor it can certainly still claim. Many writers have assumed that
the name “Lucerne” which it bears in France and England, was from the
name of the Swiss canton, Lucerne. This is a mistake as it was not known
there until long after it was cultivated in France and England. The name
is probably from the Spanish word “Userdas” which the French changed to
“La-cuzerdo” and later to “Luzerne,” still later to “Lizerne” and then
to “Lucerne.”
Among other names by which alfalfa is known are the following: Lucerne;
French Lucerne; French Clover, in part; Mexican Clover, in part; Lucerne
Clover; Lucerne Medicago; Alfalfa Clover; Chilian Clover; Brazilian
Clover; Syrian Clover; Sainfoin, erroneously; Spanish Trefoil; Purple
Medick; Manured Medick; Cultivated Medicago; Medick. _Persian_, Isfist;
_Greek_, Medicai; _Latin_, Medica, Herba Medica; _Italian_, Herba
Spagna; _Spanish_, Melga or Meilga, also (from the Arabic), Alfalfa,
Alfasafat; _French_, La Lucerne; _German_, Lucerne, Common Fodder, Snail
Clover, Blue Snail Clover, Branching Clover, Stem Clover, Monthly
Clover, Horned Clover, in part, Perennial Clover, Blue Perennial Clover,
Burgundy Clover, Welsh Clover, Sicilian Clover.
Alfalfa belongs to the botanical family Leguminosae, or the legumes, of
which there are thousands of species, and is thus related to all
clovers, peas, vetches and beans. Its botanical name is _Medicago
sativa_. There are some fifty species of the genus Medicago that are
known, but alfalfa and one or two others are all that are of practical
value as fodders. It is a true perennial plant, smooth, upright,
branching, ordinarily growing from one to four feet high, yet in some
instances much higher, owing to conditions of soil, climate and
cultivation. Its leaves are three parted, each leaflet being broadest
about the middle, rounded in outline and slightly toothed toward the
apex. The purple pea-like flowers instead of being in a head, as in red
clover, are in long, loose clusters or racemes. These are scattered
along the plant’s stems and branches, instead of being especially borne,
as in red clover, on the extremities of the branches. The matured
seed-pods are spirally twisted through two or three complete curves, and
each pod contains several seeds. The seeds are kidney-shaped, and
average about one-twelfth of an inch long by half as thick. They are
about one-half larger than seeds of red clover, and in color are at
their best an olive green or a bright egg-yellow, instead of a reddish
or mustard yellow, or faded brown. The ends of the seeds are slightly
compressed where they are crowded together in the pod.
Alfalfa is very long-lived; fields in Mexico, it is claimed, have been
continuously productive without replanting for over two hundred years,
and others in France are known to have flourished for more than a
century. Its usual life in the United States is probably from ten to
twenty-five years, although there is a field in New York that has been
mown successively for over sixty years. It is not unlikely that under
its normal conditions and with normal care it would well-nigh be, as it
is called, everlasting.
ITS WONDERFUL ROOT SYSTEM
In its root growth it is probably the greatest wonder among plants.
While it usually grows no higher than four or five feet (although it has
been known to reach more than ten feet; an unirrigated stalk is on
exhibition at the office of the Kansas Board of Agriculture, measuring
nearly seven feet) and its normal height is about three feet, its roots
go down ten, twenty, or more feet, and one case in Nevada is reported by
Charles W. Irish, chief of Irrigation Inquiry United States Department
of Agriculture, where the roots were found penetrating through crevices
in the roof of a tunnel one hundred and twenty-nine feet below the
surface of an alfalfa field. Prof. W. P. Headden of Colorado found roots
nine feet long from alfalfa only nine months old, and another reports
roots seventeen inches long of but four weeks’ growth, the plants being
but six inches high. It usually has a slender taproot, with many
branches tending downward, yet with considerable lateral growth. As the
taproot is piercing the earth it is also sending out new fibrous roots,
while the upper ones, decaying, are leaving humus and providing
innumerable openings for air, the rains, and fertilizing elements from
the surface soil. The mechanical effect of this root-growth and decay in
the soil constitutes one of the greatest virtues of the plant, and by
its roots alfalfa becomes, self-acting, by far the most efficient, deep
reaching subsoiler and renovator known to agriculture.
VARIETIES AND PECULIARITIES
There are several other varieties of alfalfa besides _Medicago sativa_,
the most common being the _Intermediate Lucerne_ or _Medicago media_,
the Yellow Lucerne or _Medicago foliata_ and Turkestan alfalfa or
_Medicago sativa Turkestanica_. None of these have such unqualified
value as the ordinary alfalfa; in fact the first two are properly
regarded as weeds when found with _Medicago sativa_. In 1898 when there
had been reported many failures in the alfalfa districts of the extreme
North and the extreme Southwest, the United States Department of
Agriculture sent Prof. N. E. Hansen of South Dakota to Russia,
especially the cold, arid and semi-arid portions of northern Turkestan,
to discover if possible a more hardy strain of alfalfa than that grown
in America. He brought back from there several hundred bushels of seed
which was distributed to government stations and individual
experimenters in forty-seven states and territories. The reports of its
behavior varied greatly, some growers being enthusiastically in its
favor, while most reported results below or not above the average from
other sorts, and some practically a failure. It would appear from the
consensus of opinion at this time that the Turkestan alfalfa has not
demonstrated in America any such superiority as to justify its general
adoption, even in the dry and warm regions of the Southwest, in our
colder states, or in Canada.
[Illustration: =An Eight-year-old Alfalfa Plant=
with 312 stems growing from one root. Grown at Manhattan, Kan., on high
upland prairie having a stiff, hardpan subsoil. Depth to water 180 feet
Height of growth May 6, ten inches]
[Illustration: =Crown of Plant Shown in the Preceding Illustration=
Stalks removed to show branching crown]
[Illustration: Alfalfa Blossoms Enlarged]
Among other claims for Turkestan alfalfa by the government officials in
charge of its introduction and exploitation have been that “its seed
will germinate much quicker and the plants start into growth earlier
under the same conditions than common alfalfa. The plants are more
leafy, grow more rapidly, and have a stronger, more vigorous root
system. Another advantage which the Turkestan variety has is that the
stems are more slender and less woody, the plants making a more
nutritious hay of finer quality. That it will withstand drought under
the same conditions better than ordinary alfalfa seems certain from the
reports of the experimenters. In the West and Northwest, at least, it
seems to be more productive, both with and without irrigation.”
At the North Dakota station Turkestan alfalfa sown in 1901 yielded in
the three years following (1902-3-4) at the average rate of slightly
more than two tons per acre annually.
Acclimation of alfalfa is a slow process, and numerous close observers
think there are too many radical differences in climate and possibly of
soil between Turkestan and New Mexico, or North Dakota, to admit of this
variety’s becoming a preeminently valuable acquisition to America. It is
thought more reasonable to let the American-grown alfalfa gradually
accustom itself, as it will, to any particular region, sowing seed from
nearly the same latitude and grown under as nearly as possible the
conditions it will encounter in its new environment.
In 1903 the Department of Agriculture began experimenting on a small
scale at stations in Arizona, California and the warm regions with
alfalfa seed procured by Mr. D. G. Fairchild, from Arabia. The officials
in charge observe that the plants from this seed appear to make a much
quicker growth after cutting, and as a result of this one more crop in a
season than is obtained from other alfalfa may be possible. It differs
from other strains in having larger leaflets and in being much more
hairy. “It is thought very probable that by careful selection hardiness
can be bred into Arabian alfalfa so that it will grow much farther north
than it does at present.”
AN OPINION FROM HEADQUARTERS
As a latter day opinion or estimate of alfalfa from an official who is
presumed to speak as an authority, without bias and knowing his subject,
the words of W. J. Spillman, agrostologist of the United States
Department of Agriculture, should carry weight. In an address before the
eleventh annual convention of the National Hay Association, at St.
Louis, in 1904, Professor Spillman said:
“Alfalfa is the oldest plant known to man; it is the most valuable
forage plant ever discovered. It has not been appreciated in the eastern
part of the United States until the last five years. We are now growing
it successfully in every state in the Union, and I believe it is safe to
say in every agricultural county in the United States it is being grown
with success. Two weeks ago I secured a picture of a field of alfalfa in
South Carolina that was sowed over sixty-nine years ago. It was still in
pretty good condition. I know of another field in New York State sowed
forty-five years ago, and one in Minnesota that was sowed thirty-three
years ago. All over the West there are thousands of fields of alfalfa
that were sowed twenty-five years ago that are still yielding large
crops. In Wisconsin alfalfa yields three crops of hay a year, and in
Texas, four and five large crops. In southern California, below
sea-level, where they never have any frost, they cut alfalfa eleven
times a year, and in Texas, south of the Rio Grande, they cut it nine
times a year.
“Alfalfa does not exhaust the soil. Nitrogen is the soil’s most
important element, and the one most liable to give out; the one the
farmer is called upon to supply first. Alfalfa does not ask the farmer
for nitrogen at all, because it can get its nitrogen out of the
atmosphere. Four-fifths of the atmosphere consists of nitrogen.
Ordinarily, plants cannot make use of that nitrogen at all; the roots of
the alfalfa will leave in the soil eight or ten times as much nitrogen
as was there before. The farmer who plants alfalfa, clover or peas does
not have to get nitrogen from the fertilizer factories. I know one
farmer who for the past eight years has made an average of eight and
one-half tons per acre of alfalfa on irrigated land in the state of
Washington. I have heard of other men that produced twelve tons an acre
in southern Texas on irrigated land. It would hardly be possible to
produce that much on land that is not irrigated, because rain does not
come to order.
“I have lived ten years in a country where the horses, cattle, sheep,
hogs and chickens eat alfalfa hay, or green alfalfa, the year round. It
is the richest hay food known. Eleven pounds of it is worth as much for
feeding purposes as ten pounds of bran.”
A most pleasing word-picture of alfalfa is that by Geo. L. Clothier, M.
S., who has studied his subject closely in the field, the feed lot and
the laboratory, and he paints it thus:
“The cultivation and feeding of alfalfa mark the highest development of
our modern agriculture. Alfalfa is one of nature’s choicest gifts to
man. It is the preserver and the conserver of the homestead. It is
peculiarly adapted to a country with a republican government, for it
smiles alike on the rich and the poor. It does not fail from old age. It
loves the sunshine, converting the sunbeams into gold coin in the
pockets of the thrifty husbandman. It is the greatest mortgage lifter
yet discovered.
“The alfalfa plant furnishes the protein to construct and repair the
brains of statesmen. It builds up the muscles and bones of the
war-horse, and gives his rider sinews of iron. Alfalfa makes the hens
cackle and the turkeys gobble. It induces the pigs to squeal and grunt
with satisfaction. It causes the contented cow to give pailsful of
creamy milk, and the Shorthorn and white-faced steers to bawl for the
feed rack. Alfalfa softens the disposition of the colt and hardens his
bones and muscles. It fattens lambs as no other feed, and promotes a
wool clip that is a veritable golden fleece. It compels skim-milk calves
to make gains of two pounds per day. It helps the farmer to produce pork
at a cent and a half a pound and beef at two cents.
“Alfalfa transforms the upland farm from a sometime waste of gullied
clay banks into an undulating meadow fecund with plant-food. It drills
for water, working 365 days in the year without any recompense from man.
The labor it performs in penetrating the subsoil is enormous. No other
agricultural plant leaves the soil in such good physical condition as
alfalfa. It prospects beneath the surface of the earth and brings her
hidden treasures to the light of day. It takes the earth, air, moisture
and sunshine, and transmutes them into nourishing feed stuffs and into
tints of green and purple, and into nectar and sweet perfumes, alluring
the busy bees to visits of reciprocity, whereon they caress the alfalfa
blossoms, which, in their turn, pour out secretions of nectar fit for
Jupiter to sip. It forms a partnership with the micro-organisms of the
earth by which it is enabled to enrich the soil upon which it feeds. It
brings gold into the farmer’s purse by processes more mysterious than
the alchemy of old. The farmer with a fifty-acre meadow of alfalfa will
have steady, enjoyable employment from June to October; for as soon as
he has finished gathering the hay at one end of the field it will be
again ready for the mower at the other. The homes surrounded by fields
of alfalfa have an esthetic advantage unknown to those where the plant
is not grown. The alfalfa meadow is clothed with purple and green and
exhales fragrant, balmy odors throughout the growing season to be wafted
by the breezes into the adjacent farmhouses.”
[Illustration: =Intergrading Types of Seed Between Alfalfa and Sweet
Clover=
The six seeds to the left being alfalfa, the five to the right Sweet
clover. Magnified eight diameters]
[Illustration: =Seeds of the Weed Known as Buck-horn=
Ribbed plantain, English plantain, or Rib-grass, (_Plantago
lanceolata_). Very commonly present in alfalfa seed, especially that of
European origin A bad weed. Magnification five diameters]
[Illustration: =Alfalfa Seeds Magnified Five Diameters=
Note the characteristic angular point at one end, typical of alfalfa.
The kidney-shaped type, as in “a” is also characteristic. The rounded
type “b” is rare, and resembles Sweet clover. Seeds marked “c” and “d”
resemble Yellow trefoil in the projecting “beak”]
_CHAPTER II._
Universality of Alfalfa
ITS WIDE DISTRIBUTION
As the history of alfalfa is traced in the preceding chapter the
conclusion is reached that its distribution is not to be circumscribed
by any hard and fast lines of climate and soil. It is grown profitably
in every country of Europe, in central Asia, its original home, in
Australia, the islands of the sea, and in almost every state and
territory of the United States, and in Canada. Only two states, Maine
and New Hampshire, and only one territory, Alaska, are left wholly in
the experimental column. Everywhere else there have been such results as
to prove that it ought to become, in greater or less degree, a staple
crop on practically every farm, dependent only upon more energy, faith
and skill on the part of the farmer, and a natural acclimation. There
are several other states such as Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Dakota
where the experiment station experts are not fully ready to recommend it
as a regular crop for every farm, yet, in each of these there are
enterprising farmers who have for years found profit in its raising. The
station authorities in Vermont say that success with alfalfa there
“depends first on the man, and second on the soil.”
W. R. Dodson, botanist of the Louisiana station, says it is his firm
conviction that nothing will contribute so much as alfalfa toward making
the southern farm self-supplied with feed for work animals, for the
production of dairy products, and home raised meat. “I doubt,” he also
says, “if alfalfa does better anywhere outside the irrigated regions of
the West than it does in the alluvial lands of Louisiana. We have had as
high as eight cuttings in one year, with a total tonnage larger than is
had in Kansas or Nebraska, and our annual rainfall is sixty-five inches,
or more.”
From Ontario, Canada, comes a report of a yield of four tons to the acre
in three cuttings, on a clay hillside; at far-off Medicine Hat,
Northwest Territory, it makes a growth pronounced “phenomenal,” and at
the experimental farm at Brandon, Manitoba, three cuttings per year are
harvested. On a gravelly hill in the District of Columbia, a field was
sown in April, 1900. Two crops were cut from it that summer, three in
1901, and the first cutting in 1902 yielded three tons per acre. In
southern Minnesota, some thrifty Germans, not knowing that “alfalfa will
not grow in Minnesota,” have been raising it since 1872, while others
were declaring it impossible. A half-score of men in the sagebrush wilds
of Nevada decided to try it, and in 1872 they had 625 prosperous acres,
without plowing and without irrigation. J. H. Grisdale, agriculturist of
the Central experimental farm at Ottawa, (Bul. No. 46) says, “it is
grown in Canada more or less extensively from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. It is the staple forage plant for winter in the dryer part of
British Columbia, and it has been grown in Southern Alberta for many
years. It is not much known in Manitoba, but is possible of easy
propagation in almost all parts of Ontario. It is, and has been grown
long and successfully in Quebec, and is not unknown in Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick.” In Cape Colony, South Africa, “lucerne can be cut from
four to six times in summer and from once to twice in winter, and is the
greatest forage plant in the world.” In 1901 the British consul at
Buenos Ayres reported alfalfa as covering “an enormous area in
Argentina, and every year becoming more important.”
NOT PARTICULAR AS TO SOIL
While experts have been declaring that alfalfa would only grow in
certain soils and in certain climates it has proven adaptability to
nearly all climates and almost all soils. It produces with a rainfall as
scant as 14 inches, and in the Gulf states flourishes with 65 inches. It
gives crops at an elevation of 8000 feet above sea level, and in
southern California it grows below sea level to a height of six feet or
over, with nine cuttings a year, aggregating ten to twelve tons. An
authenticated photograph in possession of the writer, reproduced
opposite page 231, shows a wonderful alfalfa plant raised in the
(irrigated) desert of southern California, sixty feet below sea level,
that measured considerably more than ten feet in height. Satisfactory
crops are raised, but on limited areas as yet, in Vermont and Florida.
New York has grown it for over one hundred years in her clay and gravel;
Nebraska grows it in her western sand hills without plowing, as does
Nevada on her sagebrush desert. The depleted cotton soils of Alabama
and rich corn lands of Illinois and Missouri each respond generously
with profitable yields to the enterprising farmer, while its accumulated
nitrogen and the sub-soiling it effects are making the rich land more
valuable and giving back to the crop-worn the priceless elements of
which it has been in successive generations despoiled by a
conscienceless husbandry.
Its introduction into Maryland was largely through the perseverance of
Prof. W. T. L. Taliaferro of the agricultural college, who says: “The
future for alfalfa for southern Maryland is bright, indeed, and with its
general introduction will come a new era of prosperity for the ‘lower
counties.’ Live stock farming will take the place of tobacco farming.
The fertilizing elements of the soil will be concentrated at home
instead of being shipped abroad. Larger crops will be raised. Soil
improvement will take the place of soil exhaustion; worn-out farms will
be restored to their original fertility.”
THE ORACLES REFUTED
One by one the oracular statements of so-called experts have been shown
at fault. One said, “it will grow wherever corn will grow;” and as
promptly men from New York and Louisiana rise and say that they are
growing it where corn will not grow. Another declares, “it will not grow
over a hardpan or gumbo subsoil;” at once a New York man reports a good
field of alfalfa with roots fifteen feet long that pass through six
inches of hardpan which was so hard that it had to be broken with a pick
axe in following the root. A Kansas man writes that he has eighty acres
that has stood five years and promises to continue indefinitely,
yielding 4¹⁄₂ tons from three cuttings a year, and the whole of it on
gumbo soil where corn raising was a failure. Another declares, “it must
have a rich, sandy loam,” and forthwith from the deserts of Nevada, the
sand hills of Nebraska and the thin, worn, clay soils of the South come
reports of satisfactory yields. Such results are significant, indicating
better returns than any other crop brings from these varied soils, and
that few farmers are justified in postponing the addition of alfalfa to
their agriculture because of supposed hindrance of soil and climate.
A NEW YORK EXAMPLE
As citing an example, and suggestive of the fact that alfalfa not only
grows but flourishes in the eastern states where the claim has been made
that it would not grow, the following by the editor of the _Rural
New-Yorker_, in his journal of September 3, 1904, is forcibly to the
point:
“A farmer visiting the New York state fair this year will do well to
take time to look at some of the alfalfa fields near Syracuse. Whether
it means that the soil in this locality is well suited to alfalfa, or
that farmers have learned how to grow it, it is a fact that the crop
makes a wonderful showing there. You find it everywhere--in great
billowy fields of green, along the roadsides--even in vacant city lots.
The crop crowds in whether the seed is sown by hand, dropped from a
passing load or scattered by the wind. The majority of the farms show
great fields of it, and the character of farming is slowly changing as
more and more alfalfa is cut. On fruit farms or small private places the
crop is changing methods and habits. A few acres in alfalfa provides
all the roughness needed for stock on these small places, and gives
extra room for fruit or similar crops. In fact, the most interesting
thing about these alfalfa fields is the way they are changing the entire
conditions of the country. It is similar to what happens when a new
industry is established in a town or city.
“The Grange meeting at a Mr. Worker’s farm, was held in a great barn. He
had delayed the alfalfa cutting so that the barn might be empty. Some
other farmers nearby had already cut. I had a chance to see alfalfa
growing under what seemed to me about the toughest chance you can give a
plant. The city of Syracuse is buying gravel from his field, to use on
the street. The workmen are digging right into the hill, and it requires
hard labor to pick up this tough, hard soil. As they dig they follow the
roots of the alfalfa down. Some of the roots are quite as large as my
thumb, and I am sure that many of them had gone down twenty feet at
least into this tough soil. These big roots make plowing an alfalfa sod
anything but fun. This is one of the few objections to the crop. I had
supposed that the plant does its best where it can work down into an
open or gravel subsoil. I have been told by one who is called an
‘expert’ that alfalfa cannot thrive on a hardpan subsoil, yet here it
was going down into the toughest soil I ever saw, and covering the
surface with a perfect mat of green stalks. Mr. Worker goes so far as to
say that the tougher the subsoil the better the alfalfa goes through it,
provided water does not stand about the roots. That is one point upon
which all agree--the alfalfa cannot stand wet feet. It must have water
enough; that is why its roots go down so far, but it will not thrive in
wet fields where water does not run easily away.
“On other farms I saw the alfalfa growing at the top of steep clay
hills, which were formerly almost useless for farm purposes unless
stuffed with stable manure. Now that alfalfa has been started these
hill-tops have become about the most profitable fields on the farm. At
another place I saw a fair crop of alfalfa growing in a thin streak of
soil over a rocky ledge. There were not eighteen inches of soil covering
the solid rock, yet the alfalfa was thriving. I have been told that this
is the condition under which alfalfa will not grow, yet here it was
giving more forage than any red clover we can grow. I have said that the
spreading of these alfalfa fields is changing the character of farming
in central New York. It is not easy to realize just what this means
without visiting this favored section. This new forage plant brings
fertility and feed to the farm. It is just like having a fertilizer
factory and a feed store drop out of the skies upon the farm, to get
this alfalfa well started. Of course as the farmer learns what the crop
will do he uses it more and more to feed both stock and the farm. It
would not be a very bright farmer who would continue to grow wheat or
some other annual crop which brings him $25 per acre when a permanent
crop like alfalfa will guarantee $60. Some farmers are quicker to see
this than others, but in the end the majority of them see it and then we
see a change. These alfalfa farmers are giving a great object lesson,
and their farms are more interesting than any exhibit at the state
fair.”
_CHAPTER III._
Yields, and Comparisons With Other Crops
COMPARED WITH CLOVER
Many things are understood best through contrasts with others better
known. In every part of the country certain crops are considered
standard, and all others are judged by comparison with these. For
example, red clover in most parts of the United States is ranked as the
richest and best yielding forage, and the fertilizer and renovator _par
excellence_.
The Massachusetts experiment station after a series of tests reports
that 100 pounds of clover contain 47.49 pounds of digestible food and
6.95 pounds of proteids, while 100 pounds of alfalfa contain 54.43
pounds of digestible food and 11.22 pounds of proteids.
The New Jersey station reports that the average yield per annum of green
clover to the acre is 14,000 pounds, and of green alfalfa 36,500 pounds;
the protein in the clover is 616 pounds and in the alfalfa, 2214 pounds;
one ton of alfalfa has 265 pounds of protein, and clover only 246
pounds. But alfalfa will produce three, four, or more cuttings each
year, while clover will produce but one or at most two. Further, clover
will ordinarily survive but two years, while alfalfa will last from ten
to one hundred, thus saving many plowings and seedings. It is also
estimated that the stubble and root-growth of alfalfa are worth at least
four times as much for humus as are those of clover, while the
mechanical and other beneficent effects of the long alfalfa roots far
excel those of clover. The alfalfa field is green for pasturage a month
earlier in the spring than clover and may be mowed a month earlier. It
starts a vigorous growth at once after cutting, covering the ground with
its luxuriant foliage before the second growth of clover has made any
substantial progress.
The Wisconsin experiment station says that “one acre of alfalfa yields
as much protein as three acres of clover, as much as nine acres of
timothy and twelve times as much as an acre of brome grass.”
COMPARISONS WITH SEVERAL GRASSES
-----+--------------------------------------------+-----+---------
| | | Yield
Plat| | Hay,|per acre,
No.| Variety Grown | lbs.| lbs.
-----+--------------------------------------------+-----+---------
1 |June Clover | 473 | 2,365
2 |Mammoth Clover | 475 | 2,375
3 |Alsike Clover | 413 | 2,065
4[1]|Alfalfa (first cutting) 26 inches high, June| |
|29th | 816 | 4,080
5 | Blue-grass | 575 | 2,875
6 | Orchard grass | 478 | 2,390
7 | Timothy | 560 | 2,800
8 | Red-top | 470 | 2,350
9 | Meadow fescue | 375 | 1,875
10 | Tall meadow oat grass | 600 | 3,000
11 | Italian rye grass |.... | ....
12[2]| Timothy, blue-grass and orchard grass mixed| 203 | 1,015
-----+--------------------------------------------+-----+---------
[1] The alfalfa plat yielded a second cutting 26 inches high on August
2nd, and a third 24 inches high September 1st; there was also a
six-inch after-growth estimated at 180 pounds. The total alfalfa yield
was equivalent, “approximately to 6¹⁄₂ tons of good dry forage.” None
of the other clovers or grasses gave more than one cutting.
[2] Robbed somewhat of both plant food and moisture by an adjacent row
of grown cottonwood trees.
The Nebraska experiment station has made very careful tests of the
comparative yields of various grasses, clovers and mixtures. These were
on plats of one-fifth of an acre. The foregoing table shows the yields
the second year from planting, which owing to the very dry spring was a
quite unfavorable season.
COMPARED WITH CORN
The Colorado station reports a comparison with corn as follows:
------------------------------------
Yield per acre of Corn and Alfalfa
-------------------+-------+--------
| Corn, |Alfalfa,
| lbs. | lbs.
-------------------+-------+--------
Dry Matter | 3,605 | 5,611
Albuminoids | 296 | 1,198
Starch, Sugar, etc.| 2,186 | 3,114
Fiber | 1,060 | 1,198
Fat | 63 | 101
-------------------+-------+--------
INDIVIDUAL INSTANCES OF CASH RETURNS
A Lincoln county, Kansas, farmer writes that from five acres of alfalfa
he received in one season $100 for hay, $150 for seed and $20 for straw.
A farmer near Atwood, Rawlins county, Kansas, cut two crops for hay and
threshed the third crop for seed, realizing 13 bushels per acre, which
sold at $5 per bushel.
A Harlan county, Nebraska, farmer reports an income of $774 in one year
from seed and hay from six acres.
Scott Bros., of Pottawatomie county, Kansas, report to the author as
follows concerning their returns from a twelve-acre field in one year:
2 hay crops, 30 tons at $12 $360
105 bushels of seed at $6 630
Straw 50
Fourth cutting, 12 tons at $12 144
------
Total, one year’s return $1,184
A Buffalo county, Nebraska, farmer sold from a year’s growth on 22
acres, hay worth $328.12, seed $1000, and straw $150.
A Montgomery county, Kansas, farmer reports to the author a return of
$106 per acre in one year from hay, seed and straw.
Another report was sent in 1904 from southern Kansas, of five cuttings,
making 8¹⁄₂ tons per acre, which sold at $5 per ton in the field.
SOME REPORTS OF YIELDS
A farmer of Harvey county, Kansas, reported in 1903 two hay crops and
one seed crop, the hay, seed and straw returning more than $50 per acre
from a field that two years before had failed to yield enough corn to
justify its gathering.
Sixteen acres in Reno county, Kansas, are reported to have pastured in
1904 four hundred pigs and yielded one cutting of hay of over 16 tons.
An alfalfa field of eleven acres in Washington, on the bank of the
Columbia river, under irrigation, produced in 1901 over 100 tons of hay.
Former Governor W. D. Hoard, of Wisconsin, reports from three-fifths of
an acre on his farm in the southern part of the state, four cuttings in
one season, yielding 5.7 tons of hay.
Alva Langston, of Henry county, Indiana, sowed five acres of alfalfa May
20th, and harvested nearly 1¹⁄₂ tons of hay per acre August 25th
following, and about the same quantity September 20th to 25th. This was
on upland, thirty or more years in cultivation. The alfalfa was clipped
twice before the cutting for hay.
In 1902 F. S. Kirk of Garfield county, Oklahoma, sowed a field near a
creek, but about 25 feet above water, with thirty to thirty-five pounds
of alfalfa seed per acre, broadcast. The soil, which he calls “high
bottom,” was a dark brown and contained considerable sand. For two years
no attention was given the alfalfa except harvesting from it three crops
the second year and four the third year. In 1905 he harvested from ten
acres nine cuttings, estimated to weigh fully one and one-half tons
each, per acre. The longest time between any two cuttings was twenty-two
days, and the shortest fourteen days. During the season of 1904 seven
cuttings were made and the field was gone over with a disk harrow early
each time after removing the hay from the field. It was possible to cut
another growth of 8 to 12 inches, had he not preferred to use it as
pasturage for stock.
Mr. Kirk does not irrigate and maintains that in his part of the country
“the best irrigation for alfalfa is with a disk harrow.” He also insists
that “alfalfa can be entirely killed by disking in the dark of the
moon,” especially if the weather that follows is hot and dry. He
pastures his alfalfa with cattle and horses in fall and spring, and
disks in the spring as soon as the stock is removed.
SOME MONEY COMPARISONS
A good acre corn crop in Ohio is forty bushels, worth not to exceed $20,
after all the labor of cultivating and husking; the stover, if properly
cared for, ought to be worth $5, making a total of $25. An Ohio farmer
reports a yield of 4¹⁄₂ tons of alfalfa hay per acre, worth for feed as
compared with the price of bran about $12 per ton, or a total value of
$54, from only one plowing in six years (as long as he let it stand) and
with less labor in harvesting than for husking corn and caring for the
stover.
A good Kansas or Nebraska corn yield (far above the state average) is 50
bushels per acre, worth ordinarily about $17, with stover worth $3. The
farmer should obtain from his alfalfa at least four to five tons, worth
to him for feed for cattle, hogs or sheep from $10 to $12 per
ton--practically two or three times his income from an acre of corn,
while the cost of production is much less.
The average year’s corn or wheat crop is worth only about $10 per acre,
while the average alfalfa crop is worth on the market from $15 to $35,
or more, per acre, owing to the market appreciation of the crop, and
from $35 to $60 as feed for stock.
Many thousands of acres in western Kansas and Nebraska are now returning
from their alfalfa fields an income of from $15 to $25 per acre where
but a few years earlier the land was deemed worthless for agriculture.
Hundreds of acres in western New York that were returning only a small
income above cost of labor and fertilization are now supporting great
money making dairies from alfalfa. Cotton land in the South rents for $5
per acre, while alfalfa fields bring a yearly rental of three times that
amount.
[Illustration: =Sweet Clover Alfalfa Yellow Trefoil=
The Sweet clover and alfalfa are magnified five diameters and the
trefoil seven diameters]
[Illustration: =Three Distinctive Types of Alfalfa Seed Magnified Twelve
Times=
The one at the left rounded; the one at the right kidney-shaped; and the
one in the middle angular pointed. The latter is the most characteristic
form seen in alfalfa seed]
_CHAPTER IV._
Seed and Seed Selection
NO SUCCESS WITHOUT GOOD SEED
It is a time-worn but no less true saying that good seed is essential to
good agriculture. No matter how well the farmer prepares his land, no
matter how much time, labor and money he spends on it, if much or all of
his seed fails to grow, he will either have a poor crop or be obliged to
reseed, thus losing time and labor. Many causes may contribute to
prevent a good stand, but if he can eliminate any one of these, he is by
so much the gainer. Poor seed is a primary and great cause of a poor
stand.
The farmer obtains his seed from one of two sources; he raises it or
buys it. If the former, there should be less danger, as the chief source
of poor seed is careless handling in harvesting and storing. If the seed
becomes damp, mold will damage much of it, or it will sprout, then dry
out, and the germ be killed. If seed is bought of strangers or from a
distance, the chances of poor quality increase many fold. If all seed
were bought of reliable dealers, there would be less cause for
complaint, but farmers too often buy where they can buy cheapest. They
pay for trash that is either full of harmful weed seeds or has a liberal
admixture of old and dead seeds left over from previous seasons.
Before seed is purchased it should be tested for purity and germination.
The adage that a dollar saved is a dollar earned well applies here; it
is an easy matter to waste a dollar on seed, and when profit depends on
avoidance of useless expenditure the use of inferior seed points its own
moral.
IMPORTANCE OF SIMILAR CONDITIONS
The farmer who has brought himself to the point of introducing alfalfa
upon his farm should be extremely careful in the selection of seed. In
the first place it is important that he should sow such as is produced
in about the same latitude as his farm and from a region of about the
same rainfall, thus keeping in a line of acclimation, and with the
habits and habitat, as it were, of what he is seeking to raise. Next, he
should not sow seed raised under irrigation if he is in a non-irrigation
region. A Michigan farmer, for example, should sow seed grown as near to
his latitude as possible, say, from Wisconsin, Minnesota or the Dakotas,
or not south of Nebraska or Kansas. It is questionable, at present,
whether it is wise or profitable to attempt raising alfalfa seed in the
more humid districts of the eastern and southern parts of the United
States. It may be economy to leave the raising of seed to those regions
with the least summer rainfall, keeping always in mind the securing of
seed grown under conditions nearly like those to which the seed is to be
introduced.
Speaking of the alleged different varieties of alfalfa, the seed of
which is urged upon buyers by seedsmen, the editor of the _Oklahoma Farm
Journal_ pertinently says:
“We see occasional references to ‘dry land’ alfalfa and statements that
it’s a kind that just longs for the hilltops so that it may turn off big
crops of rich hay from land too dry and hard to yield good sorghum.
Don’t forget that the one thing to look for when purchasing alfalfa seed
is good seed, that will grow. It’s hard to find and the price is usually
high. When you buy it, buy subject to test and send a fair sample of
about an ounce to your experiment station, where it will be tested
without charge. At the present time there is but one variety of alfalfa
that Oklahoma farmers should buy, and that is good alfalfa seed. There
is no ‘dry land’ variety of alfalfa, and the much boomed Turkestan
variety isn’t as good for sowing in Oklahoma as Oklahoma or Kansas grown
seed. Rich soil, thorough preparation, good seed well sowed, cutting at
the right time, harrowing when weeds and grass bother, all these are
requisite to success with this most valuable crop, and it pays for all
the bother.”
Seed from Nebraska and northwestern Kansas has been generally successful
through Iowa and Illinois, and is probably adapted to Ohio and southern
Pennsylvania. Utah seed produces good crops in Minnesota, the extremes
of cold and heat in Utah having developed a strain that does well in
cold climates. The writer would use Utah grown seed for New York,
northern New Jersey and northern Pennsylvania, and seed from Wyoming or
Montana for New England. On the sandy land of southern New Jersey, in
Delaware and Maryland, the seed grown in southern Colorado and southern
Kansas ought to do well.
Prof. H. M. Cottrell, formerly agriculturist of the Kansas experiment
station, says: “One year I sowed 20 acres to alfalfa--19 acres with Utah
grown seed and one acre with imported seed; both showed a germination of
over 98 per cent, and the growth was good from both lots all through the
season, with no difference that could be detected. The next spring there
was a good stand all over the 19 acres seeded with Utah seed, and not a
single live plant on the acre seeded with the imported seed. I have seen
several trials with imported seed, and never yet saw a good crop
harvested from it. Usually after passing through the first winter there
is from one-fourth to one-half a stand from such seed; the plants make a
weak growth and, if allowed to remain, most of them die out in two or
three years. Descriptions of the puny growth in reports of failures of
this crop, given by eastern growers, make one think that probably
imported seed had been sown. No intelligent farmer would take corn grown
in the warm soil and climate and long season of southern Kansas and
expect to grow a good crop in New York on heavy soil with short seasons.
It is even more difficult to succeed with so great a change in growing
alfalfa, as it would have to withstand the long severe winter, as well
as the change in summer conditions. No one should sow alfalfa seed
without knowing where and under what conditions it was grown.”
New seed, other conditions being right, is always preferable, although
that kept for several years, properly cared for, may have retained most
of its germinability. Such tests as have been made appeared to show a
loss in well stored seed of only about one and one-half per cent of
germinability in five years. W. P. Headden (Colorado Bul. No. 35) after
various experiments declares, “the results are positive in showing that
the age of seed up to six years does not affect its germinating power.”
It is usually handled and stored by seedsmen in the ordinary seamless
cotton sacks holding from 150 to 160 pounds, and quoted and sold by the
pound or hundred-pounds instead of by the bushel. The legal weight of a
bushel of recleaned alfalfa seed is sixty pounds.
Although the seed is handled in sacks for convenience, seedsmen say
there is no good reason why it might not be safely stored in bulk in
bins without any deterioration from heating, or otherwise. There might,
however, be some degree of danger from weevils or other insect pests in
warm weather. Exposed to too much light, seed will lose its bright
yellow color and change to a brownish cast. When stored, dealers say, it
does not go through a “sweating” process as do the seeds of some other
forage plants and grasses.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF SEED
In years of large production in America and a shortage in other
countries, considerable American seed goes abroad to Italy, France,
Germany and Australia. The largest portion is consigned to Germany
because extensive seed houses at Hamburg act as distributers to all
portions of the world, from which they receive demands.
In recent years the United States has been a buyer rather than a seller,
and imports have been as follows:
Year Lbs.
1902-3 1,018,559
1903-4 2,200,267
1904-5 2,865,324
According to the government authorities the bulk of the imported seed
comes from Germany and France. That having the best reputation in Europe
comes from Provence, (southeastern) France. A small quantity comes from
Italy, but it is not generally considered to be of as good quality as
that grown farther north. Seedsmen complain that many consignments of
the foreign seed contain large quantities of Yellow trefoil and Bur
clover.
It is a fallacy popular among farmers and country seed dealers that
great quantities of alfalfa seed are exported to be used for dyeing
purposes. There is no foundation in fact for such a belief, and the
exportations made, like the importations, are for seeding purposes
exclusively.
IMPURITIES AND ADULTERATIONS
A foremost source of danger and loss, aside from infertile seed, is
impurities and adulterants in the alfalfa seed planted. Growers often
are careless and do not examine their alfalfa before or at the time of
harvesting, and do not reclean their seed after threshing, thus sending
out among innocent purchasers seed mixed with those of weeds, inferior
grasses and forage plants, and with various trash which adds bulk and
weight but has no value. The commonest seed adulterants or impurities
are those of Sweet clover (_Melilotus alba_) (Illus. opp. p. 26), Bur
clover (_Medicago denticulata_), Spotted clover (_Medicago Arabica_) (p.
67), Yellow trefoil or Hop clover (_Medicago lupulina_) (p. 26), and the
Dodders (_Cuscuta epithymum_ and _Cuscuta arvensis_), (pp. 45 and 47).
[Illustration: =Yellow Trefoil Pods=
The pods of Yellow trefoil are shaped as here shown and contain but a
single seed. Magnified four diameters]
[Illustration: =Alfalfa Seed Pods=
Alfalfa has a spiral pod of two or three turns, often containing five or
six seeds. Magnified four diameters]
[Illustration: =Sweet Clover Pods=
Magnified four diameters]
[Illustration: =Bur Clover Seed Pods=
The seeds are enclosed in a coiled pod which is covered with bristly
projections as shown above. Magnified four diameters]
That an extraordinary proportion of the alfalfa seed in the markets,
wheresoever from, is adulterated to an amazing extent with seeds of
undesirable plants or loaded with worthless, if not actually harmful
impurities, is being demonstrated by the United States Department of
Agriculture. In a circular pertaining to this work is given the
following, showing the adulterants found in samples bought in the open
markets of the cities named:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Seeds used as adulterants.
------------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------
| Sweet | Bur | Yellow | Total
City where bought | clover | clover | trefoil |adulterants
------------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------
|_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_
Providence, R. I. | .... | 3.47 | 32.86 | 36.33
Denver, Colo. | .... | 16.86 | .... | 16.86
Rochester, N. Y. | .... | 5.02 | 39.48 | 44.50
Milwaukee, Wis. | .... | 5.74 | .... | 5.74
Indianapolis, Ind.| .... | 4.27 | 38.43 | 42.70
„ „ | .... | 3.90 | 39.53 | 43.43
Marblehead, Mass. | .... | 3.00 | .... | 3.00
Petersburg, Va. | .... | .... | 1.25 | 1.25
Cedar Rapids, Iowa| .... | 5.49 | .... | 5.49
Indianapolis, Ind.| .... | 3.37 | 38.54 | 41.91
Pittsfield, Mass. | 9.52 | .... | .... | 9.52
Atlanta, Ga. | .... | 10.04 | .... | 10.04
Salem, Ill. | .... | .... | 6.98 | 6.98
St. Paul, Minn. | .... | .... | 31.77 | 31.77
Louisville, Ky. | .... | 16.53 | .... | 16.53
New Haven, Conn. | .... | 5.88 | 39.85 | 45.73
Independence, Iowa| .... | 12.69 | .... | 12.69
New Orleans, La. | .... | 2.57 | .63 | 3.20
Troy, N. Y. | .... | 6.23 | 31.26 | 37.49
------------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------
In Farmers’ Bulletin No. 194 of the United States Department of
Agriculture is given the table on page 34 to show the result of
analyses of alfalfa seed imported within a period of six months.
----------+-------+------+-----+--------+---------+-------+--------
| |Broken| | Number | Number |Alfalfa|
| | seed | | of weed|of dodder| seed |
Laboratory|Alfalfa| and | Weed|seeds in|seeds in |that’ll| Amount
test No. | seed | dirt |seeds|1 pound |1 pound | grow |imported
----------+-------+------+-----+--------+---------+-------+--------
| _Per_ | _Per_|_Per_| | | _Per_ |
| _Ct._ | _Ct._|_Ct._| | | _Ct._ |_Pounds_
21000 | 93.38 | 5.8 | 0.82| 2,160 | .... | 63.73 | 4,000
21001 | 92.1 | 7.34| .56| 900 | .... | 59.17 | 30,800
21002 | 82.28 | 15.92| 1.8 | 3,060 | .... | 66.64 | 5,500
21003 | 84.72 | 11.58| 3.7 | 3,420 | .... | 57.39 | 32,877
21004 | 89.16 | 8.78| 2.06| 2,700 | 90 | 62.18 | 14,700
21005 | 74.06 | 21.38| 4.56| 15,928 | 2,520 | 53.87 | 7,613
21006 | 58.74 | 34.46| 6.8 | 32,420 | 5,490 | 28.78 | 33,075
21007 | 86.12 | 11.34| 2.54| 8,964 | 270 | 61.36 | 8,779
21008 | 73.02 | 22.32| 4.66| 12,829 | 90 | 49.65 | 32,963
21009 | 96.82 | 2.72| .46| 990 | .... | 85.2 | 33,000
21010 | 86.2 | 12.1 | 1.7 | 3,060 | .... | 55.59 | 30,800
21011 | 96.96 | 2.16| .88| 1,710 | .... | 87.26 | 5,500
21012 | 88.84 | 3.98| 7.18| 17,299 | .... | 43.2 | 33,000
21013 | 96.24 | 2.66| 1.1 | 3,510 | .... | 77.47 | 21,340
21014 | 91.06 | 5.44| 3.5 | 7,650 | .... | 62.14 | 8,778
21015 | 93.44 | 2.7 | 3.86| 8,526 | .... | 77.08 | 33,000
21016 | 77.78 | 16.04| 6.18| 16,435 | 360 | 47.83 | 33,000
21017 | 81.52 | 12.18| 6.3 | 21,848 | 720 | 7.13 | 16,280
21018 | 69.48 | 23.78| 6.74| 23,082 | 810 | 5.21 | 38,172
21019 | 96.5 | 3.04| .46| 1,080 | .... | 88.53 | 44,000
21020 | 96.4 | 2.82| .78| 1,260 | .... | 91.82 | 44,000
21021 | 94.4 | 5.04| .56| 1,620 | .... | 90.15 | 72,600
21022 | 24.5 | 70.96| 4.54| 21,070 | 4,950 | 6.34 | 12,540
21023 | 94.14 | 1.8 | 4.06| 3,780 | .... | 73.43 | 234
21024 | 94.58 | 3.44| 1.98| 3,060 | .... | 51.78 | 5,500
21031 | 87.72 | 11.02| 1.26| 4,140 | 90 | 81.14 | 143,000
21032 | 90.56 | 8.08| 1.36| 3,420 | .... | 76.29 | 33,000
21033 | 89.04 | 10.5 | .46| 1,260 | 90 | 84.7 | 6,673
21035 | 72.36 | 27.1 | .54| 270 | .... | 64.58 | 13,516
----------+-------+------+-----+--------+---------+-------+--------
Bearing also upon the adulterations, impurities and defectives found in
alfalfa seed sold in the markets, extracts from reports of tests made at
the Wooster, Ohio station (Bul. No. 142) are exceedingly interesting. In
fifteen samples bought, each of one dollar’s worth, the quantity of pure
germinable seed was found to range from 5.1 to 9.3 pounds; the number of
noxious seeds found in a dollar’s worth of that bought as alfalfa seed
ranged from 360 to 185,940. Seven of the fifteen one-dollar samples each
carried more than 23,000 noxious seeds.
Seed bought at $7.80 per bushel showed as low as 61.2 per cent that was
germinable, of which the _actual_ cost was $12.74 per bushel. None of
the fifteen samples had less than 77 per cent of germinable seed. One
pound sample contained 21,728 noxious seeds, of which 18,144 were
lamb’s-quarter or pigweeds; the same pound also had 3126 seeds of
dodder. Another pound carried 6420 seeds of crab grass, and one had 3325
seeds of foxtail.
The station authorities recommend that no alfalfa seed be sown until
carefully screened through a screen fine enough to remove dodder seeds.
Wire sieves or screens with twenty meshes to the inch are found to serve
the purpose.
ADULTERANTS DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED
As a further and more thorough discussion of the frequent adulterants,
Prof. H. F. Roberts, botanist of the Kansas experiment station, has
kindly prepared, with illustrations, for this volume the quoted
statements which follow here:
“The immense and steadily increasing value of alfalfa as a forage crop
in the United States, and the high price of the seed, make the securing
of sound, pure seed a matter of supreme importance to farmers, and
render it equally important for them to be able to recognize, by sight,
the presence in alfalfa seed of the adulterants and seeds of certain
weeds most commonly known to occur. There is conclusive evidence that an
amount of adulteration and substitution is actually practiced with
alfalfa seed. It is usually charged that this is done abroad,
especially, as is alleged, in Germany.
“The writer has been informed that, to a limited extent, the practice
exists in America. The chief adulterant used is the seed of the Yellow
trefoil, or, as it is sometimes called, Hop clover or Black medick. (See
illustrations opposite pages 26 and 32.) About fifty species of plants
are known as ‘medicks’ or, scientifically, _Medicago_; but it so happens
that the only perennial species among them is alfalfa, which goes under
the botanical name of _Medicago sativa_, (p. 1). Other species such as
Yellow trefoil (_Medicago lupulina_) (p. 38) and Bur clover (_Medicago
denticulata_,) while they possess some forage value and are useful to a
limited extent, lack, for the most part, the lush, abundant growth of
alfalfa itself, and are notably inferior through the fact of their
annual habit. It is because of its perennial nature, therefore, as well
as on account of its rank, succulent growth, that no species of annual
leguminous plant can hope to compete with alfalfa for a moment in
importance. This means, then, that any substitute for alfalfa seed, or
adulteration of it with the seed of another related species, such as
Yellow trefoil or Bur clover, is distinctly a fraud of serious
character, despite the fact that the adulterants are plants that make
fair pasturage and have some forage value. They are merely annuals,
ending their life with the season, whereas a field of alfalfa should
live twenty years or more, under right conditions.
THE CHIEF ADULTERANT
“At present, as stated, Yellow trefoil is the chief adulterant used in
American alfalfa seed. A number of cases, indeed, of complete or almost
complete substitution of Yellow trefoil for alfalfa seed have come to
the writer’s attention within the past year. It is important, therefore,
for farmers to know the characteristic marks of distinction between the
seed of alfalfa and of its chief adulterants. What are the chief
characteristics of alfalfa seed? Facing page 13 are samples of pure
alfalfa seed, photographed under a magnification of five diameters. It
will be noted that seeds of three general types exist: (1) A
kidney-shaped type, marked ‘a’ in the illustration; (2) a type in which
one end terminates in an acute wedge, marked ‘e’; and (3) a type that is
round or nearly so, marked ‘b’. These types clearly illustrated,
arranged for comparison in parallel rows are shown opposite page 44. See
also page 27. It should be noticed that type 2 is the most
characteristic and frequent, and that the perfectly round type is
extremely rare. This angular slant toward one tip of the seed is found
nowhere among any of the adulterants. Neither does the kidney shape of
seed occur, except in Bur clover; and, in that case, the difference in
the size of the seeds of the two species is sufficient to distinguish
them, in most instances.
[Illustration: Yellow Trefoil: Black Medic: Hop Clover (_Medicago
lupulina_)]
“It is when we consider the round or roundish type of alfalfa seed that
there is difficulty in distinguishing from alfalfa the seeds of Yellow
trefoil and of Sweet clover (illus. opp. p. 26), which latter frequently
occurs as a weed seed, and possibly in some cases in sufficient quantity
to be suspected as an adulterant. By comparison of the seeds of alfalfa
with the two adulterants just mentioned, (p. 26) the resemblances and
differences of the three species will become evident. In general the
seeds of Yellow trefoil are shorter and rounder than those of alfalfa,
the largest seeds of trefoil measuring 0.0629 inch wide by 0.0897 inch
long; whereas the largest alfalfa seeds measure 0.0653 inch wide by
0.1153 inch long; so that the largest alfalfa seeds are a trifle wider
and more than a third again as long as the largest trefoil seeds. The
smallest seeds of Yellow trefoil are usually plumper and shorter than
those of alfalfa (0.0511 inch wide by 0.0291 inch long, as compared with
0.0496 inch wide by 0.0751 inch long in alfalfa); nevertheless, among
both the small and the large seeds, so far as the criterion of size
goes, individuals occur that equally well belong to either species, and
the average differences in size are not so great as the differences
found on comparing the largest and the smallest seeds of the two
species, the average for the trefoil being 0.0574 inch by 0.0799 inch,
and for alfalfa 0.0582 inch by 0.0944 inch. So it will be seen at once
that while trefoil seeds as a rule are smaller, shorter and rounder than
those of alfalfa, the rule is transgressed by many individuals. We must,
therefore, turn to the form and general outline of the seed. A farmer
can detect at once an attempt to substitute wholly Yellow trefoil for
alfalfa seed by the fact that _in no case will the kidney-shaped or the
regular-pointed types of seed be found in trefoil, whereas these always
occur in alfalfa_. (Illustrated opp p. 26.)
“In the more common cases, where adulteration rather than complete
substitution is practiced, detection is more difficult--is practically
impossible, in fact, without the aid of a lens or magnifying glass
having a power of about fifteen diameters. There are many seeds of
trefoil which can scarcely be distinguished from certain rounded seeds
of alfalfa. Generally, however, the trefoil seed has a little projection
or “beak” on the middle line of the seed, just back of the scar marking
where the seed was attached to the pod. This is rarely found in alfalfa.
“Bur clover as an adulterant is probably not so frequently used as
Yellow trefoil, since the larger size of its seed renders detection
easy. Were it not for this fact, Bur clover would be a most effective
adulterant, because its seeds resemble those of alfalfa more closely
than do those of Yellow trefoil. There are, of course, smaller seeds of
Bur clover and larger seeds of alfalfa that approximate each other in
size, but the average Bur clover seeds measure 0.0604 inch by 0.1188
inch, as compared with an average for alfalfa of only 0.0582 inch by
0.0944 inch.
“So far as the plants of Yellow trefoil and Bur clover are concerned,
they are easily distinguishable from alfalfa. Both are of lower growth,
as a rule, than alfalfa. Both have wider leaflets, which, in Bur clover,
are like broad, inverted wedges. The flowers of these plants are yellow,
and are borne in scanty clusters. The pods are wholly unlike those of
alfalfa. Alfalfa has a spiral pod of two or three turns (p. 32),
containing as many as five or six seeds. Yellow trefoil has a straight
pod (p. 32), containing but one seed. Bur clover has a coiled pod (p.
33), but covered with bristly projections that give the plant its name.
Where adulteration or substitution is practiced, some of the pods are
very apt to occur in the bulk seed, and they can then easily be
identified and distinguished from those of alfalfa.
“Seed of Sweet clover seems to occur frequently in western-grown alfalfa
seed (p. 26). Sweet clover (illustrated in this book) grows to a height
frequently of from four to six feet, bearing small, white flowers on
slender spikes three or four inches long. Unfortunately, and unlike
Yellow trefoil and Bur clover, Sweet clover is generally rejected by
stock. On this account, it is a plant of no generally established value
for hay or as pasture, although, in some instances, it is successfully
used. The seeds of Sweet clover are of a golden yellow when ripe; those
of alfalfa, trefoil and Bur clover being greenish yellow. The seed coat
of Sweet clover seed is covered with minute elevations, while alfalfa
seed is smooth. The seeds of Sweet clover (p. 26) are rounder and
plumper than those of alfalfa, and have a very pronounced groove between
the main body of the seed and the ridge which marks the location of the
rootlet of the young plant within. It is this ridge that in alfalfa
seeds runs off, as a rule, in a marked slant, but which in both trefoil
and Sweet clover, especially in the latter, forms a well-rounded curve
to the tip of the seed. No pointed or kidney-shaped seeds are ever seen
in Sweet clover. (See illus. opp. p. 26.)
A COMMON WEED IN IMPORTED ALFALFA SEED
“It remains to mention the most common weed found in imported alfalfa
seed--the English or Ribbed plantain, or, as it is more generally called
in the West, Buck-horn or Rib grass. It is a difficult weed to
eradicate, lots of seed containing any noticeable percentage of it
should be rejected. (See illus. opp. p. 13.)
“The farmer is often to blame for the poor seed of which he makes
complaint. Prime alfalfa seed is expensive, and a cheap grade will
inevitably be poor in quality, containing much dead seed, rubbish, and
the seeds of many kinds of weeds. Where ‘cheap’ alfalfa seed is demanded
it will always be sold, and buyers need not be surprised by its quality.
On the other hand, there is no excuse or palliation for the offense of
selling, under the name and at the price of standard alfalfa seed, seed
of substituted species. It is the duty of seed dealers to ascertain
beforehand the character and genuineness of seed that they sell under
any given name, and this applies to the retailers as well as to the
wholesale dealers. On the other hand, farmers cannot expect to obtain
the best seed unless they are willing to pay the price it brings.”
DODDER SEED
Dodder seeds are somewhat smaller than alfalfa seeds (pp. 45 and 47),
but are not separated from them except by careful recleaning;
consequently, they are often sown along with the alfalfa seed,
especially in that which has been imported. If a field is badly
infested, it should be plowed up and devoted to some other crop for a
few years. Prof. F. H. Hillman of Nevada (Bul. No. 47) says there are
several kinds that infest alfalfa, but two kinds are especially common
and destructive in this country. _Cuscuta epithymum_ is the commoner.
“The seeds of this (p. 47) are very small, and are almost sure to escape
detection on casual examination of the samples; yet, once recognized
under the lens, their presence may be easily discovered. They are so
much smaller than alfalfa seeds that the use of a sieve of twenty meshes
per inch separates them from the latter when only free dodder seeds are
present. Not only are various other small weed seeds disposed of in the
process, but little if any alfalfa seed worth buying is lost. The few
ripened flowers of dodder retaining matured seeds, which sometimes pass
the thresher uninjured, may be removed by proper fanning. It is safe to
say that no purchaser of alfalfa seed can afford to neglect sifting his
seed carefully with a twenty-mesh sieve, which is the mesh the writer
recommends for the separation of this kind of dodder from alfalfa seed.
“_Cuscuta arvensis_ is another dodder as destructive when once
established. Its seeds (p. 47) seem to be less common, however. They are
larger than the preceding, many of them being practically the same size
as the smaller, more rounded alfalfa seeds, which they often strikingly
resemble. Thus they are hard to detect, and cannot be removed without
the loss of much small alfalfa seed. This should be the more dreaded of
the two dodders, because alfalfa seed infested with seeds of _Cuscuta
epithymum_ can be made practically free from them with comparatively
little loss and expense. Not so, however, with seed containing _Cuscuta
arvensis_, which should not be purchased at any price. Dodder seeds can
scarcely be regarded as an adulterant, yet as an impurity they are very
common and most objectionable.” (See illustrations opp. pp. 45, 46 and
47.)
_CHAPTER V._
Soil and Seeding
VARIATE, YET UNIFORM
In this double title we have a case of the widest variations and the
most positive and rigid uniformity. Alfalfa may be grown in almost every
possible kind of soil and under almost all soil conditions (save two),
but omitting these the seeding, including the tilth of the ground, is
based, so far as any future success is concerned, on perfect
cultivation. The dictum, “Alfalfa must have a dry, warm, sandy loam,
very rich” has become obsolete, as already pointed out.
There are just two soil conditions that seem absolutely against the
growth of alfalfa. The first is a soil constantly wet. The common
remark, “Alfalfa will not stand ‘wet feet’,” seems to be the expression
of a law. It does not do well where the water is nearer to the surface
than six feet, or where in winter water will stand on the ground for
over forty-eight hours. This invariably smothers the plants; in fact it
usually kills any crop. If water flows over the field for some such
time, due to a freshet, the alfalfa is often found uninjured if too much
soil has not been deposited on and around the plants. Even in such
instances fields have been saved by a disking once or twice, but it is
wholly unwise to sow on a field subject to overflow, or one where water
rises to the surface in winter or spring; likewise on a field so flat
that water will not run off in time of a heavy rain or promptly drain
out through the sub-surface. The time is rapidly coming everywhere when
the intelligent farmer will not try to raise any crop on such a field,
undrained. The alfalfa roots will find their way to moisture if given
the right surface conditions. There are profitable alfalfa meadows in
parts of Kansas where it is eighty feet to water, but there has not yet
been found one that is prosperous where water comes close to the
surface, or where it stands on the ground in winter.
[Illustration: =Three General Types of Alfalfa Seed=
The right-hand column, kidney-shaped, a characteristic form, but not so
common as the type in the central column. The left-hand column
approaches more nearly the rounded type of Sweet clover. Magnification
five diameters]
[Illustration: Dodder Seed Magnified]
[Illustration: Alfalfa Seed Magnified]
The other kind of soil where alfalfa refuses to grow is that in which
there is too much acidity. This is often the case where corn and wheat
have been raised for many years, thus robbing the soil of much lime; a
condition that may be remedied by an application of lime to the land
just before sowing the alfalfa, harrowing it in beforehand or, if the
seed is to be broadcasted, the lime may be applied just before sowing,
when once harrowing will suffice for both, or it may be sown with a
drill--500 to 1000 pounds per acre.
A simple test for acidity is to make a deep cut in the ground with a
knife, pressing the earth slightly apart; then push a piece of litmus
paper into the opening and press the earth together. Leave the paper
there for a few hours. If upon examination the litmus paper has a pink
appearance it is proof of acidity, and this, as already said, may best
be remedied with lime.
SOIL PREPARATION
With the only two negative points considered, the more important
conditions upon which success will depend may be discussed. One chief
essential is the advance preparation. Many of the most successful
growers begin their preparations two or three years before they sow the
seed. There must be, by rights, the most perfect physical condition of
the soil. It should have been plowed deep for at least two years, and in
most fields in the central and northern states a two- or three-inch
subsoiling along with a seven- or eight-inch plowing will be very
helpful.
If corn is to precede a spring sowing, the ground should have a liberal
dressing of stable manure plowed under for humus, to encourage
earthworms and to introduce the particular bacteria so essential to
alfalfa’s welfare or at least furnish favorable conditions for bacteria,
and the harrow should follow the plow each day. The soil’s condition
should be like that for a garden. Care should be taken never to work
with the ground when too wet, as such working almost inevitably results
in clods and baked soil. The corn should be cultivated often, and a
liberal sowing of cowpeas just before the last cultivation, which should
be shallow, has been found quite helpful. This crop will repress and
take the place of weeds, furnish a rich food for fattening pigs or lambs
after the corn is cut, add fertility to the soil, and also introduce
bacteria similar to the bacteria for the alfalfa. The cowpea, being a
legume, prepares the way for alfalfa, its near relative.
[Illustration: Dodder Plant on an Alfalfa Stem]
[Illustration: =Dodder=, (_Cuscuta arvensis_)
(a) A group of seeds (enlarged), showing the prevailing forms; (a, b,
and c) individual seeds having somewhat the form of clover seeds; (d) a
group showing the natural size]
[Illustration: Alfalfa and Dodder Seed. Actual Size]
[Illustration: =Dodder=, (_Cuscuta epithymum_)
(a) A group of seeds showing comparative forms and relative size
(enlarged); (b) a group showing the natural size; (c) the embryo removed
from the seed, showing the form it usually assumes; (d) a section of a
seed, showing the manner in which the embryo lies imbedded in the
endosperm]
KEEP DOWN THE WEEDS
It is always timely to emphasize the very great importance of keeping
down weeds in the cornfield where alfalfa is to be sowed the next
spring. If corn is husked from the fields, the stalks should not be
pastured except when the ground is fully frozen. Later they should be
thoroughly broken, raked and burned, to leave the land in the best
condition for spring work. If the corn is cut and fodder hauled off, the
stubs should be broken in cold weather by a pole or other drag, and
raked and burned as recommended for the stalks. This adapts the ground
for disking and harrowing early in March. Then every ten days the field
should be disked or harrowed to conserve moisture, to start weeds and
then kill them, and to bring the ground into the desirable tilth.
Ordinarily, in the central states, sowing may be done early in April,
while in the South this may be done by the middle of March, and in
Wisconsin and Canada by the last of April or early May, although the
dates are variable. Many report seeding in Kansas the middle of May,
obtaining a clipping in July and a hay crop in September. Others report
sowing in March and cutting a hay crop in June. Some Wisconsin reports
say that the first of June is early enough, while others in that state
and in Minnesota prefer to sow two or three weeks earlier, and still
others in Wisconsin sow in April. The important things to keep in mind
are to have the soil right and the weeds disposed of, and to sow when
the weather and moisture and conditions are right. Alfalfa is a child of
the sun; permanent shade from any source is its enemy, and when young it
is not a good fighter against adversaries of any sort. More failures
are due to weeds than to any other one cause, and unfortunately all the
weeds do not grow on the land of the farmer who is shiftless or
neglectful. The latter is so benevolent as to permit his weeds to
scatter their seeds to the fields of his neighbors.
If a spring sowing is to be made on wheat ground, the land will be
helped by a liberal dressing of manure immediately after the harvest,
and by plowing and harrowing at once; then sowing about the last of
August to rye or wheat for fall and winter pasturage, and to prevent the
soil from leaching or washing. In the spring the land should be disked
and harrowed for alfalfa, keeping in mind the point emphasized in the
preceding paragraph. Instead of the rye or wheat, cowpeas may be sowed
after the wheat harvest; thus both fertility and bacteria will be added
to the soil, and the farmer have a valuable pasture crop for pigs or
lambs. If the season is extremely favorable, a hay crop may be cut in
early October.
If potatoes are to precede a spring sowing of alfalfa, more than usual
care should be taken to keep the field clean of weeds. Some farmers do
well by sowing millet with the last cultivation of potatoes, leaving the
potatoes in the ground until after the millet is harvested, and when the
crop is dug the land is free from weeds. Then it may be harrowed or
disked and seeded to rye for winter pasture. Some plow the potato ground
in the fall and sow to wheat or rye. Certainly if weeds are present the
ground should be plowed as soon as the potatoes are dug. The idea is to
secure a fine seed bed and have the ground free from weeds, the great
curse of the American farm. All things considered there is probably no
crop which leaves the soil in finer physical condition for
alfalfa-sowing than millet, and none that is more unsatisfactory for a
like purpose than sorghum or Kafir corn that was planted in hills or
rows.
A clover sod for a spring sowing should be plowed in September or
October, disked or harrowed, and not infrequently a light sowing of rye
for winter pasture is feasible. In early spring use disk and tooth
harrows on the land. It is excellent if a liberal application of rotted
stable manure is plowed under with the clover sod. Usually it is better
to follow clover with a corn or potato crop before seeding to alfalfa.
FALL SOWING
Fall sowing presents fewer difficulties than spring sowing. Corn is not
the preceding crop and hence the weed problem is not so formidable.
Usually a fall sowing follows millet or oats, cowpeas or potatoes.
Almost any crop except the sorghums may be grown to precede alfalfa for
a fall sowing; these should not be as they consume too much moisture. If
possible, put on a dressing of stable manure the preceding winter; plow
deep in the spring and work to a fine tilth for the summer crop.
South of the latitude of 40 degrees cowpeas is one of the best
preparatory crops. They are legumes, and the bacteria that live on their
roots are similar to those upon the alfalfa roots; they are also
nitrogen-gatherers, taking nitrogen from the air as does the alfalfa,
and thus they prepare the soil for alfalfa. Besides, cowpeas are a
valuable forage, the hay being worth almost as much, pound for pound, as
that of alfalfa. When cut off they leave the ground ready for disking
and other preparation. Millet is also excellent for this purpose,
leaving the soil unusually friable. Potatoes make a satisfactory
preparatory crop, but the danger from them too often is neglect to keep
the weeds down. As soon as the land is free, it should be disked and
harrowed, and this repeated about every ten days until the time for
sowing.
RECENT PLOWING NOT DESIRABLE
It is seen that plowing for alfalfa just preceding the seeding is not
recommended. Plowing leaves the sub-surface too loose, thus depriving
the roots of a sufficiently firm footing and making a full sowing more
liable to harm from freezing and thawing, and the spring sowing to harm
from a dry summer. The necessity of the most perfect surface conditions
cannot be to often emphasized, and this too includes considerable
compactness rather than a too light or ashy condition. There must be no
clods, no stiff and stubborn humps.
If alfalfa is to follow clover, and to be seeded in the fall, the sod
should be broken early after the clover is harvested and each day’s
plowing harrowed that day; then the field disked and cross-disked and
harrowed again. After that it should be disked, lapping half, every ten
or fifteen days until time for seeding. Alfalfa may follow timothy if
the sod is not too old and stubborn, and it may be treated the same as
clover sod.
INTRODUCE BACTERIA BY PREPARATORY SOWING
Another form of preparation followed by many successful growers, men who
do not complain about alfalfa not doing well “here,” is the sowing of a
few pounds of alfalfa seed on the field two or three years before it is
intended to sow for a permanent crop. Mr. Joseph E. Wing, of central
western Ohio, a widely known farmer, stockman, and writer on matters
agricultural, uses alfalfa in a regular rotation, and two years before
he is ready to sow it on a given field as a main crop, sows clover and
timothy along with two or three pounds of alfalfa seed, for a pasture
crop. Thus the bacteria are introduced, and when the pasture is plowed
for the full sowing of alfalfa, the disking and harrowing that follow
distribute the bacteria throughout the soil, and the probabilities of a
good stand are greatly enhanced. He sometimes sows two or three pounds
of alfalfa seed to the acre with a wheat crop two years before he is to
sow the field entirely to alfalfa. Another, in a state where the
experiment station director still declares alfalfa-raising to be
doubtful, writes that he has not had a failure in a decade, and his plan
is to precede alfalfa with winter wheat, sowing a little alfalfa seed
with the wheat, probably three pounds to the acre, and the next fall
after giving the land a thorough preparation he sows fifteen pounds of
alfalfa seed to the acre. Another reports pleasing results in two
different fields by sowing in the spring five pounds of alfalfa seed
with clover; in two years the alfalfa stood thick on the ground, having
crowded out the clover. If these plans introduce the bacteria into the
soil, it may be wondered why it would not be equally helpful to sow two
or three pounds of alfalfa seed per acre with the oats or millet in the
spring, preparatory to the thorough seeding to alfalfa in the fall.
Another man, whose profit in raising alfalfa has been marked, reports
that his soil is very waxy and hard to deal with. He has met this
trouble by listing his ground in the fall and leaving it thus open for
hard freezing throughout the winter. He then disks and cross-disks in
the spring, putting the soil in fine tilth, and sowing millet as a
preparatory crop. He has occasionally sowed alfalfa in the spring,
following the fall listing and later freezing of his ground.
ALL CROPS DEMAND CONDITIONS
Alfalfa, like corn and cotton, demands certain conditions of the soil
and certain constituents in that soil. Every crop demands its certain
foods. All crops except alfalfa and the other legumes obtain practically
all their food, including nitrogen, from the soil. The latter crops use
nitrogen but get it from the air. Alfalfa takes nitrogen from the soil
only during the first few months of its growth, and thereafter not only
takes its own necessary supply from the air, but a large surplus which
it stores in the soil, available for whatever crop may follow. Other
crops take much nitrogen from the soil, but contribute nothing to its
enrichment.
SPRING OR FALL SOWING--WHICH?
This has been a much argued question with experimenters. Possibly it
will be found to be of minor importance in itself, depending more upon
other conditions than the season. From the northern tier of states many
reports favor spring sowing, yet from each come letters in favor of fall
sowing. Several experiment stations in the South are in favor of spring
sowing, yet report satisfactory results from fall seeding. It seems
pretty well established, however, that fall sowing is safer in the
central latitude states, say including Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas,
Colorado and Utah, and states within the same parallels.
In other states prevailing opinions favor spring sowing. Nevertheless,
when all conditions are understood, fall sowing seems likely to become
the established practice throughout the United States. This is in line
with the system for the more staple crops and common rotation; it gives
opportunity to bring the ground into better condition; the preparation
and sowing come at the most convenient season, and one of relatively
greater leisure; there is less interruption by unfavorable weather; the
soil, responding more readily to surface cultivation, permits the work
to be done with less danger of surface water retarding normal root
development, and the annual weeds being dead they cannot interfere with
the first growth of the alfalfa. Sown in the fall, with time to secure
some growth for winter protection, alfalfa will be ready to respond to
the first call of spring, and for the mower early in June. Moreover, if
it fails from freezing or other cause, little crop-time is lost. The
farmer has but to disk and harrow in April or early May, and sow half as
much seed as he sowed in the fall, and he will have prospect of a
cutting in eighty or ninety days, at an expenditure of but few pounds of
seed and a little labor.
DISADVANTAGES OF SPRING SOWING
Ordinarily, if a farmer sows in the spring, he has his old enemy, the
weeds, to contend with. If the season be damp and cloudy, the alfalfa
may not grow fast, but weeds will. Therefore, June may see him mowing to
retard a rampant growth of weeds instead of gathering a profitable
cutting of prime hay. It is not improbable that he may be doing the same
in July or in September, thus losing a whole season. Again, the spring
preparation comes when the farmer needs to be working his corn and
potato land; hence he is likely to slight or neglect the careful
preparation of the alfalfa ground and so do a poor job, with, in such
cases, the usual result of a “poor stand.” Then too, the frequent rains
interfere with regular disking and harrowing and the weeds may obtain a
start the farmer cannot check. In most cases fall sowing means three
cuttings the following year. In many instances spring sowing means no
crop the first season, although better farming will gain a September
crop, while the best farming, with no weeds, may give two if not three
crops; not heavy ones, perhaps, but of no inconsiderable value.
Commenting on spring sowing in the more northern states, Henry Wallace,
editor of _Wallaces’ Farmer_, says:
“Our own experience in growing alfalfa both in Nebraska and Iowa has
taught us that it is a waste of time and labor to sow in the spring. If
sown in the spring without a nurse crop, it will have to be mowed twice,
probably three times, to keep down the weeds, and even then it will not
be in as good condition as if a crop of early corn or even oats was
taken off, and the ground put in fine condition and seeded in August.
“In 1904 we sowed in the spring 250 acres of alfalfa on our Nebraska
farm, and some twenty or thirty acres of it was washed in ridges by a
very heavy rain immediately after. We reseeded the vacant spaces in the
fall and later could see no difference between the fall sowing and the
spring sowing. We did the same thing on one of our Iowa farms, sowing in
the spring and mowing three times. Another piece was sowed in August.
The August sowing was much better than the spring sowing. It should be
said, however, that the land was richer and the difference was therefore
not all due to the time of sowing. So long as Kansas farmers continued
to sow their alfalfa in the spring they had but partial success, owing
to the fact that Crab grass and other grasses will come up in the early
fall and smother out the spring sowing. By using some other crop the
first part of the season, then putting the land in fine condition in the
month of August or even by September 1st, an alfalfa crop can be started
which will have a strong enough growth to smother out the weeds the next
spring.
“We don’t know that we would insist on this so strongly for northern
Iowa and Minnesota, but certainly from the latitude of the Northwestern
railroad in Iowa, south, and corresponding latitude in other states, we
would abandon spring sowing and sow alfalfa on well prepared ground in
August. We would not, however, plow the ground for this fall sowing, but
put the soil in first-class condition for a spring crop, then use a disk
and harrow for the fall preparation.”
SEEDING BY DRILL OR BROADCAST?
Here too, there is a variety of opinions, all based on experience. Those
who object most to drills may have used poor implements, with feeding
gears not well regulated, or possibly they have not known how to use the
drills. Many who object to the broadcast method have had little training
or skill in it. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that given soil in
fine tilth, and a good drill rightly adjusted, there will be a more
even, and hence a more economical distribution and a better and more
uniform covering of the seed. It is also claimed that drilling secures a
more uniform distribution of soil moisture. The general opinion is that
by sowing with a drill, properly regulated, one can safely use five
pounds less of seed per acre. Some alfalfa raisers use a wheelbarrow
seeder; others use a kind of swing seeder strapped to the sower’s body;
still others, who have had training in the old-fashioned method of
broadcasting, declare it the best, but the experiment stations of
practically all the states, and most up-to-date farmers, favor the use
of the press drill. There are now on the market different types of
alfalfa seeders which can be attached or are already attached to the
ordinary grain drill, and that will distribute the seed in any desired
quantities per acre with broadcast effect or leave it in drill rows as
may be preferred. At the Kansas Experiment Station success has followed
broadcasting, and cross-drilling gave no particular advantage.
HOW MUCH SEED TO THE ACRE?
Reports of seed sown, varying from six to sixty pounds to the acre,
indicate much ignorance of the nature of the alfalfa plant; or a great
recklessness and extravagance. Twenty pounds to the acre, if all seeds
germinated, would mean 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 plants, whereas a stand of
500,000 is ample. Most of the experiment stations favor twenty to thirty
pounds to the acre, although several experts at these stations insist
that fifteen pounds of clean, germinable seed to the acre is as much as
should be sowed. Even if these all grew it would give nearly 44 plants
to the foot square of land, or four to five times as many as would
thrive after two years old. Of course the quantity may depend upon a
variety of circumstances, such as the vitality of the seed, condition of
the surface soil, condition of the subsoil as to moisture, the method of
sowing, weather conditions at the time of sowing or immediately after,
also the natural fertility of the soil and the bacterial life present,
or at least the conditions for propagating or sustaining bacterial life.
With land prepared by sowing a few pounds of seed six months or a year
preceding, with a heavy application of stable manure plowed under six
months before, perfect soil preparation, normal moisture, and clean
seed, testing ninety per cent germinable, there should be no need for
more than ten pounds to the acre. Disking that the field should have
later will split the crowns and many new stalks will be sent up; so that
in a few years a square foot of surface will not accommodate more than
six to ten robust, vigorous plants, and having these the ideal stand has
pretty nearly been attained. One plant has been known to send out as
many as 360 branches from its single main root, resembling in form a
spreading bush. A successful farmer in Geary county, Kansas, who has
been raising alfalfa for twenty years, seldom sows more than six pounds
of seed to the acre and never more than ten. A prominent Ohio farmer
usually sows but ten, and never over twelve or fifteen pounds to the
acre, although he has always introduced alfalfa bacteria into the soil
one or two years before ready to give it a full seeding. Of strictly
good seed, well cleaned, twelve pounds would likely be too much rather
than too little, other conditions being right.
WITH OR WITHOUT A NURSE CROP?
The practice of sowing a nurse crop with alfalfa was inaugurated when
the nature of the plant was not as well understood as now. It was also
somewhat on the theory too that “a half-loaf is better than no bread.”
It began when there was a good deal of doubt about “getting a stand,”
and the farmer thought no doubt that a crop of oats or barley would pay
for the plowing even if the alfalfa failed. While the practice is
continued by many, the prevalent later method is to provide no nurse
crop. Few who have abandoned the nurse crop have returned to it. The
alfalfa plant does not need protection from the sun, nor is it bettered
by dividing any of the soil moisture or fertility with those of another
crop. On the other hand, if alfalfa is sowed in the spring, it is
important that it obtain an early start in order that its roots can
quickly work their way down into the moisture of the subsoil, against
the dry days of July and August. When a nurse crop of any vigor is
removed the alfalfa plants are likely to be found weak, spindling and
with little root growth; the nurse crop also has taken up some of the
soil nitrogen needed by the young alfalfa; or if the nurse crop is
heavy and has lodged, there will be left bare spots, where the alfalfa
has been smothered out.
Cutting the nurse crop is likely to be attended with no little damage to
the tender alfalfa plants by trampling their crowns into the ground, or
by breaking them off. Practically all the experiment stations favor
sowing alone. With few exceptions the second and third years have
brought heavier yields where no nurse crop was used. The theory that the
nurse crop will prevent the weeds choking the alfalfa is apparently, as
a rule, not well founded. In the first place alfalfa should not be sown
on foul land, and in the second place proper disking and harrowing, at
near intervals for four or six weeks before sowing, will disturb or kill
far more weeds than can any nurse crop. Besides, the oats or barley sown
as a nurse will when cut leave weeds in good growth, or dormant and
ready to spring up as fast or faster than the alfalfa. No nurse crop is
ever used with fall sowing. When ground has been thoroughly prepared for
the preceding crop, and then properly cared for, and made ready for the
alfalfa by the preliminary weed destruction, it will be found advisable
to sow alfalfa alone, even in the spring.
INOCULATING THE SOIL
It has been found where alfalfa shows thrifty vigor, is making a good
stand, and is at least two years old, that on the roots are little
nodules or wart-like protuberances. On fields where the alfalfa is
unthrifty or failing to make a good stand, examination will probably
fail to discover any of these nodules. Scientists tell us that these
nodules are the homes of bacteria, microscopic vegetable organisms
obtaining their sustenance from the nitrogen of the air and the starch
of the plant; that they collect much more nitrogen than they need, the
over-supply being taken up by the alfalfa, which, after these nodules
are formed and occupied, takes no more nitrogen from the soil, but
annually stores about its roots more from the air, thus adding to the
nitrogen supply in the soil instead of taking from it as do all other
farm crops except the legumes. Each legume--clover, alfalfa, cowpeas,
etc.--has a distinct species of bacteria, or at least bacteria with a
distinct development, excepting, as has been found, that Sweet clover
(_Melilotus alba_) and Bur clover (_Medicago denticulata_) develop the
same species as does alfalfa.
BUYING INFECTED SOIL
Several methods of preparing land for alfalfa by introducing its
peculiar bacteria have been suggested, and practiced to some extent.
Many farmers and experimenters have used with success infected soil upon
their lands; soil from established alfalfa fields, or that from along
the roads or creeks where the Sweet clover or Bur clover has been
growing. This soil is spread upon the field or sown with alfalfa just
before the seeding. If the drill is to be used the inoculated soil is
spread on and harrowed in. If the seed is to be broadcasted, the
infected soil may be harrowed in with the seed. It is better, however,
to harrow this infected soil in thoroughly before seeding. Experiment
stations recommend an application of two hundred pounds of such soil to
every acre, but good results have been secured from half that quantity.
This will depend very much upon the nature of the soil, and the subsoil
especially. Many fields seem to have these bacteria waiting for the
coming of alfalfa. Land that has been well manured and contains abundant
humus, and land that is light and friable will usually respond to the
bacterial life attached to the alfalfa seed. Most farmers who have
established fields will sell soil to their neighbors, which should be
from the top six or eight inches, and include roots, stubble and earth.
Both Sweet clover and Bur clover are found in almost every neighborhood
in the northern states, while the latter is very general in the South.
Some alfalfa raisers make a business of selling and shipping inoculated
soil. Probably any experiment station will ship small quantities to
farmers within its state, at about the cost of digging, sacking and
delivering at the railroad station. Therefore, if a farmer desires to
use it, little labor or expense is attached to doing so. There is
reason, however, to doubt the need of this method in any of the western
or central western states where the suggestions mentioned in the first
part of the chapter are closely followed. No doubt there are advantages
in using it in most states east of the Mississippi river, in order to
hasten the development of the bacteria and to make a good stand more
certain. Preparation one or two years in advance as already described,
by a light sowing of alfalfa seed for introducing its peculiar bacteria,
is less expensive, and requires less labor and carries no risk of
introducing the seeds of other clovers or weeds. Most farms have enough
weed seeds already.
DANGERS OF INOCULATION BY SOIL TRANSFER
Touching upon the dangers possibly resulting from inoculation by soil
transfer a bulletin from the United States Department of Agriculture has
this to suggest:
“Satisfactory inoculations have been obtained by transferring soil from
old fields on which the legume has been grown, but experience has shown
that there are dangers incident to such methods of soil transfer which
it is wise to avoid.
“The source of supply of such soil should be definitely known, and in no
case should soil be used from fields which have previously borne any
crop affected with a fungous disease, a bacterial disease, or with
nematodes. Where a rotation of crops is practiced, it is often difficult
to make sure of this factor, so that the method of soil transfer is,
under average circumstances, open to suspicion, if not to positive
objection. Numerous animal and plant parasites live in the soil for
years, and are already established in so many localities that it is
manifestly unwise to ship soil indiscriminately from one portion of the
country to another.
“The bacterial diseases of the tomato, potato, and egg plant, and the
club-root, brown rot, and wilt disease of the cabbage, all more or less
widely distributed, are readily transmitted in the soil; while in the
South and West there are the wilt diseases of cotton, melons, sweet
potatoes, cowpeas, and flax, and various nematoid and root-rot diseases
which might easily become a serious menace over areas much larger than
they now occupy if deliberately spread by the careless use of soil for
inoculation purposes. There are several insects and fungous diseases of
clover to be avoided, and various diseases of beans and peas. There is
also a disease of alfalfa, the ‘leaf spot,’ which is causing damage in
some regions. These are only a few of many diseases liable to be
transmitted in soils. The farmer should therefore be on his guard. The
danger from such sources is by no means imaginary. The Department of
Agriculture has had specific cases of such accidental distribution
reported, and if the business of selling soil for inoculation is made to
flourish by farmers purchasing without question ‘alfalfa soil,’ ‘cowpea
soil,’ etc., there is every reason to believe that experience will
demonstrate the folly of such haphazard methods.
“Of scarcely less importance is the danger of disseminating noxious
weeds and insect pests through this plan of inoculation by means of
soils. Even though weeds may not have been serious in the field, the
great number of dormant seeds, requiring but a slight change in
surroundings to produce germination, is always a menace. The enormous
damage to crops caused by introduced insects and weeds should convey a
warning and lead to caution. It is not the part of good judgment to view
the risk as a slight one.”
OTHER METHODS OF INOCULATION
There are two or three better ways of inoculating land than by using a
neighbor’s soil. Some alfalfa raisers recommend the sowing of alfalfa
meal with the seed. Another plan which appears reasonable and
practicable is for the farmer who wishes to introduce alfalfa to buy
alfalfa hay the year before and feed it to his live stock; then haul
the manure to the fields and plow it under for the crop to precede
alfalfa. It is claimed by those who have done this that a satisfactory
stand is well-nigh certain, other conditions being met. It can be said,
however, that some high authorities on this crop, men who have
experimented on many different kinds of soil and who have succeeded
under varying conditions, declare that neither soil nor seed inoculation
is necessary. It is altogether probable that if a field has been well
farmed for a few years previous to the alfalfa-sowing, with unusually
good cultivation the preceding year, a heavy application of stable
manure plowed under at least five months before, then given the proper
preparation and seeding, using seed raised in about the same latitude
and under similar conditions in which the new crop must grow, and with
seed testing ninety per cent germinable, there should be little anxiety
about the need of inoculation. Of course old, worn-out land may require
more fertilizers, restoring to the soil not only necessary nitrogen that
has been exhausted by other crops, but also the potash and phosphorus.
In eastern states it has been found advantageous also to apply a very
light top-dressing of stable manure just before sowing the seed. If lime
is deficient, that must be applied. An examination of any particular
soil will usually be made without charge by the state chemists, and the
farmer may thus approximately ascertain just what the soil will need for
alfalfa, corn, or any other crop he may desire to raise.
KEEP ON TRYING
It is important to say to the eastern farmers, especially, that there is
little difference between successful alfalfa-growing and the successful
growing of other crops. Poor farming never brings big crops, nor will
poor land produce as big yields as the more fertile. Failure to restore
to the soil the necessary elements of which it has been robbed means the
same in New York, Kansas, Virginia, or anywhere else. Every farm plant,
to prosper, must find in the soil, readily available, the elements
needed for its development. If a farmer finds the soil lacking in
elements needed for certain crops, he should either apply the deficiency
or not attempt their raising. This is true of corn or wheat, cotton, or
tobacco, no less than alfalfa.
Alfalfa needs especially nitrogen, potash and phosphorus. The average
virgin soil in the United States contains enough of these to last
several hundred years. If there had been at all times an intelligent
rotation of crops, these chemical elements would be found in just as
large proportions in the soil that has been farmed a hundred years as in
the soil never cultivated. Hence, if after trying alfalfa a man meets
with failure, he should not stop, and say, “Alfalfa won’t grow ‘here’,”
but try it again _immediately_. If he discovers a seeming failure in
March or April, he should disk and harrow and as early as possible sow
about ten pounds of seed to the acre; in many instances he will have to
clip his alfalfa in about six or eight weeks and can mow a crop of hay
in September, or possibly two hay crops in the season. There have been
various cases reported where three hay crops were secured the first
season after such cultivation, when the fields had been pronounced a
failure in March. Alfalfa may be sown on such ground as late as the
first of June if the weeds have been thoroughly subdued. Or, if it has
been sown in the spring and the weeds seem to be overtopping it in July,
mow close to the ground, rake into windrows and burn. Then disk and
harrow thoroughly and sow again. In all probability there will be
something of a crop to mow early in September, with a considerable
autumn growth to follow. If it is not desired to sow alfalfa in
midsummer, disk this ground and sow to rye or oats for pasture; then
late in August disk and put in readiness for September sowing. The
failure may have been because the soil had not enough bacteria, or
favorable environment for the bacteria. Some of the seed sowed at first
undoubtedly germinated and some bacteria were developed; enough
certainly to prepare the soil for the second sowing. It is unwise after
such a failure to go to another field or to wait for another year. It is
wiser to meet the conditions at once, and vigorously persevere.
In reference to the application of lime, mentioned on a preceding page,
it should be noted that the later experiments seem to indicate that it
is better to apply smaller quantities at shorter intervals than larger
quantities at longer intervals; also that air-slacked lime is less
caustic than the quicklime, and not so liable, when recently applied, to
harm the young plants which may come in contact with it, hence more of
the former may be used and with greater safety. Ordinarily quicklime is
considered the most beneficial.
[Illustration: =Bur Clover Pod=
Magnified six diameters]
[Illustration: =Yellow Trefoil Seed Pod=
Magnified twelve diameters]
[Illustration: =Alfalfa Seed Pod=
Magnified six diameters]
[Illustration: =Spotted Clover Pod=
Magnified six diameters]
_CHAPTER VI._
Cultivation
CLIPPING IS AN INVIGORANT
Strange as this title may seem it suggests a very important means of
securing a satisfactory stand. In fact in some parts of the South, where
the land has become very foul, it is occasionally recommended to sow the
alfalfa in rows, eighteen inches apart, for regular cultivation the
first season. After the second year the crowns will have sent up so many
stems that the surface of the ground will be well occupied. Spurrier, in
his work referred to in Chapter I, recommended drilling in rows and
cultivating the first year. But it is better to get rid of the weeds
before trying alfalfa. The cultivation here recommended is clipping,
manuring, disking and harrowing. Frequently when alfalfa is sowed in the
spring it comes up weak and spindling. In such case clip it just before
ready to bloom, having the mower sickle set rather high. If the growth
is not very heavy, leave this cutting on the ground; if quite heavy,
remove it. The field may need to be clipped again during the summer, but
the farmer can feel reasonably assured that he will have a good stand
the following spring. If the leaves turn yellow, mowing is the remedy.
If there is any sign of the “spotted leaf” disease, the mower should be
used forthwith. Of course if alfalfa comes up strong, vigorous, and
free from weeds, it should stand until blossoming is well begun and then
be mown for hay.
It should not be supposed that the purpose in clipping and allowing the
clippings to remain on the ground is primarily to make a mulch. It is to
retard the weeds, and as no other way equally convenient and economical
has presented itself, the young growths are mown and left on the ground.
In many parts of the country Crab grass (_Panicum sanguinale_) is the
plant or weed that most persistently interferes with the prosperity of
alfalfa during its first year, and frequent mowing is the remedy most
recommended and resorted to, but there are growers who maintain that
such treatment is not best. An extensive and very successful grower in
southern Kansas tells the author repeated experience has demonstrated to
his satisfaction that the advice to mow alfalfa frequently during the
first summer may under some circumstances be quite wrong. If the season
happens to be wet, and there is a rank growth of Crab grass, frequent
mowing causes the Crab grass to set in a close sod and smother out the
alfalfa. He says: “My practice has been, under these conditions, to let
the Crab grass grow with the alfalfa until matured, before mowing. The
young alfalfa will usually keep its head out sufficiently to breathe,
and will survive until the Crab grass is matured and all is cut. If
allowed to mature, the Crab grass will not start a second time, and the
alfalfa immediately springs up and occupies the ground. Where the Crab
grass is very rank it may sometimes be blown down in spots and smother
out some alfalfa, but even under these conditions one will have a much
better stand than is possible by repeated mowings. This is not mere
theory, but has been proven correct by frequent experience and close
observation of the other method during the same seasons.” Something
similar may be said of Witch-grass (_Panicum capillare_), which,
however, is less obnoxious than the Crab grass, because of not having
the habit of rooting at the joints.
In many parts of the country Crab grass (_Panicum sanguinale_) is the
plant or weed that most persistently as to make burning in the spring
seem the most feasible means of getting rid of them, and fire is
resorted to. Prof. A. M. Ten Eyck says he has seen this done a number of
times without injury to the alfalfa crowns. He, however, recommends
disking after burning, to loosen the exposed soil and leave the surface
generally in a better condition. Sowing additional seed on the ground
before such disking may do much to improve and thicken the stand.
The editor of the _Nebraska Farmer_ has been collecting information on
alfalfa culture from every section of the United States for the past ten
years, and as a result of this work unhesitatingly advances the opinion
that “nine-tenths of the failures with alfalfa have been due to failure
or neglect to cut it as should have been done when young. This is the
law of alfalfa culture; it must be cut down. And the man who has not the
courage, morally and physically, to use a mowing machine persistently
had best pass by alfalfa culture. It takes moral courage to cut baby
alfalfa; but it must be cut down to save it.”
MANURING
A light top-dressing of manure after sowing, or, in case of fall sowing,
any time during the winter, helps to conserve moisture as well as to
give the growing plants some nitrogenous food. Applying a top-dressing
of stable manure at least every second or third winter is certain to
prove profitable. If it contains coarse straw or other litter, this
should be raked and hauled off later, but before the alfalfa grows too
high, especially if the hay is intended for the city market. Many
successful growers in Kansas, who claim to cut from five to seven tons
of alfalfa hay per acre in a season apply a top-dressing of manure every
winter. The highest yields reported from eastern states are where this
practice is followed. Some experiment station men believe that where
this is not done the crop will after eight or ten years tend to
impoverish the land instead of further improving it.
DISKING
The foremost method of cultivation is with the disk harrow, one of the
most excellent farm implements ever invented. Alfalfa sown in the fall
is almost invariably helped by disking the following spring, with the
disks set quite straight, so as not to cut the crowns but to split them.
It is usually well to follow this disking with a tooth harrow, with its
teeth set straight. Occasionally in a dry summer the disk may be used to
great advantage after the second, and possibly the third, cutting also.
Many disk their alfalfa field every spring, and some after each cutting,
others do so only once in every two or three years, owing to weather
conditions and the conditions of the alfalfa. In some instances the
common harrow is used instead of a disk.
The disking has several beneficial effects. It splits and spreads the
crowns, causing more and consequently finer stems to spring up,
affording hay of the most delightful quality, easily cured; it loosens
the soil about the crowns, conserves moisture and destroys the weeds.
There need be no fear of killing the plants if the disks and the
harrow-teeth are set straight and weighted or otherwise adjusted to give
direct and steady forward movement. As an implement for the cultivation
and invigoration of an alfalfa field the disk harrow has no equal, and
its frequent use is by those who know it best deemed quite
indispensable.
RESEEDING
If it is a question of reseeding the whole field, the problem is simple.
In that case disk and harrow the ground and sow half as much seed as was
sowed at first. But to restore bare spots is more difficult; the young
plants from the reseeding in these spots will be shaded by the larger
growth about them, and such reseeding seldom gives the desired results.
There is no doubt that very many fields are given up as failures and
inferior crops planted in them, when a thorough disking would have
renewed the growth, saved a crop, and, what is more important, a stand
of alfalfa. Many reports have come to the writer of fields that had
little sign of life the first of March, yet when thoroughly disked,
cross-disked and harrowed, surprised the neighborhood by showing in two
weeks a strong growth.
Some wishing to be on the safe side, have sown a little seed after this
heavy disking and harrowing, but many of them have reported an entire
loss of the seed, as the plants from the previous sowing came up so
thick as to choke out those from the later seeding. In some states a
common plan of thickening a stand is to let the third crop ripen seed,
and then about the last of September disk and harrow the seed into the
ground where it grew. This frequently saves the stand and adds many
years to its life. But where a field begins to fail after a third year
it is usually better to plow it up and raise one or two crops of corn, a
crop of oats or of millet, and then reseed.
ALFALFA UNDER IRRIGATION
The greatest yields of alfalfa are produced by irrigation. Reported
yields of six or more cuttings, aggregating eight to twelve tons per
acre each year, are almost invariably, yet not always, from districts
where irrigation is practiced. It is claimed by experiment station
experts from the irrigation states that the tendency is to use too much
water; too much at a time and too often. The general recommendation is
to irrigate thoroughly before the ground is plowed or disked, and not
again till the alfalfa is about four inches high. Then again a week
before each cutting. It has been found that old alfalfa fields do not
need as much water as new fields, the alfalfa roots seeming to find
moisture and bring it to the surface.
It is insisted that the surface must be perfectly smooth to keep water
from settling into low places and smothering the plants. Some farmers do
not irrigate for the second crop if as much as two inches of rain falls
after the first mowing. Others claim that old fields do not need
flooding for the second crop even if there has been no rainfall after
the first cutting.
Wilcox in his “Irrigation Farming”[3] says: “The critical time with
alfalfa is the first six weeks of its growth. Flooding during this
period is quite certain to give the plants a backset from which they
seldom fully recover before the second, and sometimes not before the
third year, and it is not often in the arid states that rain falls with
sufficient frequency to dispense with the necessity for irrigating the
plants while small. By soaking the earth from thirty-six to forty-eight
hours before seeding, however, the plants will make vigorous growth
until they are ten to twelve inches high, after which they may be
irrigated with safety.
[3] “Irrigation Farming,” by Lute Wilcox: 314 pp. Orange Judd Company,
New York.
“When alfalfa has become established, a single copious irrigation after
each cutting will ordinarily be found sufficient. Irrigation before
cutting is undesirable, because it leaves the earth so soft as to
interfere with the movement of machinery and loads. It also makes the
stalks more sappy, and, while they will retain the leaves better, there
is more difficulty to be experienced in the curing at harvest time; and
taken all in all, we much prefer to irrigate after each cutting. In
Colorado we cut alfalfa three times and often four times in a season,
hence the stand gets as many irrigations. Some people irrigate very
early in springtime, before the crowns have awakened from their hibernal
rest, but this practice is not right. The chill of the water in very
early spring is not conducive to quick growth and may often retard the
plants in getting an early start. We do not irrigate prior to the first
cutting unless the season is particularly dry and the plants seem to
actually demand water. We irrigate late in the fall and apply a
top-dressing of light barnyard manure, which is found to be of great
service in several ways.”
INFLUENCE OF IRRIGATION UPON COMPOSITION
I find no report of experiments published by any station in which the
influence of irrigation upon alfalfa hay is made a special study, but
Bulletin No. 80 of the Utah station contains a great deal of information
along this line relative to grain crops, potatoes, and mixed grasses. In
summing up the results of the experiments, the following conclusions are
“Heavy irrigations increase the percentage of weight of the heads of
plants; light irrigations increase the relative weight of leaves.
“Irrigation modifies definitely the composition of plants and plant
parts; the seeds are affected more than any other plant part.
“The percentage of protein in corn kernels was increased from 12.05 to
15.08, as the amount of irrigation decreased; in oat kernels from 14.07
to 20.79; in wheat kernels from 15.26 to 26.72. In all these seeds the
fat and nitrogen-free extracts were increased by liberal waterings.
“Increased irrigations increased the starch content and decreased the
protein content of potatoes.
“The water in plants is somewhat dependent on the water in the soil.
“The proportion of ear corn to stover increased regularly with the
increased application of water.
“The percentage of grain in the wheat crop increased with increased
irrigations.
“The yield of wheat increased up to thirty inches of water.
“Crops in an arid district require a greater number of pounds of water
for one pound of dry matter than in humid climates.”
The experiments cited do not include alfalfa, yet the results with other
crops would indicate that the percentage of protein in alfalfa hay may
be less where the crop is grown by irrigation than where it is grown by
dry-land farming. The composition of the hay, however, will depend upon
the quantity of water supplied to the crop and not upon the method; that
is, alfalfa which receives as much natural rainfall as other alfalfa
would receive by irrigation, would be similarly affected in composition,
and from the experiments with grains reported in the bulletin noted, it
would appear that with the application of large quantities of water the
percentage of protein is decreased; yet, the yield is increased, and
although the feeding value of the crop may be a little less, the
quantity may be greater, due to large applications of water.
WIDE VARIATIONS IN CONTENT
Professor Ten Eyck compiled from their station bulletins the following
figures on the composition of alfalfa hay in four different states:
----------+--------+----------+----------+----------+---------
|Bulletin| | Carbo- | |Number of
| Number | Protein | hydrates | Fat |Analyses
----------+--------+----------+----------+----------+---------
| |_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_|_Per Cent_|
New Jersey| 148 | 15.84 | 38.97 | 3.82 | 2
Colorado | 39 | 17.36 | 36.71 | 1.65 | 9
Utah | 61 | 9.22 | 43.25 | .97 | 29
Kansas | 114 | 11.89 | 41.03 | .66 | 3
----------+--------+----------+----------+----------+---------
On this showing he remarks:
“Although it was not definitely stated, I take it that the Colorado and
Utah hay were grown by irrigation, while the New Jersey and Kansas hay
received no irrigation. It will be observed that while the percentages
of protein and fat in the Utah samples are low, the percentage of
carbohydrates is high; yet the Colorado samples grown under irrigation
show a larger percentage of protein and fat than the Kansas samples
grown without irrigation. The crude protein often varies in quantity
according to the stage of maturity of the alfalfa when it is cut for
hay, as shown by experiments at the Kansas station, and described in
Bulletin No. 114.
“The general conclusion may be that the protein content of alfalfa hay
will decrease to some extent, according as the supply of water furnished
the crop is increased; that is, by supplying the right quantity of
water, a better quality of hay may be grown by irrigation than is often
grown in humid climates in soil which receives only the natural
rainfall. From what I know of the Colorado and Utah stations, I would
judge that the quantity of water supplied at the Utah station was much
larger than that supplied at the Colorado station. At the Colorado
station the supply of irrigation water is often limited, and hence, the
larger percentage of protein and fat which appears in the samples of hay
grown and analyzed at that station.”
The annual report of the secretary of agriculture (1904) says that at
the Utah station a series of co-operative experiments is in progress to
determine the water necessary, and the most favorable method of
application, to insure a maximum yield of alfalfa, and also experiments
to determine the minimum application of water required to secure a crop.
“It has been found that abundant irrigation throughout the season, 61
inches of water being applied, gave a yield of 6.2 tons per acre, while
four irrigations in the early part of the season with only 25 inches
gave five tons per acre, showing that beyond a certain supply the excess
is wasted.”
A. S. Hitchcock, in United States Farmers’ Bulletin No. 215, speaking of
the Utah experiment just mentioned, says that where the supply of water
is limited a much less quantity than is ordinarily used will produce
paying crops. The minimum quantity to produce a crop of alfalfa, and the
time at which the water should be applied, depends upon the soil and
climatic conditions. Below are results of experiments in 1903, by the
Utah station:
WATER REQUIRED BY ALFALFA; QUANTITY AND DATE OF APPLICATION
-------------------------------------------------------------+-------
Date of each irrigation and quantity of water applied | Total
--------------+--------------+--------------+----------------+ Water
First | Second | Third | Fourth |applied
-------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+--------+-------
|_Acre_| |_Acre_| |_Acre_| | _Acre_ |_Acre_
| _in._| | _in._| | _in._| | _in._ |_in._
June 16| 3.360|July 29| 3.359| .... | .... | .... | .... | 6.719
June 29| 5.970|July 29| 3.359|Aug. 19| 3.359| .... | .... |12.688
June 16| 5.070|July 8 | 5.036|Aug. 6 | 5.003| .... | .... |15.109
June 29| 7.020|July 8 | 5.036|Aug. 19| 5.002| .... | .... |17.058
June 15| 5.030|July 3 | 5.100|Aug. 1 | 5.036|Aug. 24| 5.002|20.168
June 20| 6.774|July 8 | 6.694|Aug. 19| 6.682| .... | .... |20.150
July 8|12.490|Aug. 9 |12.506| .... | .... | .... | .... |25.002
June 20| 8.303|July 6 | 8.352|Aug. 19| 8.362| .... | .... |25.017
June 15| 6.320|July 6 | 6.248|Aug. 1 | 6.248|Aug. 29| 6.250|25.066
June 16| 6.250|June 23| 4.280|June 30| 5.705|July 7 |[4]5.230|61.465
June 23| 6.250|July 7 | 6.220|Aug. 15| 6.250|Aug. 31| 6.250|24.970
June 16| 6.250|July 7 | 6.220|Aug. 6 | 6.750|Aug. 31| 6.250|25.470
June 23| 6.610|July 7 | 3.720|Aug. 15| 3.250|Aug. 31| 3.750|17.330
June 16| 3.980|July 7 | 3.720|Aug. 6 | 3.750|Aug. 31| 3.750|15.200
-------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+--------+-------
[4] This plat was given 5 inches of water on each of the following
dates: July 14, July 22, July 28, August 4, August 17, August 25,
August 31, September 8.
DATE OF HARVEST AND YIELD OF HAY
--------------------------------------------------+--------+----------
Date of harvest and yield of hay at each cutting | Total |Calculated
----------------+----------------+----------------+ yield | yield
First | Second | Third | of plat| per acre
-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------
|_Pounds_| |_Pounds_| .... |_Pounds_|_Pounds_| _Tons_
June 26| 264 |Aug. 12| 50¹⁄₂| .... | .... | 314¹⁄₂| 3.145
June 26| 177 |Aug. 12| 101 | .... | .... | 278 | 2.780
June 26| 261 |Aug. 12| 68¹⁄₂| .... | .... | 329¹⁄₂| 3.205
June 26| 204 |Aug. 12| 108¹⁄₂| .... | .... | 312¹⁄₂| 3.125
June 26| 191 |Aug. 12| 85¹⁄₂| .... | .... | 276¹⁄₂| 2.765
June 26| 175 |Aug. 12| 74 | .... | .... | 249 | 2.490
June 26| 93 |Aug. 12| 62 | .... | .... | 155 | 1.550
June 26| 99 |Aug. 12| 44 | .... | .... | 143 | 1.430
June 26| 224 |Aug. 12| 140 | .... | .... | 364 | 3.640
June 18| 176¹⁄₂|Aug. 10| 177¹⁄₄|Oct. 16| 120¹⁄₂| 474¹⁄₄| 6.243
June 18| 170¹⁄₂|Aug. 10| 136¹⁄₂|Oct. 16| 73³⁄₄| 380³⁄₄| 5.017
June 18| 147 |Aug. 10| 141 |Oct. 16| 61 | 349 | 4.598
June 18| 105 |Aug. 10| 112¹⁄₄|Oct. 16| 46 | 263¹⁄₄| 3.468
June 18| 112¹⁄₂|Aug. 10| 106 |Oct. 16| 35 | 253¹⁄₂| 3.340
-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------
“It will be observed that the maximum crop was produced by applying
plenty of water throughout the growing season. However, it is also to be
noted that a much less quantity of water, when applied at intervals of
three or four weeks, produced a fair crop. Fifteen and 17 inches of
water applied in this way produced more than half as much as 61 inches
applied at frequent intervals. Furthermore, three irrigations of 15 to
17 inches produced about the same results as the same amount applied at
four irrigations. In applying irrigation water to fields it is necessary
to saturate the soil to a reasonable depth. All the water that drains
off beyond the amount required for use is lost to the crop. It is not
necessary to apply water again until the crop has removed a large part
of the available supply.”
[Illustration: Gathering Alfalfa Hay in Windrows with a Side-delivery
Horserake]
[Illustration: Cutting a Fine Field of Alfalfa]
_CHAPTER VII._
Harvesting
CALLS FOR INTELLIGENCE AND PAINSTAKING
Considerable space in this volume is devoted to the discussion of soil
and seeding, but their importance cannot well be over-estimated. Really
the whole subject of alfalfa might well be treated under the two heads,
“Seeding” and “Harvesting,” so very inclusive are these two phases of
the subject. Without careful seeding one cannot have a crop to harvest,
and without careful harvesting he might almost as well not have a crop.
Both call for intelligence and painstaking farming, and much patience
and hard work. But the rewards of these virtues and labors are heavy
yields from the most valuable forage plant. If it is worth nine times as
much as timothy, it can well demand a little more time and labor than
the average crop.
GREAT VALUE OF LEAVES
The first point to accentuate as we approach the subject of harvesting
is the preeminent value of the leaves. These contain from seventy-five
to eighty per cent of the protein of the whole plant, that valuable
compound that goes to produce milk and meat. It has been estimated that
a ton of properly cured alfalfa leaves is equal in protein to 2800
pounds of wheat bran; and when it is also estimated by careful observers
that the loss of leaves in harvesting, even under favoring
circumstances, ranges from fifteen to thirty or more per cent it is
readily seen that the harvesting is an important part in alfalfa
haymaking.
WHEN TO CUT
For the best hay the cutting should begin when the alfalfa is about
one-tenth in bloom. Of course, if the acreage is small, calling for but
one or two days’ cutting, it might stand without particular harm until a
fifth or fourth was in bloom. Cutting should be completed, if possible,
by the time one-half is in bloom, as after that it is cut at a loss of
leaves. As they have more experience the tendency among farmers is to
cut alfalfa earlier than had before been believed at all desirable, and
some experienced growers and feeders now insist upon cutting just before
the blossoming stage is reached.
Experiments seem to show that horses like the hay that has been cut when
at least half in bloom, or later, better than do other stock. For sake
of the after effects on the plant, it is highly important that the first
cutting be made in the early bloom, as, if it is delayed, the second
crop starts more slowly and gives a lighter yield. Frequently a short
delay in cutting the first crop means that the field will produce but
two crops instead of three or four. So important is this that Prof. H.
M. Cottrell declares that he has found it profitable to cut the first
crop of a season in earliest bloom even if it were to be injured by
being rained upon, or in fact entirely lost.
MOST PROTEIN IN EARLY CUTTINGS
The Utah experiment station found by a feeding test that the early cut
alfalfa was worth far more than any later cutting. It reported:
------------------------------+----------+-----------
|Hay worth,| Beef, lbs.
Stage of Growth | per ton | produced
------------------------------+----------+-----------
When ¹⁄₁₀ in bloom | $5.35 | 706
When in full bloom | 4.90 | 562
When ¹⁄₂ of blooms have fallen| 4.35 | 490
------------------------------+----------+-----------
The Kansas station found the protein content to be:
Stage of Growth Protein content
When ¹⁄₁₀ in bloom 18.5 per cent.
When ¹⁄₂ in bloom 17.2 „ „
When in full bloom 14.4 „ „
CONSTANT WATCHFULNESS DEMANDED
In humid regions, the alfalfa farmer at the time of the first cutting
often finds himself in a trying position. The value of the leaves
demands early cutting, and this may be just when it is likely to rain
with great frequency. He knows that a wetting will injure his hay, and
that this results in more or less loss of some of its most valuable
parts from the hour of cutting until it is thoroughly cured. The
Colorado station reports that alfalfa hay left out for fifteen days
after cutting and rained on twice, lost 26.1 per cent of its feeding
value. Hay left out for seven days and having only one light rain, lost
10 per cent. Another lot left out three days, without rain, lost 5 per
cent. Wetting delays the curing, and by the washing the hay loses much
sugar, dextrin and other soluble matters, and also develops fungi.
However, the only thing to do is to cut, exercising good judgment of
course as to the amount each day.
LOSSES IN CURING
Headden found, at the Colorado station, that in an average alfalfa plant
the stems amounted to forty to fifty per cent of the weight, while with
very leafy, small-stemmed plants the leaves sometimes form more than
sixty per cent of the entire weight. The leaves were readily lost if the
hay was not handled carefully. He concluded that the minimum loss from
the falling off of the leaves and stems in careful haymaking amounts to
from fifteen to twenty per cent; and in cases where conditions have been
unfavorable, as much as sixty or even sixty-six per cent of the entire
dry crop is lost. Stated in another way, with the best of conditions,
and with great care, for every 1,700 pounds of hay taken off the field,
at least 300 pounds of leaves and stems are left scattered on the
ground, “and, in very bad cases, as much as 1,200 pounds may be left for
each 800 pounds taken.” A study of these facts should induce the careful
haymaker to use all possible skill in curing alfalfa, and they show that
it will be profitable to expend more than the usual amount of labor in
saving the leaves, considering that they are worth, pound for pound,
nearly four times as much as the stems.
HARVESTING IN HUMID REGIONS
Ordinarily, it is not well to cut alfalfa immediately after a heavy
rain, because the wet ground will operate against proper curing. Begin
cutting in the morning, when the dew is well off. If the weather is
fair, the tedder ought to follow about two hours behind the mower. It is
a mistake to think that the sun is the great curing agent. Too long
exposure to the sun makes the curing all the more unsatisfactory,
besides drying the leaves in such a way that they crumble and drop off.
As long as alfalfa remains “alive” water will be exhaled from the
surface of the leaves and be pumped constantly from the stalks in a
natural way much as though they were still standing. On the other hand,
if newly cut alfalfa is spread too long in hot sunshine, the leaves are
scorched to such an extent that transpiration of moisture from pores
becomes impossible. Hence, that in the stalks can only escape by simple
evaporation, which is very slow. By this means much undesirable, in fact
harmful, moisture in the hay is brought to the barn or stack, although
the leaves of the hay are dry and crisp.
As J. E. Wing has well said in his bulletin (Bul. No. 129 prepared for
the Pennsylvania department of agriculture), “there is a principle to be
observed in making alfalfa hay that applies to making hay from all
clovers. If it can be so managed that the leaves are not at once burned
and dried to powder, the moisture from the stems is the more easily
removed. Leaves are natural evaporators of sap; stems are not.
Therefore, while the leaf has yet pliancy and some semblance of its
natural condition, it is most efficiently carrying away the sap of the
stem, but when it is dried up it no longer aids in drying the plant at
all. Therefore, the best hay in all respects is made partly in the
shade, in loosely turned windrows, or in narrow cocks.”
Two or three hours behind the tedder start the rake and keep it going
regardless of the noon hour, and unless the hay is very heavy it may be
put into small cocks, this to be completed before the dew forms. In
humid regions, hay is cured best and with greatest safety by the use of
hay-caps, and these should be put on the cocks also before the dew
forms, and removed each morning. The hay may be left in these cocks for
four or five days, as found necessary, and then stacked or stored in the
barn. This may not follow, however, unless the weather is favorable.
Many prefer to leave the hay in the windrows until the second morning,
turning them by hand or otherwise before noon and putting into cocks in
the afternoon, letting these stand for two or three days. If it is left
in the cocks over three days, they should be moved or the plants under
them will be smothered. All agree that alfalfa should not lie in the
swath over two or three hours. Most who have ever used a tedder like it
if the alfalfa is less than half in bloom. If half or more in bloom, the
tedder may cause the breaking off and loss of many leaves. Most
experiment stations recommend that the hay be put into small cocks on
the day of the cutting, if the weather is at all fair, not risking it in
the windrows over night. It is a fact that cocked green alfalfa, even
without caps, will shed much rain, while when fairly well-cured it will
not do so.
A Colorado farmer reported that he started the mower one morning as soon
as the dew was off, followed it with the tedder one hour later, and with
the rake one hour behind the tedder; he kept a force of men only two
hours behind the rake putting the alfalfa, yet quite green, into small
cocks. These stood through two days of heavy rain. Later the cocks were
opened and found to be unharmed, and after one day the hay was put into
stacks in excellent condition. This was a somewhat unusual circumstance,
surely, and might not often occur in a climate less dry than that in
some parts of Colorado.
A grower in southern Kansas, however, who harvests about one thousand
tons of alfalfa per year, and is working with it nearly every day from
the second week in May until November 10, insists that alfalfa, under
the same conditions of rainfall, is much easier to save in fair feeding
condition than red clover. He finds the side-delivery rake especially
excellent for turning over the green or wet windrows to the sun and air
with the least loss of leaves, and cured thus, after being wet, the
natural color is better preserved. “That alfalfa hay has a higher
feeding value than almost any other, even when saved under the most
unfavorable circumstances, should be impressed upon the inexperienced.”
THE USE OF HAY-CAPS
Any man who goes into the business of raising alfalfa anywhere in the
rain belt cannot well afford to ignore hay-caps as a part of his
equipment. Comparatively the cost is slight and the trouble of using
them small considered in the light of their great utility, although the
expense, and the use and care of them may at first blush appear to be
quite formidable. American haymakers do not seem to appreciate the bad
effect of dew upon the color and aroma of all kinds of hay. Prof. F. H.
Storer in his “Agriculture” (Vol. III, p. 559) says: “One advantage
gained by the use of hay-caps to protect the cocks during the night, is
that they hold in the raked-up warmth, and keep the hay from cooling
off. Thus it happens that the hay not only improves a little as to
dryness during the night, but is all ready to dry rapidly when the cocks
are again exposed to the air and sunshine, on being uncovered in the
morning. All this as a normal and constant benefit, to say nothing of
the advantages derived from the caps in case light rains, or even heavy
rains, should fall before the cocks are again opened. The caps keep dew
from settling upon the hay, moreover, and thus prevent the loss of
aromatic matters that would result if the dew were to dry off from the
hay.”
“With regard to the exclusion of dew, it is not alone its power to carry
off aroma that should be considered. When dew ‘falls’ it must tend to
carry with it any particles of solid matter that may happen to be in the
air from which it is deposited, and, in this way the spores of fungi,
such as would cause the hay to mold, are put upon it. It can scarcely be
questioned that many of the organisms deposited with the dew are likely
to promote hurtful decomposition, especially in case the hay should
remain or become damp, and the less of these organisms that infest the
hay the better it will be.”
When the farmer considers that a ton of well-cured alfalfa hay is worth
about as much as a ton of wheat bran, he ought to see that it is
profitable to protect it from the rain and the dew. He would scarcely
hesitate to provide suitable covering if he had several tons of bran in
the field exposed to the elements. Hay-caps will soon pay for
themselves by the finer quality of the hay they assure, aside from the
larger quantity of the best grade that their protection guarantees.
Storer further says, “there can be no question as to the very great
merit of hay-caps when properly used. They are simply pieces of stout,
cotton cloth of suitable size, say 40 to 45 inches square as a minimum,
(60 inches square would be far better--Author) which are thrown over the
cocks when rain is imminent, or at nightfall. These cloths may have
wooden pegs or some sort of weight attached to each corner to hold them
in place; the pegs can be driven into the ground or pushed under the
hay, as seems most suitable to the size of the cock or conditions of the
weather. The porosity of the cotton cloth hinders dampness from
collecting beneath it at the top of the cock which it covers.”
Curing alfalfa in dry regions where the problems and dangers of rainfall
do not need any large consideration, is attended with few of the
difficulties which confront the grower in a region of much humidity. In
western Kansas and Nebraska, and in Texas and other states where summer
rains are somewhat infrequent, the mowers start at the beginning and do
not stop until the field or fields of alfalfa are all in the swath. The
rakes follow close behind, frequently the side-delivery rake, and then
the gathering implement, usually designated as a “go-devil,” keep only
about a half-day behind, dragging the cured hay to the stack or rick
where the horse-fork lifts and carries it to the center of the stack, to
be distributed and placed by men with pitchforks. The market and feeding
value of hay so cured and gathered, is deemed by some authorities as
not the highest. Curing in the windrow alone is likely to be a mere
drying (perhaps too rapid drying) of one side of the exposed portions.
Alfalfa should cure successively in the swath, windrow, cock and stack
or mow, to develop its greatest value. The man who has so many acres
that he cannot cure it in this way might do better with fewer acres for
hay, and pasture hogs on the remainder, or use the land for other crops.
Still it is true that alfalfa even poorly cured has no inconsiderable
feeding value. Many farmers in the West and Middle West claim to secure
very good hay by early following the mower with the tedder, this with
the rake, and then the “buncher,” letting the hay remain in bunches over
night and dragging it to the stack the next day. Others take from the
windrow to wagons by a hay-loader, preferably one operated by a belt.
After all is said and done, and regardless of thrift and yield, it is
unquestionable that the grower of alfalfa in humid regions meets with
difficulties in the matter of satisfactory curing that in some years are
almost or quite disheartening, and of a character to which his brother
in arid territory is virtually a total stranger. Curing in the two
regions presents different problems, with advantage all the time
favoring the man in the country of little rainfall.
Second and later cuttings are not so much endangered by rains as is the
first, and, hence, these are usually cured in better condition.
Notwithstanding this, virtually all tests point out that the first
cutting has more feeding value and is better relished by all kinds of
stock. Most farmers are agreed that it pays to cut every time the
alfalfa blooms, up to the last of September in the North, and possibly a
month later in the more southern latitudes. A few have reported that
they prefer to make but two cuttings a year, claiming to realize a
greater feeding value by so doing; but it seems that the loss in leaves
and protein, together with the fact that live stock has less relish for
the more mature cuttings, makes frequent cutting by far the most
profitable.
To sum up, the points to be emphasized in cutting alfalfa for hay, and
its treatment immediately after, are:
_Cut in early bloom._
_Handle as little as possible._
_Prevent its being wet after cutting._
_Cure if possible partly in the swath, in the windrow, in the cock and
in the stack or mow._
_Cut as often as it blooms, which will range from twice in New England
to nine times a year in southern Oklahoma, southern California, Texas
and Louisiana._
_In a region of frequent rains protect with hay-caps._
HARVESTING FOR SEED
The first cutting should not be used for seed for three reasons: First,
if that cutting is delayed until the seed has ripened, the second and
third cuttings will be very light, and in the extreme northern alfalfa
territory there may not be even a second. A stronger reason is that at
the time of the first cutting, favorable weather is likely to be much
less certain and rains will interfere with the stacking of the seed
crop, which, to insure its best value, must be put in the stack or mow
without wetting. Another is that the seed pods at that season are not
usually so well filled and the proportion of fertile seeds is less
because the bees and other insects have not so early in the season had
time and opportunity to aid in the pollenation.
Cutting should be done when the greater proportion of the seeds are
hard, but not sufficiently ripe to shell. At this stage a majority of
the pods are turned a dark-brown color and the seeds are fully
developed. Frequently the cutting can be raked into windrows after two
hours if the weather is drying, and in two or three hours more put into
cocks and let stand for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, as the weather
may justify. It should, however, be well cured and thoroughly dry when
put in the stack, or there is danger of heating, and stack-heating
seriously injures the vitality of the seed. It is not uncommon, if
extremely ripe, to leave the cutting in the swath only an hour or a
half-hour, then stack, and let stand for autumn or later threshing. If
allowed to stand in the stack for about thirty days, the entire mass
goes through a sweating and curing process which makes the threshing
easier, while less of the seed is left in the straw than would be if it
had not stack-cured. In western Kansas many seed raisers cut their seed
crop with a self-binder, put the sheaves in shocks the same day and
thresh in about ten days, or put it into a stack to await a convenient
threshing time. They claim to secure 20 per cent more of the seed in
this way than if they cut with the ordinary mower. Others cut with a
mower having a dropper attachment which leaves the alfalfa in small
bunches at the will of the driver, in the center of the swath, and
these are “straddled” by the team and the wheels of the mower in the
subsequent rounds. These bunches are left for two or three days and then
stacked. There is little, if any, danger from mold or spontaneous
combustion in stacks of alfalfa cut for seed, but there is danger of the
seed heating in the stack if stacked when damp. If bright, clean seed is
expected, the stacks must be well topped with slough grass, or covered
with tarpaulins or boards, or given other protection. It is better still
to put the alfalfa intended for seed into a barn.
One Kansas farmer in the western part of the state reports that he used
a self-binding harvester, shocked the sheaves like those of grain, let
them stand ten days and then put in a mow, with no bad results.
YIELDS OF SEED
The yield of seed ranges all the way from two to thirteen bushels per
acre, the normal yield in the seed regions being four to eight bushels.
It is threshed with ordinary grain separators with seed attachments,
although the clover-huller is usually preferred. No threshing machine
cleans the seed satisfactorily or sufficiently, and a careful recleaning
is necessary. Fanning mills or seed-cleaners are now made that will
remove most weed seeds, seeds of dodder, and all light-weight and
probably infertile alfalfa seeds. However, no raiser should by rights
thresh, to say nothing of marketing, the seeds of the dodder or any
other weed with his alfalfa; these should be cut out of the field with
scythe, sickle or knife a month before the alfalfa is cut.
The threshed alfalfa straw is worth only about half as much as the hay,
yet it makes excellent feed for horses, colts and calves. Or, if put
into stacks of alfalfa of the third cutting, in alternate layers, it may
be fed to any stock to good advantage, as it is relished quite as well
as ordinary third cuttings, notwithstanding its lower feeding value.
THE THIRD CUTTING FOR SEED
Seed raisers in some instances, especially in Kansas, use the third
cutting for seed, claiming that the pods are more uniformly filled and
the seeds more generally fertile, due to the assistance of the bees in
pollenation. They claim, too, that this cutting has fewer weeds and weed
seeds than its predecessors; also that they are thus sure of two good
hay crops, while often if they use the second crop for seed, the third
crop is hardly worth more than the cutting. The only point left in favor
of using the second cutting for seed, where the farmer is confident of a
third, is that the protein value of the second is the lowest, and hence
its hay can better be spared than that from any other cutting.
The raising of seed in the more humid eastern states should not,
generally, be attempted, as it will not only interfere with obtaining
full value in the hay crop, but the less fertile soil will not produce
as vigorous seed as will the newer and richer lands west of the Missouri
river. At present the best seed for general use is produced between that
river and the Rocky mountains. Utah produces a hardy seed, but much if
not most of it is raised under irrigation, and, hence, at least
theoretically, not deemed best adapted for regions dependent entirely
upon soil moisture from rains.
[Illustration: =Gathering an Alfalfa Crop in Page County, Iowa=
Photograph by courtesy of Henry Field]
[Illustration: =Alfalfa Harvesting Scene in Yellowstone County,
Montana]=
[Illustration: =Mast and Boom Stacker, with Six-Tined Jackson Fork=
The mast is held in place by guy ropes from the top. Leading to the
right may be seen the rope to which is attached a team of horses. The
base of the derrick is in the form of sled runners, so that the whole
may be drawn along the stack by attaching a team]
[Illustration: =A Derrick Stacker=
with six-tined Jackson or California fork. The derrick is substantial,
and guy ropes are not necessary. Stakes driven into the ground around
the base hold the derrick in place]
_CHAPTER VIII._
Storing
CARE IN CURING
After all possible care has been taken in seeding, cultivating and
harvesting alfalfa, its feeding value may be greatly impaired or quite
lost by ignorance or carelessness in storing; that is, by stacking or
putting it into sheds or barns, or by baling it for market when in an
unsuitable condition.
The only path to safety in stacking or storing in shed or mow is having
the hay in proper condition for completing its own curing. The true
medium for its curing is air, not sun; the sun has done possibly more
than its share already. But good hay is not completely and properly
cured in swath, windrow and cock. If cured in the windrow, the exposed
parts are liable to be much injured by the sun. Therefore the principle
stands, “Handle alfalfa green.” It must be cut green, teddered, raked
and cocked or bunched while comparatively green, and must not then be
allowed to dry and parch to brittleness. True, it must not be put into a
stack so long as it is possible to wring water out of the stalks. A
constant study should be to find the best method of getting the hay into
storage without loss of its natural color. The method that will safely
store it greenest will be the best to follow. Handled green the leaves
are saved, and these constitute from 50 to 75 per cent of the whole
value.
PUTTING INTO WINTER QUARTERS
When (in regions of much humidity) the hay is safely in cock, covered
with hay-caps, and has had a few days of curing, it is ready for
permanent quarters. Remembering that the hay after its drying has begun
should be handled as little as possible, the cocks have been made small
enough so that two men may lift them bodily onto a wagon, if a wagon is
used in the stacking. From the wagon, the hay is lifted by a hayfork to
the stack. Or, more careful still, the farmer will use three slings to
each wagon, which are lifted by a hook to the stack or mow. A sling is a
heavy sheet the size of the wagon hayrack. One is spread on the bottom
of the rack, another on top of the first one-third of the load, and the
other on top of the second third. These slings are banded at the ends;
the ends are drawn together and a third of the load lifted to the stack
or mow, thus saving in some instances a third more leaves than any other
method.
In arid and semi-arid territory, cocking and loading on or off wagons
are dispensed with by dragging the rapidly dried hay directly to stacks
built in the fields, where the lifting into place is done with great
expedition by horse implements. A wheel-rake or “go-devil” is used to
take at once several cocks, bunches or a part of a windrow to a nearby
stack. Others use a rope to drag one or more large cocks to the stack;
or, if the hay is to be taken from windrows, it may be put upon wagons
with a loader. The loader is an excellent implement for handling
timothy and clover, but is apt to shake off a good many leaves of
alfalfa if the hay is very dry. The more common sling now on the market
is made of ropes, four ropes the length of the hayrack and with ropes
across like a rope ladder, and used to handle one-third or one-fourth of
a load. Others are made like the carriers of a threshing machine with
slats and ropes.
STORING IN THE BARN
The barn is the best place for alfalfa if all conditions are right.
Cases of spontaneous combustion in stack and mow make farmers fearful of
using the barn, especially for the first cutting, which is always most
difficult to cure. There are certain conditions that must be observed if
this hay is to complete its curing properly and safely in the mow. The
bottom of the mow should be elevated at least a foot from the ground,
floored with poles or joists, and they should be about two-thirds
covered with boards or other material in such a way as to provide
numerous openings or air spaces of considerable size. If the mow already
has a tight floor, a part of the flooring should be removed before the
hay is put in. Then a box or barrel should be placed in the center of
the space and lifted up as the filling proceeds. If the mow is over
thirty feet long, a second barrel should be used; that is, an air shaft
should be left in about each fifteen to twenty feet. A layer of dry hay
or straw sandwiched in about every four of five feet, as the mow fills,
can be used to much advantage. If the mow is large enough in length and
width, an excellent, safe plan is to spread the first cutting over the
entire bottom, filling up to a height of four or five feet. The second
cutting may be placed over this, on top of a layer of straw, and the
third cutting over this. There is virtually no danger from spontaneous
combustion or from mold if this is done, and the hay will be as bright
and green and almost as rich in protein in January as when harvested.
J. W. Berry of Jewell county, Kansas, member of the board of regents of
the state agricultural college, uses this method and bales his hay in
October for the city markets, finding it in perfect condition. He puts
his hay into the mow green but not wet, direct from the cocks, or
windrows the day it is cut, in layers about four feet deep, with the
slightest possible loss of leaves, no bleaching and no injury by dew. In
1905 he cut his alfalfa four times and stored the fourth cutting on top
of the three preceding. He says that having an open floor and plenty of
air from the outside, the hay can be put in the barn as described; that
it should not be tramped, and it will settle and cure perfectly. The
bottom layer or first cutting may show some dust when taken out if
handled loose, but the color will be good and it will bale in with the
other cuttings and all grade well. Hay cured in this way in 1904 graded
“choice” in the St. Louis market.
Spontaneous combustion does not occur very often, but it is a
possibility, and it is well to bear in mind that hay may be put in the
barn too green. Observation teaches that it never takes place unless the
hay has been put in the barn while containing a large amount of
moisture, and piled too deep. Alfalfa and other clover hays may safely
be put in the barn when they contain not to exceed 30 per cent of water.
If, however, they contain much more than this there is considerable
danger, especially where large quantities are put together, as is the
case in large, deep mows and sometimes in large stacks. A practical test
which may be safely followed is to take a handful of hay, twist it as
hard as possible, and if no juice can be wrung out of its stems, it is
dry enough to be put in the mow. Bunches of wet hay mixed with dry hay
have often caused combustion. Such should always be discarded. It is
poor policy to haul clover hays into a barn after sundown, as at that
time it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere very rapidly.
It is a good plan for the haymaker to go into his mow every morning
while the hay is curing and observe the conditions, but he should not,
however, become alarmed if he finds that the top of his hay is very
damp. This will always be the case, even if it was comparatively dry
when put in; considerable heat develops during the night, which in turn
evaporates moisture. The following morning, when the air is cool, a
large percentage of this, especially if the mow is not well ventilated,
is condensed and settles back on the hay. If the moisture, however, is
excessive, it is a good plan to scatter a load of dry straw over the
top. This will absorb the moisture in part, after which filling may be
continued. In case a load has been put in the barn too wet, it should be
spread to the outer edges, as there is much less danger of combustion at
these places than in the center. In fact, the greatest heat is always
developed in the center, where the so-called craters form, and from
which moisture and gases are given off as a result of heating and
oxidation below.
From the fact that spontaneous combustion cannot take place until the
water has all been evaporated, there is no danger until three to four
weeks after the hay has been stored. During the first week or so, if the
hay heats to such an extent that there is danger of combustion, it is
well to open up the center as much as possible and allow some of the
heat to escape. If, however, the heating has continued much longer, it
is dangerous practice to open the hay at all, because all that is
needed, after the water has been evaporated, is air, or oxygen to
support combustion, and the mass will at once burst into flames.
Sometimes combustion takes place without flames, in which case the
center of the mow gradually chars, leaving the hay there as black as
charcoal, and without value.
Professor Cottrell, discussing spontaneous combustion (Kansas Bul. No.
114), says that all cases observed by him have occurred in hay of the
season’s first cutting--cut at a time when the growth was rank and the
curing most difficult. A period of wet, muggy weather in July or August
increases the danger, which in dry weather seems much less. On account
of previous trouble from heating in the barn, he had four years prior to
writing stacked the first cutting out of doors and put only the later
cuttings in the barn.
LOSSES FROM STACKING
The Colorado station found that the loss in feeding value from the hour
of cocking to the hour of taking from the stack was 12.4 per cent,
while the loss in hay stored in the barn was about 2.5 per cent. If we
add to this the stacked hay lost by exposure, it will easily reach more
than 20 per cent under average conditions while in many cases it would
reach 40 per cent. This certainly represents an enormous waste, and by
preventing it a man with any considerable area of alfalfa could soon
save enough to pay for a barn.
THE HAY SHED
After a barn the next best place for storing hay is a shed with an
adjustable or lifting roof. The ground dimensions should be ample to
allow the first cutting to cover its floor and not be over five or
possibly six feet deep when first put in. The bottom of the mow should
be raised at least one foot from the ground, and the floor should have
at least a twelve-inch air space about every three feet. Poles or joists
covered with dry straw or old hay make a good floor. Spread the hay over
the entire floor surface, on a layer of straw or other dry material. Use
barrels or boxes as recommended for ventilation in the barn, and lower
the roof until the second cutting. For such a roof the covering should
be of some such material as ruberoid, and the rafters need not be heavy,
except about every sixteen feet. Strong iron clamps can be easily
adjusted to the supports. When the second cutting is ready, raise the
roof, which should be in sections, and put the second crop on top of the
first. Follow this plan for all other cuttings. If a shed with a
stationary roof is used, dry straw, or hay, or corn stover should be
put on top of each cutting to protect the alfalfa from rain. Almost any
kind of a shed or covered structure is preferable to a stack.
CONDITIONS FOR STACKING
If the hay is to be stacked, there are also special conditions that the
experienced insist should be observed. This is not to say that alfalfa
hay stacked under conditions quite different may not give fair results,
and much depends on the locality and the climate. However, the result
desired is palatable and nutritious hay and not such as is moldy,
stack-burned or dusty. Stacking the hay directly on the ground is sure
to mean a loss of some portion of it. Elevate the bottom of the stack
with poles, timbers or other like material; put straw at the bottom and,
preferably, build a rick rather than a round stack. Start the bottom
sixteen or eighteen feet wide and build straight up instead of tapering
or slanting the sides, as alfalfa hay will not shed rain or snow water.
If there is much moisture and it is convenient to do so, use a layer of
straw or dry hay of some kind every five or six feet. Keep the stack
full in the middle, or a little higher than the sides, and well tramped
all the time. When the stack has reached the desired height, top it out
with slough grass, or dry timothy or prairie hay, or very green alfalfa,
or protect with tarpaulins or boards; the boards may be nailed and
chained together, lapped and weighted at the corners, making a very
satisfactory roof. If these directions are followed, the losses will be
kept at a minimum. The Kansas experiment station authorities say that in
an experiment made there an application of salt to the hay when being
stored seemed to decrease, if anything, rather than increase its feeding
value. Lime applied in stacking is claimed to have a beneficial effect
in preventing mold.
The raised bottom and layers of straw are useful accessories for the
stack, shed or mow, while the barrel or other ventilating contrivances
should not be overlooked in either sheds or mows.
STORING AS SILAGE
As land values increase and farmers and dairymen come to more fully
appreciate the worth of green feed in winter, the silo grows in
estimation. Eastern farmers who keep cows or young stock of any kind use
the silo more or less, to conserve for winter the value of both green
grass and corn. Alfalfa makes an excellent silage, but its peculiar
quality of retaining its green food value, as hay, when properly cured,
makes its ensiling much less a necessity. Alfalfa hay taken from the mow
in February, green, appetizing and nutritious, falls little, if any,
short of serving the purposes of silage.
OFTEN PROFITABLE TO ENSILE THE FIRST CUTTING
However, it is not infrequently found that the first cutting of alfalfa
may be ensiled directly from the field at a season when rains would
prevent its proper curing for hay. If this is done, it is important that
the rakes and wagons follow very closely after the mower, as even two
hours of sun exposure in the swath lessens its value for silage. Men who
have cut alfalfa during a light rain and raked and hauled it directly
to the silo have reported satisfactory results. Others report having cut
it in the late afternoon and, the next morning, after a heavy rain,
raked and hauled it to the silo while dripping wet. Therefore the farmer
in the eastern and southern states, in the Pacific Northwest, or even in
the central states may, on occasion, plan for the ensiling of his first
cutting, in the faith that it will come out in fine condition if his
silo is properly constructed.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SILOING
The Kansas and Colorado experiment stations recommend that alfalfa for
silage should be cut into lengths of, say, two inches. Long alfalfa does
not pack sufficiently close in the silo, and when so stored the loss is
much more than if in short lengths. It should always be heavily weighted
and great care taken to pack it well at the outer edges. Round silos are
most approved because their contents are more readily compacted. The
points urged by Professor Ten Eyck, of the Kansas experiment station,
are, (a) getting the alfalfa to the silo quickly after mowing, allowing
little, if any, curing; (b) cutting the alfalfa into short lengths
rather than storing it whole; (c) packing it tightly, and weighting
heavily when all in. He says, however, that if the weather will permit
proper curing of the alfalfa, it will make more valuable winter feed as
hay than as silage.
BALING
The increasing general demand for alfalfa hay in the city markets of the
United States, away from the distinct alfalfa regions, has made finding
a method of preparing it for economic shipment of much importance. The
compressing of timothy and prairie hay has become so general that
alfalfa raisers and shippers are also following this method. The problem
of saving the leaves, and, at the same time, being able to market
alfalfa green, has been hard to solve. Baling it uncured meant mold, and
baling it when very dry meant loss of leaves and, hence, loss in feeding
and selling value. The Kansas station a few years ago carried on a
series of experiments extending over several years from which the
conclusion was that the only safe procedure is to cure carefully in the
field, put in the stack or mow, and bale after the final sweating--say
thirty days. Most of the hay cured and baled in the field was moldy or
brown. It is possible, however, that a more careful curing, the use of
hay-caps, letting it stand for several days in cock, baling, and then
storing in an open shed, the bales stacked on edge and separated about
every third layer by poles, rails or rafters, might result in securing
high-grade hay direct from the field without stacking. Seemingly it will
never be safe, away from the semi-arid regions, to bale the first
cutting from the field; but the secret may yet be found of so baling the
second and third cuttings and obtaining prime hay. Its doing is not
likely to prove satisfactory, however, except in the drier portions of
the alfalfa district where large cocks of, say, 500 pounds may be made
and left standing for several days before baling. But baling is not
likely to be largely followed except in territory where extensive areas
are devoted to alfalfa. When practically every farmer in the United
States has his field of alfalfa as he now has of corn, cotton or clover,
the greater part of the product will be fed on the farm and the surplus
hauled direct to the local markets. Western Kansas and Nebraska alfalfa
raisers are having this problem solved for them by the growing practice
of stockmen shipping cattle and sheep from the mountain ranges to be fed
or fattened where the hay is raised, and hauled directly from the stack
to the feed lots.
POOR STUFF
Hay dealers report that much of the baled alfalfa shipped is poor stuff.
They advise small bales, weighing about sixty to eighty pounds; about 27
to 36 inches long, 14 or 15 inches thick and 18 inches high when laid on
edge. They also recommend that in loading a car the bales be placed on
their edges instead of on the sides, as they are less liable to heat.
The problem of the city hay dealer is to sell what he has received, with
satisfaction to the purchaser and profit to himself and to his client.
If he receives moldy, dead hay, with little protein value, he is not
able to please his customer, not able to secure a good price, and hence,
not able to please either shipper or buyer. The farmer who raises and
ships hay and receives two dollars less per ton for it than his
neighbor, should learn by such money losses the necessity of harvesting
and storing his product properly.
A. S. Hitchcock says in Farmers’ Bulletin No. 215, of the United States
Department of Agriculture, that the baled hay for export to Alaska,
Hawaii, and other trans-oceanic points is compressed by the process
known as double compression, done with baling machines operated by
electricity or hydraulic power. The hay obtained by loosening the
ordinary bale is compressed into square or cylindrical packages of
smaller and more compact form than the ordinary bale. The hydraulic
presses used for making the round bales are similar to those used for
the cylindrical bales of cotton. The measurements of the different types
of double-compressed bales are about as follows: Square, 15 by 18 by 38
inches, weight 160 pounds; square bale for Alaskan trade, 14 by 18 by 26
inches, weight 100 pounds; round bale, 2 feet in diameter, 24 inches
long, weight 145 pounds, or 36 inches long, weight 260 pounds. The
saving of space in transit may best be understood by comparing the
weight and cubic contents of baled and compressed hay. The ordinary bale
occupies 140 to 160 cubic feet per ton, and round bales 55 feet per ton.
The most essential point in loading new hay into a car is to see that it
is not loaded flat, that is, with the flat sides of the bale up. When
loaded in this way, with the smooth sides of the bales together, no
space is left for air and as a consequence the hay not infrequently
heats. A properly loaded car has the edges or rough sides of the bales
together. This allows air space between the bales and always prevents
danger of heating.
A new machine is being introduced which makes (from the windrow if
desired) a cylindrical bale, with a hollow space lengthwise through its
middle. This open space must undoubtedly facilitate the curing of hay
baled before sufficiently dry. The machine has a capacity of four to six
tons per hour, makes a bale thirty-six inches long and twenty inches or
less in diameter, as desired, bound with twine, and the hay can be eaten
from the bale, with a minimum of waste, without unfastening. This
baler, if it justifies the claims of its inventors, should be very
useful to those who grow alfalfa for marketing away from the farm.
GRADING AND GRADES OF ALFALFA HAY
On account of the increasing demands for alfalfa hay, and growth in the
business of selling it in cities, dealers have found that the
establishment of some uniform and generally accepted method of grading
the different qualities was a business necessity. As a result of this
its consideration was taken up by the National Hay Association’s
committee on grades and upon the committee’s recommendation the
association in 1905 adopted the following classification:
Choice Alfalfa--Shall be reasonably fine, leafy alfalfa, of bright green
color, properly cured, sound, sweet and well baled.
No. 1 Alfalfa--Shall be coarse alfalfa of bright, green color, or
reasonably fine, leafy, of good color, and may contain five per cent of
foreign grasses; must be well baled, sound and sweet.
No. 2 Alfalfa--Shall include alfalfa somewhat bleached, but of fair
color, reasonably leafy, not more than one-eighth foreign grasses, sound
and well baled.
No. 3 Alfalfa--Shall include bleached alfalfa, or alfalfa mixed with not
to exceed one-fourth foreign grasses, but when mixed must be of fair
color, sound and well baled.
No Grade Alfalfa--Shall include all alfalfa not good enough for other
grades, caked, musty, grassy, or threshed.
[Illustration: Lattice Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Cattle]
[Illustration: Box Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Sheep]
[Illustration: Lattice Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Sheep]
[Illustration: Box Rack for Feeding Alfalfa to Cattle]
_CHAPTER IX._
Pasturing and Soiling
PASTURING NOT ALWAYS ECONOMY
Its perennial nature and the reports of its wonderfully productive and
nutritive qualities might naturally lead the farmer, without better
acquaintance, to suppose that with alfalfa he has perpetual pasture;
that he will open the gate to his live stock in the spring, send for the
butcher or buyer in October, and then winter in luxurious leisure. But
he finds that the easiest is not always the most profitable way.
Pasturing with any stock is an expensive and extravagant method of
gathering a valuable crop from high-priced land. Where land is cheap and
pasture is wild, stock are not expensive help in gathering a cheap crop;
but it is easily demonstrated that when land values are high and a crop
value is in a like altitude, man with machinery can do the harvesting
more economically than can a cow, a steer or even a sheep.
ALFALFA A TENDER PLANT
In some respects alfalfa does not seem to be a natural pasture plant.
The stems are delicate, it will not thrive in a hard, trampled soil, and
the crowns when broken off will not revive; if some of the plants bloom
and drop their flowers early in the season, they lose vigor and many of
them die. These peculiarities would at least indicate that it should
not be pastured at all until it has become established, has its crowns
well spread, has abundant stems and its roots have a strong start on
their underground career. Not an animal should be turned on an alfalfa
field until the second or third year if it is desired that the stand
endure for several years, nor should it be pastured too early in the
spring or too late in the fall. There should be something of a growth
left for winter protection. Careful alfalfa raisers are known who
pasture their older fields, but never put on a full quota of stock until
they have cut over the field when the plants are first coming into
bloom. They insist that this cutting invigorates and gives the plants
new life. They then pasture quite closely until some time in September,
after which there is time for some final growth for winter protection.
A GOOD SWINE PASTURE
A chief exception that most farmers insist on is that it is an excellent
pasture for pigs and, if it is not stocked too heavily, its use for
grazing young swine will not largely decrease the yield of hay. Its
marked protein property seems to give to the pigs a superior growth of
frame and flesh. Farmers claim that pigs a few weeks old turned into an
alfalfa field derive almost their entire living from it and leave the
sows two weeks earlier than other pigs, coming in September with a gain
of from 100 to 125 pounds, while the field has yielded its three
cuttings of hay. Of course, if too many pigs are grazed, the hay yield
will be less. But even here the question of labor _versus_ hay must be
considered.
DANGERS TO CATTLE AND SHEEP
The greatest objection to pasturing alfalfa is its bloating cattle and
sheep. Hogs and horses do not suffer, although a Texas farmer writes
that he lost some pigs from something similar to bloat that he
attributed to the alfalfa. But this may be considered questionable, as
thousands have regularly pastured hogs and horses on alfalfa with no
symptoms of bloat. From hundreds of inquiries sent out by the experiment
stations, it is determined that over ninety per cent of those who have
pastured cattle or sheep on alfalfa have lost one or more animals by
doing so, yet many report having pastured the same kind of stock on
alfalfa for years, regularly every season, without loss. Careful
investigations have been made with the purpose of finding out why some
have been immune while others suffered. Since, in the cases of loss,
only a small proportion of the animals pastured are affected, it may be
inferred that much depends upon the nature and condition of the
individual animal. Practically every western station has carefully
experimented, following the directions of men who have been free from
loss, yet it has cost each station valuable animals.
Horse stock of all ages find alfalfa pasturage conducive to growth,
fattening, and their general health. If the foliage is short and scant,
horses are severe on the fields used in winter because they are able to
crop close, and not infrequently paw loose dirt away from the plants,
biting off the crowns a fourth or even half inch below the surface of
the ground. It is easy to understand the loss of the bud or growing
point may be detrimental to the growth and usefulness of the plants,
causing many to die, resulting in bare spots later to be overgrown by
noxious weeds and grasses. After the damage is done there remains no
remedy but to plow up the field and reseed, or to disk thoroughly and
then reseed the bare spots. If the field has not deteriorated too much,
the latter is much to be preferred. By diligence and careful treatment,
or prompt action closely following any encroachments upon the life of
the plants, the quality and yield may be maintained and the profits
relatively enhanced. Alfalfa has wonderful recuperative powers, but
continuous nipping of the crowns will do most serious harm and
eventually decrease the yield not a little.
EXPERIENCES WITH CATTLE
One man reports turning eighty steers into one alfalfa field where there
was running water, and a second herd into another field without running
water, but water ran through a wild grass meadow adjoining, into which
this herd was driven every afternoon and turned back into the alfalfa
the next morning. The first herd suffered no loss, while five valuable
animals died in the second field on the second day, before they could be
removed. When all were put into the first field there was no more bloat.
Another reported turning cows into a small field where there was a
trough full of water all the time. Here, as in the case of the steers, a
full feed was given before the cows were turned on the alfalfa. Before
noon one cow had to be relieved by a trocar, and another by being driven
rapidly about the field. The wherefores of such occurrences present a
problem yet to be solved. Certainly there is more danger in pasturing
cows and sheep on alfalfa than most people care to risk. Aside from the
financial loss, there is, also, the humane side of the question.
A very fair statement, representative of those made by parties who
pasture cattle on alfalfa without losses from bloat, is the following,
given to the author by Mr. S. C. Hanna, an extensive and reputable
breeder of Shorthorns, in Elk county, (southern) Kansas, who says:
“I have been pasturing alfalfa successfully without bloating my cattle
for a number of years; in fact, I have never lost an animal from alfalfa
bloat. As I am raising high priced, pure bred Shorthorns and graze them
on my meadows more or less at all times of year, I always sow a good
mixture of English blue-grass (_Festuca elatior_) and orchard grass
(_Dactylis glomerata_) with it, making alfalfa the base and principal
seeding. I am very partial to orchard grass in this mixture because it
makes considerable hay, and springs up so quickly after each mowing. In
this section orchard grass is a stayer, and will hold its own against
all comers.
“I always am cautious when we first turn the cattle on alfalfa, seeing
to it that they have a good fill on something else beforehand, and hold
them at first on some part of the field where the mixed grasses are the
thickest, so they can graze there first. In twenty minutes they will be
safe to go where they wish, and may be allowed to run at will
thereafter. I find, however, that on the clear alfalfa meadows there is
almost no danger from bloat after the plants have begun to bloom. I
usually have some hay stacked in the pastures, that the cattle may run
to. I have, however, pastured alfalfa in all stages where there would be
perhaps twenty acres of alfalfa in one place, and some prairie grass
and also tame grasses in the same enclosure, and had no bloat. This has
been, too, sometimes in May and June, when showers were frequent and the
alfalfa most succulent. It would seem that the cattle will take care of
themselves if they have a good chance. I usually superintend these
changes personally, and see that all conditions are right.
“I find we get almost as much hay from the mixed fields as from the
exclusively alfalfa meadows, and the fall aftermath is much better. The
theory that alfalfa will not flourish with the other grasses is wrong.
My favorite meadows contain a mixture of this kind, including some red
clover, and I have cut four good crops of hay from them this season,
after pasturing moderately from March 15 to May 1. I always get the
stock horses and mules on pasture by March 15, and the cattle about
April 1, and move them to wild grass prairie pasture about May 1, except
a few that we will keep on the meadows all season. These we change from
one field to another when the alfalfa becomes tall enough to be trampled
down or damaged.
“If my object was only to raise hay for market, I would sow the alfalfa
alone and keep the stock off altogether, but for my purpose I prefer a
mixture. By doing my way I never miss a good stand, and the mixture
keeps down the foxtail and crab grass. I have been sowing this mixture
for about fifteen years, and have over 300 acres.”
Mr. J. F. Stodder of Cowley county, Kansas, a prominent breeder of pure
bred cattle, makes this statement to the author, which is simply further
testimony that a mixture of other grasses with alfalfa intended for
grazing greatly diminishes, if it does not entirely eliminate, the risk
and dangers of bloat:
“I have several fields of mixed grasses. These contain enough alfalfa so
that we cut them for hay at regular times, and the proportion of grasses
and alfalfa is largely in favor of the latter. In such fields as these I
pasture cattle at will, and have never seen any evidence of bloat
therefrom. But my experience with the straight alfalfa fields leads me
to be very cautious. I find that I can pasture them at times without
danger, and at other times a large proportion of the cattle will bloat.
It is possible that I have made the statement that I never lost cattle
by pasturing alfalfa, which is true, because we have always been lucky
enough to discover the ailing animals in time to give them relief.”
Mr. F. S. Kirk of Oklahoma, mentioned in Chapter III, pastures his
cattle on alfalfa in fall and spring, but does not give them access to
his meadows in the morning until the dew has dried off, and for only
twenty or thirty minutes the first day or two; then for an hour or two
for a few days, and after that they are left in the pastures until
sundown.
GENERALLY DANGEROUS TO SHEEP
Experiments with sheep seem to be even more disastrous than with cattle.
In an investigation conducted by the Colorado station, losses were
reported by nearly every man who had pastured sheep on alfalfa. Some
lost but one or two, while others lost forty or fifty. A few reported
that each spring they lost a few sheep the first day they were on the
pasture, and then no more, and that the losses of old sheep were of less
importance than the growth of the lambs, these being seldom affected by
bloat. Most, however, advised that the old should not be turned on
alfalfa under any circumstances, but that lambs, if well fed in the
morning, let on the alfalfa after the dew was off and then kept there
night and day would do well, and the loss be smaller than that in a
normal season from other causes. J. E. Wing states that his loss from
pasturing lambs on alfalfa in Ohio is less than it formerly was from one
or two parasitic diseases that never trouble alfalfa-pastured lambs. He
gives his lambs a full feed in the morning, turns them on the alfalfa
field about ten o’clock, and leaves them there continuously until
September. He begins the pasturing just before the seasons first growth
of the alfalfa blooms.
While by no means without risk, pasturing sheep on alfalfa is not always
necessarily fatal and the following, related in the _Breeder’s Gazette_
by Mr. C. H. Williams of Powell county, Montana, is interesting:
“We have been pasturing sheep in large numbers on alfalfa for the past
eight years. We have lost from bloat as many as 26 in one day from a
flock of 1600, but we seldom lose one now. We find they are much more
apt to bloat on windy days; more especially if the wind blows from the
south and is soft and balmy. This may seem strange, but we believe it a
fact. We have in our employ a shepherd who has during the greater part
of his life herded sheep on alfalfa in the vicinity of Pau and d’Oloron,
France. The day we lost 26 ewes from bloat this man was several miles
from the home ranch. When visited by the camptender he remarked: ‘This
will be a bad day for the old ewes on the alfalfa.’ Why so? ‘Because the
wind is soft and warm,’ said he. That afternoon we found 26 dead.
“Our French shepherd has a simple and never failing remedy for bloat
from alfalfa or clover. It is simply a half-pint of sweet milk
administered to the animal when found bloated. I saved a fine ram lamb
the other day. He was fearfully bloated, unable to walk and scarcely
able to breathe. I found an old can in the road, hastened to the
pasture, milked a half pint of milk from a cow, set the lamb on his rump
and poured the milk down his throat. In a half hour he was all right and
following the flock. Milk from a ewe will answer just as well. We have
adopted the following rules: Never allow the sheep to go on alfalfa
pasture when very hungry; if possible get a little dry feed in their
stomachs in the morning before going to the alfalfa; watch them closely
on windy days, and have the herders carry a bottle of sweet milk.”
A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION
The most of the losses reported were of animals which had been taken off
the pasture at night and turned back the second morning when hungry and
eager to graze. Yet there are reports of severe losses the first day,
even after a full feed. Possibly it will be found that the animals that
suffer from bloat are not in good physical condition, and are more
nervous and greedy in their habit of eating than those not affected. It
may be that an intelligent sorting of the animals to be turned on the
pasture might save loss. It is also quite generally believed that
alfalfa growing on uplands is less liable to cause bloat than that
raised on bottom lands.
RULES FOR PASTURING
The most generally approved rules in regard to pasturing are:
At the beginning of the pasturing season give animals a heavy feeding in
the morning before turning upon the alfalfa.
Have water in the pasture all the time.
Keep the animals in the pasture night and day, after they have become
accustomed to it, until removed permanently.
Use upland in preference to bottom fields for pasture.
Watch the stock closely the first few days and remove permanently
animals that show symptoms of bloat.
Sow blue-grass, brome grass, or meadow fescue with alfalfa in fields
intended for permanent pasture.
The following valuable information upon bloat (_tympanitis_) and its
treatment was prepared by Nelson S. Mayo, formerly professor of
veterinary science at the Kansas agricultural college:
“Bloating, in all cases, is accumulation of gas in the stomach or
intestines, or both, but more particularly in the paunch (rumen). This
gas is produced by a fermentation, similar to that observed when cider
is ‘working’ and the gas escapes in bubbles. There is usually a small
quantity of gas given off from the food during normal, healthy
digestion, but so small that it causes no trouble, and passes off
readily through the intestines, though sometimes from the stomach, up
the esophagus, and out of the nose or mouth--‘belched up,’ as it is
commonly expressed. These gases which cause an animal to bloat are
generated in considerable quantities if a large amount of juicy, green
food is eaten. Alfalfa, clover and frozen roots are very liable to
produce bloating.
“It is well known that only part of the animals in a herd pasturing upon
clover or alfalfa bloat; so the blame cannot be laid entirely upon the
food, but is probably the result of a slight derangement of the
digestive organs, not ordinarily noticed, but easily aggravated by
certain foods which ferment easily. Animals that are ailing are very
liable to bloat when turned on alfalfa pastures. Alfalfa and clover are
much more liable to produce bloating if wet with rain or dew, and
especially hoar frost, and animals are more apt to bloat if turned into
the pastures when very hungry, as they gorge themselves, and the food is
not properly masticated. Hence, cattle should not be allowed to go
hungry to the pastures.
“It is generally believed by those who have had considerable experience
in pasturing clover or alfalfa, that cattle and sheep are less liable to
bloat if they have free access to dry food, such as hay or straw. Common
bloating, or hoove, occurs in animals having a compound stomach and that
chew the cud--ruminants, as they are called. Of our common domestic
animals, cattle and sheep belong to this order.
“One of the first symptoms noticed is that the animal stops feeding, and
remains lagging behind or stands by itself. Rumination, or chewing of
the cud, is suspended; the animal appears dull and listless, the back
slightly arched; the whole abdomen or belly is distended with a
prominent swelling on the left side just forward of the point of the
hip. If the swelling is tapped lightly with the fingers there is a
hollow, drum-like sound; hence the technical name, _tympanitis_.
“The rumen being distended with gas not only makes the animal appear
much fuller than usual, but it presses forward on the diaphragm, or
‘midriff,’ and this presses against the lungs, and interferes seriously
with the animal’s breathing. The breath is short and rapid. The animal
often grunts, or moans, with each breath. The animal’s nose protrudes,
and there is a driveling of saliva from the mouth. Sometimes there are
quite severe colicky pains, shown by the animal’s kicking at its belly
and stepping about uneasily. Sometimes, also, the pressure is so great
as to cause eversion or bulging out of the rectum. The symptoms of
bloating are so prominent, especially when the history of the case is
taken into account, as to make this disease very easy to recognize, even
by an ordinary observer.
“When animals die from bloating, death usually takes place in the
following manner: The diaphragm is pressed against the lungs so hard
that the animal cannot breathe, and it dies of suffocation. Animals
usually remain standing until near the end, when they gradually lose
consciousness, stagger, and fall, and in falling rupture some of the
vital organs.
“Treatment must depend somewhat upon the condition of the animal. If the
animal is badly bloated, with labored breathing and staggering gait,
energetic measures must be resorted to at once. The best and most
satisfactory treatment for bad cases is tapping. This consists in making
a hole through the skin and muscles, over the prominent swelling on the
left side, into the rumen or ‘paunch,’ thus allowing the gas to escape
at once, relieving the animal.
“The best method of tapping is by means of an instrument called a
_trocar_ and _cannula_. A trocar is a sharp-pointed instrument, five or
six inches long, and about the size of a lead pencil, with a handle at
one end. Over the point of the trocar slips a tube, called a cannula,
not quite as long as the trocar, with a wide flange around the upper end
of the tube, as shown in the illustration herewith.
TROCAR AND CANNULA
“To use a trocar and cannula, proceed as follows: Tie the animal so it
cannot get away. With a sharp knife, make a small incision through the
skin over the prominent part of the swelling on the left side. This
incision should be made about half way between the point of the hip and
the last rib, and should be large enough to admit the trocar and cannula
readily. The incision should be made quickly; then the animal will not
notice it. After the incision is made the trocar and cannula are pushed
quickly in and directed downward, inward, and forward; push the trocar
in until the flange of the cannula rests against the skin. Withdraw the
trocar and the gas will rush out; that is, it usually does so;
occasionally, however, the end of the cannula is plugged up with green
food. This can usually be remedied by pulling out the cannula part way,
or pushing the trocar in again and withdrawing it. If this doesn’t work,
tap the stomach again in another place, using the same hole through the
skin. The escape of gas is usually accompanied by a small quantity of
green food.
[Illustration: Trocar and Cannula]
“If a trocar and cannula are not available in an urgent case, a knife
can be used very successfully--a good-sized pocket knife blade, pushed
quickly through the skin and muscles, in the same manner as described
for the trocar and cannula. Care must be taken that the sharp edge of
the blade is not turned towards the animal’s tail, as it sometimes jumps
forward, and a much larger hole is cut than was originally intended.
“A careful and observing stockman of Colorado, who has had a large
experience with alfalfa bloating, informs me that he prefers a
moderately small, sharp butcher knife to either a trocar and cannula or
a pocket knife. It gives relief quicker and with no bad effects.
Sometimes, if the opening through the skin is small, made by a small
knife, a quill or small tube is fastened in to keep the incision open,
so the gas can escape. It is usually necessary to keep the incision open
for several hours. The only bad result of tapping is that occasionally
green food gets outside of the rumen into the abdominal cavity in
sufficient quantities to cause inflammation and death; but if the
operation is intelligently performed, these bad results are extremely
rare--probably not more than one case in 100. If the weather is warm,
care should be taken that flies do not bother the wound in the skin.
“If the case is not severe enough to warrant tapping, the following
remedies will be found useful: A gag made by winding a good-sized rope
back of the horns and through the mouth, or a bit, made of a piece of
wood the size of a fork handle, can be tied in the animal’s mouth. The
bit should be smooth, to prevent injuring the mouth. Then a small
handful of salt should be thrown well back on the roots of the tongue.
This causes the animal to work its tongue, increases the flow of saliva,
and thus favors the regurgitation, or gulping up, of the gas. The salt
and saliva swallowed help to stop fermentation.
“Blankets wrung out of cold water and wrapped around the abdomen or
belly, or cold water dashed on with a bucket, often give relief.
Turpentine given as a drench, in milk sufficient that it will not
irritate the animal, is good, two ounces of turpentine for adult cattle
and one-half ounce for sheep being a dose. Hyposulphite of soda,
dissolved in water and given as a drench, is good; one ounce for cattle
and two drachms for sheep. This can be repeated every half hour for two
or three doses. Aqua ammonia, two ounces for cattle and one-half ounce
for sheep, well diluted with water; carbolic acid, cattle 30 drops,
sheep 8 to 10 drops in sufficient water; common soda, in half-ounce
doses for cattle and one-half drachm for sheep, can be given. In giving
medicine as drenches, they should be well diluted with water or other
substances until they will not burn when touched to the tongue. In
giving drenches, be careful and not choke the animal. If the animal
coughs or struggles violently, stop at once until it recovers somewhat.
Give drenches slowly.
“Drenches are mostly administered from a long-necked, thick, glass
bottle, or drenching horn. Take hold of the nose with the left hand, by
putting the thumb and finger in the nostrils, while an assistant takes
hold of the horns, and tips the head back. Standing on the right side of
the animal, with the right hand put the neck of the bottle in the right
corner of the mouth, and pour the medicine in slowly. After the bloating
has been relieved, it is a good plan to give the animal a purgative--one
pound of Epsom salts, with one-half pound common salt, for cattle; and
for a sheep, six ounces of Epsom salts and three ounces of common salt,
dissolved in plenty of warm water, and given as a drench. The animals
should also be dieted until their digestive organs regain their normal
condition. By dieting, I do not mean starving, but plenty of easily
digested and nutritious food. An animal that bloats once is very liable
to bloat again. By judicious handling and feeding, by watching animals
closely, and treating them in time, few will be lost by alfalfa
bloating.”
ALFALFA AS A SOILING CROP
Alfalfa may be cut for soiling just when it contains the highest per
cent of protein, while if pastured some is eaten before its best period,
the most of it after that point is reached, and probably a large portion
of the leaves is lost entirely. Cut for soiling and fed daily, when
wilted, there is less danger from bloat, as in this way animals will eat
stalks as well as leaves: the entire product is used and there is no
loss from trampling the fields nor by plants being covered and smothered
with animal droppings.
SOME COMPARISONS
The Nebraska station reports that in an experiment there it required .71
of an acre to keep a cow for a given time by soiling, while by pasturing
it required 3.63 acres; also that the cows kept on pasture during the
experiment actually consumed more grain than those that were soiled.
This report further states that while the pastured cows gave more milk
each day, the cost of production was greater. By another experiment with
cows for a single year it was indicated (Bul. No. 69) “that about twice
as much feed was secured from the land when the alfalfa was soiled as
when it was pastured. The average daily production of milk and of
butterfat was markedly greater when the crop was pastured than when
soiled. In one test this amounted to one-third more, but in the other
test the difference was not so great. The profits from soiling as
compared with pasturing will depend largely on two factors--the price of
labor and the value of the land.”
A western Kansas farmer writes that one acre of alfalfa cut daily for
soiling maintained as many cows as he was able to keep on a five-acre
field used as pasture.
The Kansas station reported that in an experiment, lasting 144 days, the
cows on alfalfa pasture returned an income, less cost of grain fed, of
$4.23, while cows soiled on alfalfa cut and fed green returned an
income, less the grain fed, of $18.08. This station also reported that a
neighboring dairyman maintained ten milch cows for a whole summer,
without any grain, on two acres of alfalfa, cut and fed to them fresh
three times a day.
A METHOD FOR THE SMALL FARMER
In the Central West where labor is scarce and land comparatively low in
price, farmers are not likely to adopt the soiling system while such
conditions exist; but east of the Mississippi river, and especially in
New York, Pennsylvania and New England, where land is high and labor
scarce, alfalfa offers great possibilities as a soiling crop. The small
farmer who now cannot afford to raise many pigs, because he does not
raise enough corn to fatten them, will find that by soiling alfalfa he
can maintain from May to September from five acres as many as ten cows
and fifty pigs; and that these pigs, with some grain from the first of
August, while being fed green alfalfa, may by the middle of November be
made ready for market. If he has another five acres of alfalfa for hay,
it will yield enough in three cuttings to go far toward wintering his
cows, a team of horses, and his sows. His ten acres will be growing
richer every year, and at the end of five years be in prime condition to
yield him big returns in corn, wheat, or potatoes and other vegetables.
Alfalfa is distinctly a crop adapted to the small farmer, everywhere;
there is, as a rule, little question that this method of utilizing it
brings much greater returns per acre than if it were used as pasturage
or hay.
Green alfalfa when pastured, (barring bloat), or cut and fed daily is
peculiarly valuable for all such young stock as colts, lambs, calves and
pigs. It tends to develop strength of bone and hastens the growth of
muscle.
[Illustration: =Alfalfa Field in Central New York=
Showing growth August 22, 1907, seven days after third cutting]
[Illustration: =Fourth Cutting of Alfalfa in Shawnee County, Kansas=
Photo taken in September]
[Illustration: =A Second Cutting of Alfalfa (July 28) in Shawnee County,
Eastern Kansas=
This was sown on the last half of the preceding September. Four cuttings
probable with an aggregate yield of four tons per acre]
_CHAPTER X._
Alfalfa as a Feed Stuff
AS AN APPETIZER
The feeding value of alfalfa is largely in its chemical compound known
as protein; its extreme digestibility is another desirable quality to be
considered, and not least is its appetizing character. Not only do all
animals like it, but when given in moderate quantities it seems to
increase the general appetite for more fat-making feeds. Steers
beginning to “fall off” on a heavy diet of corn will come to their
appetites after being fed only a few pounds of alfalfa daily, and will
eat and assimilate more corn than before.
Alfalfa alone is not a fat-making feed. Animals fed upon it grow in
weight, but the weight is principally of bone, blood and muscle. It is
without a sufficiency of fat and carbohydrates, and these should be
added in such foods as corn, corn meal, Kafir corn, or Kafir corn meal;
or to a limited degree even in corn stover, sorghum or millet. When
alfalfa is fed alone all the protein cannot be digested, and, therefore,
it is always economical to add some carbonaceous foods, if animals are
fattening for market.
For several years feeders have been deploring the fact that fattening
mainly with corn was becoming less and less profitable. When they began
to figure the exact cost of each pound of gain on a steer or hog, they
saw clearly that corn alone made the pound of gain cost too much;
sometimes as much as it was worth in the market, leaving neither profit
nor interest on the investment. The problem then became how to produce
the pound of meat more economically.
Such a condition has prompted the state stations to make tests to
determine the feeding value of various articles, and especially the
value of alfalfa as a balance to the more carbonaceous foods. The tables
here appended are worth studying:
FOOD VALUE OF SEVERAL FODDER CROPS
(From New York experiment station Bul. No. 118.)
------------------+----------+--------+----------+----------
| | | Total |
| Yield per| Dry |digestible|
| acre of | matter | matter |Digestible
|total crop|per acre| per acre | protein
------------------+----------+--------+----------+----------
| _Pounds_ |_Pounds_| _Pounds_ | _Pounds_
Alfalfa | 34,100 | 8,000 | 5,280 | 875
Corn, entire plant| 28,000 | 5,800 | 3,800 | 300
Red clover | 18,000 | 5,220 | 3,200 | 491
Oats and peas | 13,000 | 3,120 | 2,521 | 350
Timothy | 10,000 | 3,500 | 2,000 | 228
Rutabagas | 31,700 | 3,400 | 3,000 | 279
Mangels | 25,000 | 3,500 | 2,750 | 232
Sugar beets | 17,800 | 2,500 | 1,800 | 213
------------------+----------+--------+----------+----------
ANALYSES OF FEEDSTUFFS
The following table gives the analyses of a number of feedstuffs,
showing the percentage of digestible nutrients and fertilizing
constituents in each:
(From Texas experiment station Bul. No. 66)
------------------+------+--------------------+--------------------
| | Digestible | Fertilizer con-
| | nutrients | stituents in 1000
| Dry | in 100 pounds | pounds
|matter+------+------+------+------+------+------
| in | |Carbo-| Ether| | Phos-|
| 100 | Pro- | hy- | Ex- |Nitro-|phoric|
|pounds| tein |drates| tract| gen | acid |Potash
------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
HAYS: | | | | | | |
Alfalfa | 91.6 | 11.0 | 39.6 | 1.2 | 21.9 | 5.1 | 16.8
Cowpea | 89.3 | 10.8 | 38.6 | 1.1 | 19.5 | 5.2 | 14.7
Oat hay | 91.1 | 4.3 | 46.4 | 1.5 | .... | .... | ....
Fodder corn | 57.8 | 2.5 | 34.6 | 1.2 | 17.6 | 5.4 | 8.9
Sorghum | 82.04| 2.4 | 40.6 | 1.2 | .... | .... | ....
Cottonseed hulls| 88.9 | .3 | 33.1 | 1.7 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 10.2
GREEN FEEDS: | | | | | | |
Alfalfa | 28.2 | 3.9 | 12.7 | .5 | 7.2 | 1.3 | 5.6
Cowpea | 16.4 | 1.8 | 8.7 | .2 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 3.1
Oat fodder | 37.8 | 1.6 | 18.9 | 1.0 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 3.8
Corn silage | 20.9 | .9 | 11.3 | .7 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 3.7
Sorghum | 82.4 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 1.2 | .... | .... | ....
Rape | 14.0 | 1.5 | 8.1 | .2 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 3.6
GRAINS: | | | | | | |
Wheat bran | 88.1 | 12.2 | 39.2 | 2.7 | 26.7 | 28.9 | 16.1
Cottonseed meal | 91.8 | 37.2 | 16.9 | 12.2 | 67.9 | 28.8 | 8.7
Corn | 89.1 | 7.9 | 66.7 | 4.3 | 18.2 | 7.0 | 4.0
Cowpea | 85.2 | 18.3 | 54.2 | 1.1 | 33.3 | .... | ....
Cotton seed | 89.7 | 12.5 | 30.0 | 17.3 | 31.3 | 12.7 | 11.7
------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
From the above table we find that five tons of alfalfa hay contains
1,100 pounds of protein, equal to this food element in
Cotton seed meal 2,956 pounds
Linseed meal 3,754 pounds
Wheat bran 9,016 pounds
Cowpea hay 10,185 pounds
Red clover hay 16,176 pounds
Timothy hay 39,285 pounds
RELATIVE VALUES OF DIFFERENT CUTTINGS
The most interesting experiments comprehending tests of the comparative
yield, composition and digestibility of early, medium and late cuttings
of alfalfa, of the first, second and third crops; the relative feeding
value of the various cuttings, and of the different crops, have been
made at the Utah station, details of which are recorded in the station’s
bulletins Nos. 31, 44 and 61. These tests and investigations extended
continuously through a period of five years, and following are the more
important facts developed and the conclusions that may be legitimately
drawn from them, as summarized (Bul. No. 61) by Profs. Luther Foster and
L. A. Merrill who supervised the work:
1. The largest annual yield of hay per acre is obtained by the method of
early cutting and the lowest by the late, the average result standing as
follows: early cutting, 100; medium, 92; and late, 85.
2. The early cut alfalfa contains the highest per cent of protein and
fat, the most valuable food constituents, and the lowest per cent of
crude fiber, the most indigestible portion. The former decrease
constantly while the latter increases rapidly from early bloom to the
full maturity of the plant.
3. The proportionate amount of leaves to stems is greater at early bloom
that at any subsequent time, and both leaves and stems contain a greater
per cent of protein and a less per cent of crude fiber at this time than
at any later period in the growth of the plant. The relative proportion
of leaves to stems in the different cuttings is as follows: early, 42 to
58; medium, 40 to 60; and late, 33 to 67.
4. Alfalfa leaves as compared with stems are very much richer in
protein, fat and nitrogen-free extract, and they contain a much smaller
proportion of crude fiber. The per cent of the protein and fat grows
constantly less, and that of the crude fiber greater, from the time of
early bloom to maturity. The average composition of all cuttings and
crops shows the leaves to contain 150 per cent more protein than the
stems, 300 per cent more fat, 35 per cent more nitrogen-free extract,
and 256 per cent less crude fiber.
5. The more important nutrients, protein and fat, have the highest per
cent of digestibility in the early cuttings and it grows less and less
with the age of the plant.
6. In the feeding tests, the highest gains were made from the early
cuttings and the lowest from the late, the results standing
proportionately as follows: early cutting, 100; medium, 85; and late,
75.
7. The variation in the amount of the different cuttings eaten per day
was very slight, being the highest for the early cutting and the lowest
for the late, but the quantity of dry matter and also of digestible
matter required for a pound of gain was decidedly lowest for the early
cutting and highest for the late, the relative amounts of dry matter
standing as follows: early cutting, 100; medium, 131; and late, 166.
8. The annual beef product per acre was largest from the early cuttings,
not only in the general average but in each separate season’s test, and
that from the late cuttings was smallest, the proportional products
standing as follows: early cutting, 100; medium, 79¹⁄₂; and late, 69¹⁄₂.
9. Taking all points of comparison into consideration, both separately
and collectively, including everything that pertains to the largest
yield and the highest feeding value, the tests favor cutting alfalfa for
cattle feeding when the first blooms appear.
CROP COMPARISONS
10. The first crop gave the largest yield in each of the five tests and
in fourteen out of the fifteen cuttings, while the third crop gave the
lowest for every test and in every cutting but one. The average acre
yields for the five years, including all cuttings, stand in the
following relation: first crop, 100; second, 78; and third, 39; for the
early cuttings alone, first crop, 100; second, 83; and third, 66.
11. In the average composition of all cuttings for three years, the
nutrients of the three crops vary but little. The second has slightly
the highest per cent of protein and fiber; and the third the most fat
and nitrogen-free extract.
12. The third crop has the largest proportion of leaves to stems; but
the per cent of protein in the leaves is highest in the second crop; and
next highest in the first. The leaves of the first crop contain the most
fat and of the second, the least.
13. The third crop produced a higher average rate of gain in the feeding
tests than the first or second and also higher than any of the separate
cuttings. The amount eaten daily was also highest of all, but the dry
matter and digestible matter for a pound of gain were the lowest. In a
pound per pound comparison the gains stood as follows: first crop, 100;
second, 81; and third, 126; dry matter for a pound of gain, first crop,
100; second, 115; and third, 69.
14. The beef product per acre, taking the average result of all cuttings
for the five years, was very much the highest for the first crop and
decidedly the lowest for the third, standing as follows: first crop,
100; second, 61; and third, 45. But taking the early cuttings alone they
stand, first crop, 100; second, 80; and third, 69.
15. Pound for pound, taken as a whole, the results show the highest
feeding value for the third crop and the lowest for the second.
16. The average annual beef product from early cut alfalfa was 705.61
pounds per acre; it required 9575 pounds of timothy to produce an equal
weight; 11,967 pounds of red clover, and 10,083 pounds of shredded corn
fodder.
Prof. John A. Widtsoe at the Utah station (Bul. No. 48) made a study of
the nutrients of the alfalfa crop, and some of the facts gathered are
given in the following table:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST CUTTING
------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------
Condition of growth | Protein| Nitro- | | |
| |gen-free| Crude | Ether |
| | extract| fiber | extract| Ash
------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------
|_Pounds_|_Pounds_|_Pounds_|_Pounds_|_Pounds_
May 4. Height, 6¹⁄₂ in | .... | 607 | 168 | 40 | 167
June 1. Height, 18 in | 697 | 1,247 | 618 | 103 | 369
July 7. Full flower | 745 | 2,278 | 2,108 | 118 | 431
Aug. 10. Flowers fallen,| | | | |
leaves dry | 644 | 2,298 | 2,531 | 116 | 423
Aug. 24. Still drier | 428 | 1,776 | 2,544 | 94 | 311
------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------
SECOND CUTTING
------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------
July 7. Budding | 334 | 657 | 357 | 50 | 197
July 20. Medium bloom | 519 | 1,140 | 1,031 | 78 | 314
Aug. 3. Full flower | 551 | 1,529 | 1,316 | 81 | 323
Aug. 24. Leaves dry | 388 | 1,484 | 1,329 | 81 | 333
------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------
THIRD CUTTING
------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------
Aug. 17 | 138 | 317 | 155 | 17 | 85
Aug. 31 | 322 | 757 | 634 | 33 | 211
Sept. 14 | 298 | 934 | 818 | 43 | 214
------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------
COMPARATIVE CROP AND FEEDING VALUES
The following is another table showing the average yield of alfalfa as
compared with some of the more common fodder crops and hays, as found in
New Jersey station Bulletin No. 148.
-------------------+------------+--------+--------
| Total Yield| Dry | Total
|Green Forage| Matter | Protein
| per acre |per acre|per acre
-------------------+------------+--------+--------
| _Pounds_ |_Pounds_|_Pounds_
Alfalfa | 36,540 | 8,258 | 2,214
Corn (entire plant)| 24,000 | 5,040 | 408
Red clover | 14,000 | 4,088 | 616
Barnyard millet | 16,000 | 4,000 | 384
Crimson clover | 14,000 | 2,674 | 434
Cowpeas | 16,000 | 2,624 | 384
Oats and peas | 14,000 | 2,107 | 363
-------------------+------------+--------+--------
| Dry | Total
| Matter | Protein
--------------------------------+--------+--------
|_Pounds_|_Pounds_
1 ton alfalfa hay contains | 1,809 | 265
1 „ red clover hay contains | 1,694 | 246
1 „ oats and peas contains | 1,375 | 175
1 „ timothy contains | 1,736 | 118
1 „ wheat bran contains | 1,762 | 308
1 „ wheat middlings contains | 1,758 | 312
1 „ rye bran contains | 1,768 | 294
1 „ oats contains | 1,780 | 236
1 „ rice meal contains | 1,796 | 240
1 „ buckwheat bran contains | 1,790 | 248
--------------------------------+--------+--------
At the Colorado station (Bul. No. 26) Prof. W. W. Cooke compared an acre
of dent (Golden Beauty) corn, planted May 16 and harvested September 21,
with returns from an acre of alfalfa on an adjoining plat, three years
seeded. The corn crop was a fair one, and including ears and stalks
weighed 15,500 pounds, containing 35.62 per cent or 5539 pounds of dry
matter. The alfalfa yielded three cuttings of hay weighing respectively
4600, 3350 and 3250 pounds, or 5.6 tons, containing 10,304 pounds of dry
matter. But, as Professor Cooke says, this is not quite a fair
comparison, for a pound of dry matter from the corn crop is more
digestible and has a higher feeding value than an equal amount from the
alfalfa. The corn crop contained 3605 pounds of digestible feeding
material, while the alfalfa crop contained 5611 pounds, or a little more
than half as much again. The corn crop per acre in feeding value was
equivalent to three and a half tons of alfalfa hay.
The total digestible nutrients of the two crops are presented in the
following table:
-------------------+-----------------+-----------------
| TOTAL | DIGESTIBLE
+--------+--------+--------+--------
| Corn |Alfalfa | Corn |Alfalfa
-------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------
|_Pounds_|_Pounds_|_Pounds_|_Pounds_
Dry matter | 5,539 | 10,304 | 3,605 | 5,611
Albuminoids | 405 | 1,602 | 296 | 1,198
Starch, sugar, etc.| 3,263 | 4,782 | 2,186 | 3,114
Fiber | 1,472 | 2,800 | 1,060 | 1,198
Fat (ether extract)| 84 | 246 | 63 | 101
Ash | 315 | 829 | .... | ....
-------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------
COMPARATIVE VALUES OF ALFALFA HAY AND OTHER FEED STUFFS FOR PROTEIN
-------------------------------+------------------------------
|Value per ton when prairie hay
| is worth per ton--
Feedstuff | $2.00 | $3.00 | $4.00
-------------------------------+---------+---------+----------
Alfalfa hay (average) | $6.05 | $9.08 | $12.11
Red clover hay | 3.88 | 5.82 | 7.77
Orchard-grass hay | 2.74 | 4.11 | 5.48
Millet hay | 2.57 | 3.85 | 5.14
Timothy hay | 1.65 | 2.48 | 3.31
Sorghum hay | 1.37 | 2.05 | 2.74
Corn-fodder (stover) | 1.14 | 1.71 | 2.28
Oat straw | .91 | 1.37 | 1.82
Wheat straw | .45 | .68 | .91
Sugar beets | .62 | .94 | 1.25
Mangel-wurzels | .57 | .85 | 1.14
Alfalfa hay containing 12.9 per| | |
cent digestible protein | 7.36 | 11.05 | 14.73
Wheat bran | 7.02 | 10.53 | 14.04
-------------------------------+---------+---------+----------
It is seen that the alfalfa yielded nearly twice as many pounds of dry
matter as the corn, with the digestible nutrients far in the lead, and
the protein of the alfalfa was three times that of the corn.
THE BALANCED RATION
No feeder can learn to use alfalfa, or in fact any forage or grain, in
the most economical way until he understands somewhat the compounding of
a balanced ration. All foodstuffs for either man or beast are, as
already stated, made up of three classes of substances--namely, protein
or proteids, carbohydrates and fats. The animal’s digestive and
assimilative organs are so constructed that it cannot use these three
classes of substances interchangeably; in other words, an animal fed
wholly upon any one of these three would be in process of gradual
starvation. Given in the proportions needed to best supply the vital
organs of the body, these substances become the sustenance for animal
life and growth. The protein builds up the brain, nerves, muscles and
other tissues in which the life force is active, and without protein
there would be no life.
To balance a ration for domestic animals is to so adjust the quantity of
digestible proteids, fats and carbohydrates it contains that the animal
economy may use each without waste. The balanced ration means an
economical ration, allowing the digestive organs to work at their
highest efficiency; an unbalanced ration is one in which one of the
three classes of food substances is in excess, or is deficient. Fed such
a ration, the animal retaliates upon its owner by failure to digest the
excess, which is worse than wasted; for the feeding of any class of
substances in excess adds to the labor of the digestive organs and
reduces their efficiency.
MAKING A BALANCED RATION
In Press Bulletin No. 12, from the Kansas station, the following is
given to illustrate somewhat how a balanced ration would differ from
others into which consideration of a proper balance had not entered:
“There are three important groups of substances in feeds--protein,
carbohydrates, and fat. Protein includes all materials in feeds which
contain nitrogen. It enters into the composition of milk, blood, muscle,
hair and the brain and nerves; is necessary in the formation of these,
and no other substance can take its place. Protein is also used in the
body in producing heat, energy and fat. Carbohydrates include the fiber
of feeds, the sugars, starch, and gums, and furnish heat, energy and fat
in the body. Carbohydrates and fat can take each other’s places, one
pound of fat being worth 2.2 pounds of carbohydrates for production of
heat in the body.
“Extended investigations have shown that to obtain the best results,
feed should be given which will furnish these materials in the following
proportions:
“Dairy cow--protein, 2¹⁄₂ pounds; carbohydrates, 12¹⁄₂ pounds; fat, ¹⁄₂
pound.
“Fattening steer--protein, 2¹⁄₂ to 3 pounds; carbohydrates, 15 pounds;
fat, ¹⁄₂ to ³⁄₄ pound.
“Growing cattle--protein, 4 pounds; carbohydrates, 13¹⁄₂ pounds; fat, 2
pounds.
“For a young animal (cattle) gradually decrease the proportion of
protein until at the age of two years the proportions are similar to
those for the fattening steer, but less in quantity. A pig two to three
months old needs feeds containing seven and one-half pounds of protein
to each thirty pounds of carbohydrates and fat, while a year-old pig
needs seven and one-half pounds of protein to each forty-eight pounds of
carbohydrates and fat. Feeds containing a greater proportion of protein
than called for by these standards can be fed, because protein can take
the place of the other materials. Carbohydrates and fat cannot take the
place of protein, however, and no matter in how large quantities they
may be fed, if protein is lacking, the growth or gain will be less.
“The weak point in feeding is that the average rations are greatly
deficient in protein, and have too much carbohydrates and fat. Every
feeder knows that good pasturage produces rapid growth, good gains, and
abundant milk yields. It furnishes nutriment in the proportion of three
pounds of protein, twelve pounds of carbohydrates, and one-half pound of
fat. The proportions in some of our feeds in pounds per 100 pounds of
feed, are as follows:
-----------+-------+--------+-----
| | Carbo- |
|Protein|hydrates| Fat
-----------+-------+--------+-----
Corn | 7.8 | 66.7 | 1.6
Kafir-corn | 7.8 | 57.1 | 2.7
Prairie hay| 3.5 | 41.8 | 1.4
Corn fodder| 2.0 | 33.2 | 0.6
Sorghum hay| 2.4 | 40.6 | 1.2
-----------+-------+--------+-----
“It will be seen that none of these contain a sufficient proportion of
protein to secure best results, and all combinations of these feeds will
have the same defect.
“Some feeds have too great a proportion of protein to be fed alone, as
shown below, the figures indicating pounds per 100 pounds of feed:
-----------------+-------+--------+------
| | Carbo- |
|Protein|hydrates| Fat
-----------------+-------+--------+------
Alfalfa hay | 10.6 | 37.3 | 1.4
Gluten-meal | 31.1 | 43.9 | 4.8
Linseed-oil meal | 28.8 | 32.8 | 7.1
Cottonseed-meal | 37.0 | 16.5 | 12.6
Soy-beans | 39.6 | 22.3 | 14.4
-----------------+-------+--------+------
“Making a balanced ration is combining the feeds deficient in protein
with those having an excess of it, to make a ration which will contain
the right proportions for the animals fed.”
VARIATIONS IN ANALYSIS
Variations in the foregoing tables would indicate that the analysis is
likely to vary with the product of different soils and different
cultivations. In spite of variations it may be readily seen that alfalfa
with its high protein value makes a very effective and economical
balance for corn for heavy feeding. When it is taken into consideration
that this forage so rich in protein can be raised at home, and that its
growing is at the same time enriching the soil, the conclusion is easy
that alfalfa hay may profitably constitute a part of all the fattening
operations; it is also clear that the economical way to market alfalfa
is through the farm’s live stock.
_CHAPTER XI._
Alfalfa in Beef-Making
The cattle feeder is not much given to sentiment and cares less for the
beauty of the purple flowers of the alfalfa than he does for the best
method of converting those purple flowers and the accompanying foliage
into marketable beef. An accepted but unwritten rule of cornfeeding is
that 1000 pounds of grain with ordinary forage will produce 100 pounds
of gain, under normal conditions.
SOME FEEDING TESTS
The Kansas station in a careful feeding test of 153 days produced 100
pounds of gain with 718 pounds of grain by using alfalfa hay for
roughness. This test also gave the following table of gain in values,
from the use of different feeds in the same given time:
Corn and alfalfa hay $109.74
Corn and prairie hay 56.96
Corn and sorghum hay 27.09
Corn and oat straw 43.28
Barley and alfalfa hay 57.16
The Utah station after a feeding test published the statement that to
produce 705.61 pounds of beef it required:
Of alfalfa hay 7,182 pounds
Of timothy hay 9,575 „
Of red clover hay 11,967 „
Of shredded corn fodder 10,083 „
[Illustration: =Kansas Farmer Viewing One of His Alfalfa Fields=
Showing ten days’ growth after first cutting in 1907]
[Illustration: Harvesting Alfalfa in Ohio]
At this station steers made a most rapid gain when fed upon early cut
alfalfa hay, either with or without an accompanying ration of grain. “By
early cut hay was meant hay cut just before bloom. The gain upon this
early cut alfalfa hay was one-third more than that upon hay cut when in
full bloom or later.”
The Utah station also reports a cattle feeding test (Bul. No. 61) in
which 100 pounds of gain from feeding alfalfa hay cost $3.76; from
timothy, $4.71, and from corn fodder, $6.21.
At the Nebraska station Prof. Howard R. Smith (Buls. 85 and 90) fed 50
yearling and 50 two-year-old grade steers in lots of ten for six months,
each lot of each fifty having rations different from the others, and the
table herewith shows the average cost per pound of gain made by each
steer of each lot of yearlings:
Lot fed corn and prairie hay 8.27 cents
„ „ corn 90 per cent, oil meal 10 per cent, and
prairie hay 6.82 „
„ „ corn 90 per cent, oil meal 10 per cent, and
corn stover 6.09 „
„ „ corn 90 per cent, oil meal 10 per cent, and
sorghum hay 7.00 „
„ „ corn and alfalfa hay 6.04 „
Below is shown the cost under similar conditions with the two-year-olds,
(the cost of the corn and oil meal fed them having been slightly greater
than that fed the yearlings):
Lot fed corn and prairie hay 8.23 cents
„ „ corn 90 per cent, oil meal 10 per cent, and
prairie hay 8.27 „
„ „ corn 90 per cent, oil meal 10 per cent, and
corn stover 6.49 „
„ „ corn 90 per cent, oil meal 10 per cent, and
sorghum hay 7.87 „
„ „ corn and alfalfa hay 6.89 „
Among the deductions from these experiments, Professor Smith records the
following, bearing upon the use of alfalfa:
“Alfalfa is much superior to prairie hay when the grain consists of corn
alone. It also proved to be a cheaper source of protein than oil meal.
The returns on the cattle fed alfalfa hay, were the alfalfa figured at
$11.14 per ton, would have been as great as the returns on prairie hay
at $6 per ton, with corn as the grain ration at 39 cents per bushel. In
comparison with prairie hay at $6 when oil meal worth $28 per ton was a
part of the grain ration, the alfalfa returned a value of $8.28 per ton.
(In these experiments the cost of all alfalfa hay and all prairie hay
was figured at the one price of $6 per ton.--Author.)
“Bright, well-cured corn stover fed with an equal weight of alfalfa, the
grain consisting of corn alone, gave slightly larger gains than corn and
alfalfa, and proved the most economical ration in the experiment. The
addition of corn stover may have improved, to some extent, the corn and
alfalfa ration by furnishing greater variety, and by its tendency to
check scours sometimes caused by alfalfa. The stover fed with alfalfa
returned a value of $4.57 per ton in comparison with alfalfa at $6 per
ton as the sole roughness.
“By feeding alfalfa hay, which is a protein-rich roughness, extremely
palatable and readily masticated, in place of prairie hay with corn
alone, 14 per cent less grain was required for each pound of gain on
two-year-olds and 27 per cent less on yearlings.
“Alfalfa hay, fed once per day in connection with corn and well-cured
cornstalks, furnished sufficient protein for two-year-olds to make the
three foods a combination producing heavy and very economical
gains--more economical than any other ration in the experiment.
“Alfalfa is pronouncedly superior to prairie hay for beef production,
and the more rapid the extension of the area of land devoted to the
production of alfalfa, supplanting the less valuable and lower yielding
native hay, the more rapid will be the production of wealth from our
soil.”
One authority who has made a study of such problems says, “steers can be
fattened on one-third less corn with alfalfa for roughness than
without.”
W. H. Jordan, director of the New York (Geneva) experiment station says:
“Probably no species of forage are known that are more economical
sources of high-class cattle food than alfalfa and corn, and if in the
realms of stock raising corn is king, alfalfa is queen.”
FEEDING TOO MUCH ALFALFA
Many feeders make the mistake of feeding too much alfalfa hay to young
steers grained heavily on corn. Careful tests seem to prove that cattle
on a heavy feed of corn, corn meal, Kafir-corn or Kafir-corn meal gain
as much with 15 or 20 pounds of alfalfa hay per day as by having 35
pounds, the very common quantity in feeding. It is also reported by
experienced feeders that steers over three years old may be fattened on
alfalfa with a moderate feed of corn, while for younger steers the heavy
feed should be corn with 15 to 25 pounds of alfalfa hay per day.
A Colorado feeder put a lot of steers nearly four years old on a daily
ration of ten pounds of corn chop and fifteen pounds of alfalfa hay for
100 days. The gain was surprising and the steers weighed on the Denver
market about 1430 pounds per head.
A feeder in Osborne county, Kansas, reported to the author the
following: “Began feeding 22 two-year-old steers on February 3rd,
averaging 941 pounds in weight. Gave them no feed but alfalfa hay until
March 4th. From March 4th until May 1st fed all the alfalfa they wanted
and 243 bushels of corn chop, when they weighed out at an average gain
of 259 pounds each in 86 days, or three pounds per day on a feed of 11
bushels of corn chop and plenty of alfalfa hay per steer.”
Western feeders generally claim to be able to put fat cattle on the
market from 20 to 30 per cent cheaper with alfalfa as the balance than
on corn alone, or with corn and bran or any purchased protein foods. The
cheapest beef-making in the West is the raising of calves on alfalfa,
and at 20 to 24 months fattening them by a heavy feeding of corn and
alfalfa hay for 100 days. Cattle carried to 1000 to 1200 pounds on
alfalfa, and then finished by strong feeding on corn with alfalfa hay
for fifty to sixty days, make beef of a choice quality at a low cost.
_CHAPTER XII._
Alfalfa and the Dairy
MAKING A MARGIN
The most enthusiastic advocates of alfalfa are dairymen. The market
price of milk is quite well fixed and the price of butterfat at the
creameries remains, in the different seasons, pretty much the same year
by year. Hence, the problem of increasing his financial returns must
depend upon the dairyman’s being able to increase the volume of his
product or to decrease the cost, or both. If he is selling butterfat at
a profit of five cents and he cannot force the price any higher, it is
the sensible thing to decrease the cost per pound and thereby enlarge
his profit.
The dairyman who buys all his feed has but little margin. To raise
enough clover calls for considerable land. Alfalfa will yield a large
bulk of excellent feed from a few acres of well treated land. For profit
he must raise more feedstuff and buy less. The Kansas station reported
that with common scrub cows fed on alfalfa hay and Kafir corn meal it
was possible to produce butterfat at a cost of seven cents a pound.
SOME MILKING TEST VALUATIONS
The New Jersey station as a result of a very painstaking milking test
reported: (1) In a ration where alfalfa hay was tested against wheat
bran and dried brewers’ grain the saving in the cost of milk was 12.7
cents per hundred, and 2.3 cents per pound of butter when alfalfa hay
was used. This saving means a great deal when it is considered that the
alfalfa is raised and not purchased. (2) That the milk value of one acre
of alfalfa was $74.
A Kansas dairyman is reported to have kept ten cows through one summer
on the alfalfa cut daily from a patch containing four square rods less
than two acres.
Some dairymen believe that there is a great saving in the alfalfa hay by
cutting it into two-inch lengths, and feeding it dry. It is also
believed that it will always be a matter of economy to feed with the
alfalfa, green or as hay, a small ration of carbonaceous food, even
corn-stover serving such a purpose.
Former Governor Hoard, editor of _Hoard’s Dairyman_, says that with
alfalfa hay at $10 and bran at $20 per ton there is a saving, by using
alfalfa, of $2.80 for every 100 pounds of butter made, and a saving of
19.8 cents for every 100 pounds of milk.
In a section of New York where alfalfa has been quite generally
introduced, dairymen claim an increase in their profits of 15 to 30 per
cent by its use, besides the enrichment of their farms for other crops.
Prof. D. H. Otis, telling of experiments with the dairy herd at the
Kansas agricultural college, states that, “it is usually recommended to
feed a cow all the rough feed she will eat, and then balance up the
ration with grain. The experience at the college indicates that much
rough feed is wasted in careless feeding. The cow will eat the best
first, and, if given too much, will pick the most desirable morsels,
leaving what might be called passably good, which too frequently is
treated as waste and thrown under foot. No more hay should be given an
animal than it will eat up clean. This refers to first-class quality,
however, as a cow could not be expected to eat poor hay clean.
“In feeding the rough feeds, the following table has been used by the
college as a guide:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ROUGHNESS.--Value per ton when alfalfa is worth $1.00 per ton
---------------+-------+-------+-----------------+---------+-----
| Total |Protein| | Total |Protein
| nutri-| nutri-| | nutri-| nutri-
FEED | ents | ents | FEED | ents | ents
---------------+-------+-------+-----------------+-------+-------
DRY ROUGHNESS | | |GREEN ROUGHNESS | |
Alfalfa | $1.00 | $1.00 | Alfalfa | $0.34 | $0.37
Corn-fodder | .32 | .19 | Corn silage | .13 | .12
Cowpeas | .97 | 1.02 | Fodder corn | .14 | .09
Fodder Corn | .40 | .24 | Pasture grasses| .03 | .24
Millet | .64 | .42 | Sorghum fodder | .12 | .06
Oat hay | .59 | .41 | Soy-beans | .28 | .30
Oat straw | .33 | .15 | | |
Orchard-grass| .60 | .45 |ROOTS AND TUBERS | |
Prairie hay | .51 | .33 | Mangels | .10 | .09
Red clover | .70 | .64 | Sugar-beets | .14 | .10
Sorghum | .43 | .23 | Turnips | .11 | .08
Soy-beans | .98 | 1.02 | | |
Mixed hay | .67 | .56 | | |
Timothy | .47 | .27 | | |
Wheat straw | .25 | .08 | | |
---------------+-------+-------+-----------------+-------+-------
“Students working with the dairy herd were anxious to have the cows make
the best possible yields, and were tempted to give all the good alfalfa
hay the cows would eat. When we discovered the alfalfa hay going too
rapidly we looked for the cause and found that the dairy cows had
consumed an average of forty-three pounds per head daily, besides
fifteen pounds of Kafir corn fodder. The quantity of alfalfa was reduced
to thirty-three pounds and the Kafir-corn fodder to three and one-half
pounds daily per cow, and we found that the daily yield of milk was
slightly increased. The quality of the hay was the same in both
instances. In the latter case it was eaten up clean, while in the former
considerable was hauled away and fed to dry cows. Later records show a
still greater reduction in the allowance of alfalfa without decreasing
the flow of milk. This experience shows some of the leaks that may take
place in feeding roughness, especially when those feeds are appetizing,
like alfalfa and red clover.
“For ease of calculation the roughness is figured on the basis of
alfalfa hay selling for one dollar per ton. When alfalfa is worth six
dollars per ton the other rough feeds are worth six times the amount
indicated in the table; when alfalfa is worth eight dollars per ton the
other feeds are worth eight times as much, and so on. Usually we find
that we can give practically all the rough feed that the cows can eat,
although, as indicated above, with a good quality of alfalfa or clover
hay more may be eaten than will be consumed at a profit. At this writing
alfalfa hay is selling in Manhattan at seven dollars per ton. This would
make the feeding values of the other rough feeds worth seven times the
amount indicated in the table. Red clover, for instance, would be worth
seven times seventy cents or $4.90 per ton; prairie hay would be worth
$3.57 per ton; and millet hay would be worth $4.48 per ton. If the
problem was to select the most economical roughness, we would select
alfalfa at seven dollars per ton, in preference to red clover at six
dollars per ton, or prairie hay at four dollars per ton, or millet at
five dollars per ton. Knowing the cost of these different rough feeds
and having this table before him, a feeder can tell which is the most
economical feed to use. It will be noticed that the table is divided
into two parts, the first part giving the value of the total nutrients,
and the second one the value of the protein nutrients. It frequently
happens that we have plenty of carbohydrates and fat, but that we are
lacking in protein. In this case we would consult the ‘protein
nutrients’ column in order to determine what feed to buy in order to
furnish the protein most economically. If it be carbohydrates and fat as
well as protein that is required, as was the condition in the dry year
of 1901, then we should take the total nutrients’ column. When it is
possible to get a rough feed containing a large amount of protein, we
find that in feeding a liberal allowance of roughness the grain can be
reduced. Hence, the importance of providing roughness rich in protein,
like alfalfa.”
SELLING FARM PRODUCTS THROUGH THE COW
No other branch of agriculture presents more advantages than
dairying--disposing of the products of the farm as milk and butterfat.
When the latter may be sold to creamery stations and the skim milk fed
to calves and pigs along with alfalfa the profits are greater than from
almost any other form of agriculture. No other business tends so rapidly
to build up the fertility of the farm, and, when judiciously conducted,
no other branch of farming yields more satisfactory financial returns.
Raising and feeding alfalfa will add from 15 to 30 per cent to the
profits of dairying over the use of any other feedstuff that may be
raised or bought. The profit problem for the dairyman is constantly to
find the feed that will decrease the cost of his production.
The diagram below, prepared by the editor of the _Nebraska Farmer_, is
to “represent the digestible protein or milk property contained in
different kinds of roughness. Points represent the decimals of a pound,
and the bars are an exact representation of the superiority of one kind
of food over another for the production of milk. Each bar represents 10
pounds of roughness. The approximate yield is also given per acre:”
Approximate Yield Per Acre.
Corn Stover 6 to 8 Tons 17 Points
-------------
Drilled Corn Fodder 10 to 14 Tons 25 Points
-------------------
Timothy Hay 2 Tons 28 Points
--------------------------
Prairie Hay 2 Tons 30 Points
--------------------------------
Millet Hay 3 Tons 32 Points
---------------------------------------
Oat Hay 3 to 4 Tons 43 Points
---------------------------------------------
Red Top 2 Tons 48 Points
---------------------------------------------------
Red Clover 2 Tons 68 Points
----------------------------------------------------------
Alsike 3 Tons 84 Points
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alfalfa 6 to 8 Tons 110 Points
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A. S. Hitchcock cites as an illustration of feeding alfalfa alone, the
case of the dairy farms in the vicinity of Moneta, Cal., where the stock
are ordinarily fed no other ration than alfalfa. As alfalfa is not a
balanced ration, a number of local dairymen tried to replace a part of
the alfalfa by sorghum, thus giving a more nearly balanced ration. The
cows, however, did not give as much milk upon this combination as upon
pure alfalfa. “This result may be assigned to the fact that the cattle
were unable to consume a sufficient quantity of the mixture to produce
the same results as the alfalfa alone. These dairymen find they can
secure a larger yield by feeding a little grain; but the increased yield
does not pay for the grain, which is high priced in this locality.”
AN ESSENTIAL IN MILK PRODUCTION
Oscar Erf, professor of dairying at the Kansas experiment station,
writing for this volume, says: “Alfalfa is quite indispensable in
successful dairy operations, being one of the cheapest sources of
protein, that most essential compound in feeds for milk production. The
Kansas station found that for milk 1¹⁄₄ pounds of well-leaved alfalfa
hay, containing a high per cent of protein, is equal in feeding value to
a pound of bran. In case the alfalfa is of a stemmy nature it requires
1³⁄₄ pounds to equal the feeding value of a pound of bran. Alfalfa hay
is worth from $4 to $7 per ton on the farm, while bran costs from $14 to
$20 per ton, hence it is far more economical to feed the alfalfa hay.
“Like other hays alfalfa varies in composition according to the time of
cutting, the soil on which it grows, and its per cent of leaves. It has
been found that three-fourths of a pound of alfalfa hay is equal in
feeding value to a pound of clover hay of equal brightness and quality.
A good stand of clover yields about 2¹⁄₂ tons per acre per year, while a
good stand of alfalfa yields about 5 tons per acre per year. Hence, on
an acre of land, 1100 pounds of protein can be produced by raising
alfalfa while only 340 pounds can be produced by growing clover, the
protein in the alfalfa and that in the clover being equally digestible.
This comparison is chosen from the fact that clover is the next cheaper
source of protein found on the farm.
“At the Kansas station the following experiment was conducted, and
illustrates the low cost of a ration including alfalfa hay for roughness
as compared with a ration in which prairie hay was used. The experiment
was with ten cows. The first ration consisted of 21 pounds of alfalfa
hay and 9 pounds of corn. While the cows were on this ration each
produced an average 26 pounds of milk per day, the milk containing 3.9
per cent of butterfat. To formulate a ration from prairie hay and bran
which had the same amount of nutrients, we were obliged to feed 19
pounds of bran and 15 of hay. Fed on this each cow produced only 24
pounds of milk per day, containing 4 per cent of butterfat. The 21
pounds of alfalfa hay at $7 per ton, which is rather a high estimate,
and 9 pounds of corn at 70 cents per hundred weight cost 13.6 cents per
day. At this rate it cost 3¹⁄₃ cents to produce a gallon of milk, or
approximately 13.5 cents for a pound of butterfat. Estimating bran at
$16 per ton and prairie hay at $5 per ton, the cost of the second ration
was 18.95 cents per day, and milk approximately 7 cents per gallon,
making the butterfat worth 19.7 cents per pound.
“The following two tables show the difference in cost between a ration
in which alfalfa is used for part of the roughness and one which
contains no alfalfa but has the same amount of digestible nutrients:
Alfalfa hay 19 lbs at $ 7.00 per ton $ .066
Corn 7 lbs at .70 per cwt .049
Bran 2¹⁄₂ lbs at 18.00 per ton .0225
-------
$ .1375
Sorghum hay 10 lbs at $ 3.50 per ton $ .0175
Prairie hay 12 lbs at 6.00 per ton .036
Ground wheat 8 lbs at .80 per bu .1066
Cottonseed meal 3 lbs at 24.00 per ton .036
-------
$ .1961
“As shown by the table a gain of 5.86 cents is made by feeding the
alfalfa. Being a proteinaceous feed it can to a great extent be
substituted for cottonseed meal, linseed meal or gluten meal, and will
entirely substitute other leguminous hays and forages, such as soy bean
hay, cowpea hay, clover hay and vetch hay, any one of which is more
expensive, for nutrients contained, than alfalfa hay.
“The Kansas station has found it practicable, from results obtained in
the past three years, to ensile green alfalfa for dairy cows. This is
superior to dry alfalfa, owing to its succulent nature. In the eastern
part of the United States ensiling alfalfa has another advantage in that
all cuttings can be harvested in perfect condition. As a rule the first
cutting throughout this whole territory is liable to be damaged more or
less by rains. By putting the green alfalfa into a well constructed silo
this loss can be obviated and the full value retained. For example: a
man has 40 acres of alfalfa, from which he harvests for the first crop
1¹⁄₂ tons per acre. Estimating the price of good, clean alfalfa hay at
$7 a ton, this would be worth $420. Should the hay be damaged by rain
its value would be greatly reduced and, as has been the case for many
years, such damaged hay could be purchased for $2 or less per ton.
Accordingly this damaged hay would be worth $120. The loss caused by
rain would therefore be $300. Put into the silo this first cutting would
be equal in value to the best bright hay.
“The cost of a 100-ton silo is $250, hence the owner could not only save
the first cutting, but money besides. Furthermore, it is not
infrequently the case that alfalfa of the first cutting is of a stemmy
nature, and it has been estimated that fully 28 per cent of such hay is
wasted when fed to cows, as they do not eat the coarse stems. This loss
can be entirely eliminated by the siloing, for cows will readily eat the
stems as silage.
“The value of alfalfa silage in influencing the milk flow was indicated
when a ration was fed to sixteen cows, in which 12 pounds of alfalfa
hay, 20 pounds of corn silage, 5 pounds of bran and 4 pounds of corn
meal were used; this ration was afterward changed by substituting
alfalfa silage for the corn silage, and at the same time the bran was
reduced to 1 pound, and the corn increased 1 pound. By these changes the
milk was increased 10 per cent.
“With butterfat worth 23 cents a pound the value of a ton of alfalfa
silage has been estimated at approximately $8. This silage solves the
problem of feeding cows economically in summer, as well as in winter,
under a system of intensive farming.”
W. J. Fraser, chief in dairy husbandry at the University of Illinois,
says: “Corn silage and alfalfa, two of the best feeds for dairy cows,
make practically a complete or balanced ration in themselves. Several
years’ experience in supplying the university dairy herd with various
kinds of soiling crops in midsummer has led to this high recommendation
of corn silage and alfalfa.”
Alfalfa hay has much the same laxative effect as June pasture. An Elgin,
Ill., dairyman, with fifty cows, says: “Every month I feed alfalfa in
winter gives me a month in which I have practically pasture conditions.
The cows show the pasture-effect in the glossy condition of their hair
and in the yield of milk, and have never before looked quite so well.”
_CHAPTER XIII._
Alfalfa for Swine
HOGS WILL EAT HAY
In the preceding chapter it was stated that alfalfa is a valuable
pasture or soiling crop for pigs. It is equally true that they will
actually eat alfalfa hay. A hog is not usually ranked as a hay-eating
animal but an exception must be made as to his eating alfalfa hay. As a
pasture or soiling crop for sows and young pigs, alfalfa proves a
wonderfully helpful ration for milk-making in the sow and for growth in
the pigs. Experiments have shown that pigs make better growth when the
dam is fed considerable alfalfa than those from sows fed the best of
commercial rations, but with no alfalfa. Given two sets of pigs, one fed
clover, rape and soaked corn and the other fed only alfalfa forage, the
latter seemed to grow the more rapidly. For brood sows it is a most
valuable food, either as hay, a soiling crop, or as pasture. The litters
of such sows are generally large and vigorous and the dams have a strong
flow of nutritious milk. Alfalfa meal in slop may be used with profit
where the hay is not to be obtained. It is also claimed that sows fed on
alfalfa during pregnancy will not devour their young, its mineral
elements seeming to satisfy the appetite of the sow, while contributing
to the fetal development of the pigs.
[Illustration: =Five-year-old Alfalfa=
at the time of its third cutting. September 8, and its root development.
Grown at Manhattan, Kansas, on upland prairie having a heavy clay
subsoil]
[Illustration: =Showing Advantage of Early Fall Sowing=
Beginning on the left the seed was sown August 19, September 15 and
October 1 respectively. All were dug up April 13 of the following
spring. Nebraska Experiment Station Bulletin 84]
On a farm of Governor Hoard, in Wisconsin, all the brood sows have for
several years been wintered on alfalfa hay of the third cutting, and
their drink, without any grain until the last two weeks of gestation.
Mr. Hoard says the object was to give the sows a food that should keep
them in a non-feverish state and furnish protein sufficient to build the
bodies of the forthcoming pigs. (Their “drink” was the skim milk from
the dairy.)
“It was a matter of experiment at first, our only guide being what
knowledge and reason we could exercise from what we knew, or thought we
knew, of the philosophy of gestation. The experiment proved to be a
success from the first. The sows went through their work in fine
condition, giving milk abundantly. The pigs came with splendid vitality,
thus reducing our losses from early death fully 30 per cent over what
they had previously been. The hay is fed dry and is thrown into the pen
on the feeding floor without any cutting or chaffing whatever. We have
sometimes thought we would try the experiment of cutting it into
half-inch lengths and moistening it. Possibly it would take less hay in
this way. The sows keep in good flesh, fully as much so as we like.”
A Finney county, Kansas, farmer reports having pastured 30 pigs on one
acre of alfalfa from May 1st to September 1st, when they weighed 100
pounds each and were in fine condition for fattening. Another Kansas
farmer reports keeping 100 pigs from about the middle of April to
September on five acres of alfalfa pasture. A little grain during the
last two months would have gained him many pounds of pork. Many alfalfa
raising pig-growers insist that their pigs can be maintained from May
to October on alfalfa for one-half what it would cost for almost any
other feed.
The Utah station found that young shoats gained one-third of a pound a
day on alfalfa pasture without grain. But the station found also that
the gain was not so great in older hogs. A Wisconsin dairyman reported
that he kept nine sows all winter and spring on alfalfa hay and skim
milk, without any grain, and raised from them 75 pigs, all healthy and
vigorous.
The Colorado station considers that a ration of three-fourths corn and
one-fourth alfalfa hay is the best for fattening hogs for market, but
for young hogs not ready for fattening the proportions should be
reversed. The station does not recommend grinding alfalfa hay for hogs,
probably on the theory that the hog’s time is not worth much at best.
A VALUABLE FEEDING TEST
The Kansas station in the fall of 1898 made a series of experiments of
interest to feeders everywhere. The test was to determine the value of
alfalfa hay fed to fattening hogs that were receiving all the grain they
would eat. The results are related here in the language of the bulletin:
“The hogs fed in this experiment were bought of farmers, and averaged in
weight 125 pounds each. They were placed in lots of ten each, in large
pens, having for shelter some sheds open to the south. The alfalfa hay
used was of the best quality, carefully cured. Blackhulled White
Kafir-corn was the grain used, the hogs being fed all they would eat
without waste. The hay was fed dry in forkfuls in a large flat trough.
The pigs were given more than they could eat, and they picked out the
leaves and finer stems, rejecting the coarser stems. One lot of hogs was
fed Kafir-corn meal dry and alfalfa hay; one lot whole Kafir-corn dry;
one lot Kafir-corn meal dry, and one lot Kafir-corn meal wet.
“The experiment began on November 24 and lasted nine weeks. By that time
the alfalfa-fed hogs became well fattened, and were marketed. We
estimated that it would require four to five weeks additional feeding,
with ordinary weather, to get the hogs that were fed grain alone into
good marketable condition.
“The gain in nine weeks from the different methods of feeding were as
follows:
Gains per hog
in pounds
Kafir-corn meal dry and alfalfa hay 90.9
Kafir-corn whole 59.4
Kafir-corn meal fed dry 52.4
Kafir-corn meal fed wet 63.3
“The gain from feeding alfalfa hay with Kafir-corn meal fed dry, over
the meal alone fed dry, is more than 73 per cent.
“The gains per bushel of feed were as follows:
Pounds
Kafir-corn meal dry and 7.83 pounds alfalfa hay 10.88
Kafir-corn whole 8.56
Kafir-corn meal fed dry 7.48
Kafir-corn meal fed wet 8.09
“Ten hogs in nine weeks were fed 656 pounds of alfalfa hay; and as shown
above, for each 7.83 pounds of alfalfa hay fed with the dry Kafir-corn
meal, the hogs gained 3.4 pounds over those having dry Kafir-corn meal
alone--a gain of 868 pounds of pork per ton of alfalfa hay. These
results are not due to the feeding value of the alfalfa alone, but also
to its influence in aiding the hogs to better digest the Kafir-corn. The
alfalfa hay also gave a variety to the ration, making it more appetizing
and inducing the hogs to eat more grain. The ten hogs having grain alone
ate 3885 pounds of dry Kafir-corn meal, while the ten hogs having hay
and grain ate 4679 pounds of the Kafir-corn meal and 656 pounds of
alfalfa hay. The hay-fed hogs ate more grain and gained more for each
bushel eaten.
“In a former experiment pigs were pastured through the summer on alfalfa
with a light feeding of corn. After deducting the probable gain from the
corn, the gain per acre from the alfalfa pasture was 776 pounds of pork.
“These facts indicate that to produce pork most cheaply the Kansas
farmer must have alfalfa pasture in summer and alfalfa hay in winter.”
The Kansas station also found in another test that one acre of alfalfa
produced pork worth $20.30, while one acre of rape produced pork worth
$10.05.
The Iowa station director estimated that one acre of alfalfa pastured
was worth at least three acres of blue-grass for pigs. It is claimed by
Kansas farmers that an average acre of alfalfa will pasture 15 pigs,
while some report having pastured 20 or more pigs per acre. Those who
have used alfalfa as a soiling crop for pigs admit, however, that one
acre so utilized is equal to two if not three used as pasture.
It is argued by feeders that as many hogs may profitably be allowed with
cattle that are being fattened on corn and alfalfa as when fed corn
alone, as the feeders believe in cleaning out the feed-racks every few
days and giving the left-over stems to the hogs. If necessary, a little
corn is added to the hog ration.
A NEBRASKA TEST
The Nebraska experiment station, from a hog-feeding test made in 1903
reported the following:
“With the alfalfa hay worth $7 per ton, the leaves, containing 40 per
cent more protein, would be worth approximately $10 per ton. The shorts
cost $12.50 per ton delivered. The dairy department charged 15 cents per
hundred for the skim milk used. Corn was delivered to the barns at 30
cents per bushel. Adding the usual rate of 6 cents per hundred for
grinding, the corn meal cost $12 per ton. At these prices, each hundred
pounds of gain in the several lots cost as follows:
Lot 1, corn alone $4.48
Lot 2, corn and skim milk 3.97
Lot 3, corn and shorts 3.53
Lot 4, corn and alfalfa 3.40
“This experiment shows that at the market prices quoted and the
proportions used in the experiment, skim milk will make corn bring four
cents more per bushel, wheat shorts eight cents more, and alfalfa leaves
nine cents more. Assuming that only five per cent of the 252,520,173
bushels of corn produced in Nebraska this year is being fed to hogs as a
single food, these figures would go to show that $1,000,000 more wealth
would be added to the state if wheat shorts or alfalfa were substituted
for one-fifth of the corn fed.”
CUT ALFALFA EARLY FOR HOGS
It is especially important that alfalfa intended to be fed to hogs
should be cut early. An experiment at the Kansas station showed that a
ton of early cut and well-cured alfalfa, fed with grain, produced 868
pounds of pork while a ton late cut and poorly cured, fed with grain,
produced only 333 pounds. For fattening hogs it is well to feed about
one ton of well-cured alfalfa hay with each 250 bushels of grain.
Farmer’s Bulletin No. 215 of the United States Department of Agriculture
declares that alfalfa is an ideal pasture plant for hogs. “There is no
danger from bloat and with a limited number of hogs there is practically
no injury to the alfalfa field. Vigorous alfalfa will support 15 to 25
head of pigs per acre. It is best to limit the number of pigs to that
which will be insufficient to keep down an alfalfa field. Cuttings of
hay may then be made at intervals and the growth thus rejuvenated. On
the average pigs weighing 30 to 60 pounds in the spring will make a gain
of about 100 pounds each during the season. Although pigs may be grown
and fattened upon alfalfa alone, it is best to combine the alfalfa with
some kind of a grain ration. Alfalfa by itself is too rich in protein to
give a balanced ration. Where pigs are pastured upon alfalfa alone they
may be prepared for the market by feeding for a few weeks upon corn. It
is still better, however, to feed a third to a half of a ration of corn
or other grain during the time of pasturing.”
The great mistake made by too many who attempt to pasture swine on
alfalfa is in overstocking. There is a tendency to keep within a small
pasture more stock than it can comfortably support, with the result that
the stand is gnawed, trampled and rooted out, while the animals fail to
prosper as they would under more rational treatment.
One of the most extensive and successful swine raisers in Kansas tells
the author this: “Twenty-five years of pasturing hogs of all ages on
alfalfa has proven conclusively to me that with a fourth to a half grain
ration, while they are on such pasture, will produce in them a greater
growth per day than when in dry lots on full feeds of corn. Hogs will
maintain a reasonable growth, but not fatten much, on alfalfa pasture
alone; I believe it profitable to feed them some grain while running on
green alfalfa. If it is desired to full-feed hogs, they will make a
rapid fattening growth by increasing the grain ration while on the
pasture, and with the full grain ration the meat will be nearly as firm
as those of the dry lot, where grain alone has been fed. I find no
distinction on the market between alfalfa-fed swine and those purely
grain-fed, and they sell price and price alike. The general health of
the alfalfa-fed hogs is equal to that of those maintained on any other
feed, and they are prolific.”
The Kansas station realized $11.90 per acre from rape pasture and $24.10
per acre from alfalfa pasture in ninety-eight days. These results were
obtained from the following experiments, which were begun July 25 and
concluded October 31.
Thirty shoats, averaging fifty-two pounds in weight, were divided as
nearly equally as possible into three lots of ten each. Lot I was fed on
a grain mixture of shorts one-half, corn meal one-fourth, and Kafir-corn
meal one-fourth, in a dry lot. The other two lots were fed the same
grain ration, but one received rape pasture and the other alfalfa
pasture in addition. Each lot was given what grain the hogs would eat up
clean, and each had access to water and ashes. The weights of grain
consumed and gains made are as follows:
--------------------+---------+--------+---------------
| Grain | Total |Grain consumed
Feed | consumed|gain, in| per 100 lbs.
|in pounds| pounds |gain, in pounds
--------------------+---------+--------+---------------
I. No pasture | 3,801 | 1,023 | 371
II. Rape pasture | 3,244 | 1,076 | 301
III. Alfalfa pasture| 3,244 | 1,078 | 300
--------------------+---------+--------+---------------
The gains of the three lots are very nearly equal. The dry lot consumed
557 pounds (or seventy pounds for every 100 pounds of gain) more grain
than the pasture lots. The lot on rape required one acre of pasture,
while the alfalfa lot used a trifle less than one-half acre.
The lot without pasture required 3.71 pounds of grain to produce one
pound of gain. Assigning the same value to the grain fed the hogs on
rape pasture, we have 877 pounds of pork credited to the grain and 199
pounds credited to the rape. At six cents per pound, the price at which
hogs were selling at the close of the experiment, this would be a credit
of $11.90 per acre for the rape. In a similar manner, the alfalfa is
credited with 201 pounds of pork, equal to $12.05, and as there was only
a half-acre of alfalfa, this makes a rate of $24.10 per acre.
The cost of preparing the seed bed and seeding the rape was $1.80 per
acre. It was seeded in the feed lots, on soil that would otherwise have
remained idle or would have grown up to weeds.
The shoats on pasture enjoyed their diet and seemed satisfied. Those in
dry lot seemed to be hankering after something green, and their
appetites seemed unsatisfied without some kind of roughness. They would
even nibble at straw, in a vain attempt to satisfy their craving.
“The experiment,” says Prof. D. H. Otis, “emphasizes the superior value
of alfalfa pasture. Where alfalfa is not available, or where variety is
wanted, or it is desired to utilize otherwise waste land, Dwarf Essex
rape, seeded at the rate of six to eight pounds per acre, any time from
early spring to late summer, will furnish an excellent diet that is
greatly relished by the hogs.”
J. E. Woodford, of Coffey county, Kansas, April 1, 1905, placed ten
choice pure bred Poland-China brood sows from twelve to eighteen months
old that were due to farrow in the latter days of June, on a five-acre
field of alfalfa. They were given no other feed than the alfalfa
pasturage until they had farrowed and their pigs were a week old. After
that the sows had in addition to the alfalfa some bran slop until about
August 20, when new corn was fit for feeding. He says: “The sows from
the time they were turned on the alfalfa until the last week in June
made a remarkable growth, besides gaining somewhat in flesh. They did
well with their pigs, reared an average of seven to each sow, and as
sucklers they were a sight to see. The pigs were the most attractive
bunch ever raised in Coffey county, as admitted by our breeding
competitors. We weighed a gilt from this lot when six months and five
days old, and her weight of two hundred and twenty-five pounds was not
above the average of the whole lot. In our lifelong experience in
rearing swine we have found nothing of the grass kind for them that in
value approaches alfalfa.”
A plat of thrifty, well-established alfalfa suitably fenced and used for
pasturing swine of whatever age can scarcely fall short of being among
the most profitable parts of any farm upon which swine husbandry is
given attention.
_CHAPTER XIV._
Alfalfa for Horses and Mules
J. W. Robison, a Kansas breeder of Percherons, who ranks among the
foremost anywhere, raises his colts to three years at an average weight
of 1700 pounds and his four-year-olds at 1900 pounds, ready for the sale
yard, on alfalfa, except such limited quantities of grain as will make
it more nearly a properly balanced food, and incidentally expedite
growth. His opinion, fortified by sixty years of experience, is that
alfalfa as pasturage and hay constitutes by far the most excellent and
economical frame- and muscle-forming food available to the live stock
industry. His colts have alfalfa as their first green food, and, if
foaled in winter, are taught in a few days to nibble the cut hay. He
also says colts reared mainly on alfalfa have equal spirit and vigor and
better dispositions than those given much grain. His brood mares are
made to rely on alfalfa as their main ration, and for three months
before foaling it is practically, unless in midwinter, their only feed.
As a result they are always in ideal condition, their colts are
delivered easily, the mares give an abundance of nourishing milk, free
from feverish tendencies, and the colts are robustly rugged from their
beginning. The cost of rearing colts and horses by this method, he
says, is less, quality and rapidity of their growth considered, than by
any other of which he has knowledge.
The well-known J. E. Wing, of Ohio, says: “There is no one thing so good
for the work horse as alfalfa. He needs less grain, and has more life
and spirit than when fed upon any other hay, yet even working teams can,
on account of its richness, be fed too much. This puts an undue strain
upon their excretory organs to eliminate the unnecessary food substances
from the tissues. The overfeeding of alfalfa hay to horses has in some
localities caused the use of it to become unpopular, and to raise an
outcry against it. The writer has fed no other hay to his
horses--working teams, driving horses, mares and foals--for many years,
and has yet to observe the first instance of evil result, save that the
driving horses when not used regularly become soft and easily sweated.
GOOD FOR WORK HORSES
Until recently it was not thought in the eastern states that alfalfa was
an especially good feed for horses. On the somewhat noted Watson ranch
at Kearney, Nebraska, the grain supply became exhausted one summer when
the prices were high. There was an abundance of alfalfa hay, and
although it was in August and the horses were at heavy work, such as
plowing and ditching, the entire force of eighty was kept on alfalfa hay
and but little grain, without any injurious effect. They relished the
hay, did the hard work every day and looked as sleek as if on pasture.
Since that time alfalfa hay has been the principal ration for all of the
farm’s work horses, colts and driving stock.
In western Kansas farm horses have been wintered on a daily feed of 10
pounds of alfalfa hay and some corn stover, and thin horses fattened on
alfalfa hay and a little corn.
CRESCEUS EATS ALFALFA
Again, the prevalent notion that it is not good for driving horses has
been contradicted by hundreds of farmers who use it for such horses, and
by hundreds in western towns who use it for delivery horses, dray
horses, and light drivers, as well. In parts of California it is the
only hay fed to horses. “Cresceus, the great race horse, is said to have
been raised on it and it is said that he is fed no other hay, even while
on the racing circuit.” The same was said of Sysonby, the fleetest
Thoroughbred in the races of 1905. Many of the city transfer companies
in Denver, Kansas City and Omaha use alfalfa hay, claiming that it
enables them to reduce their grain ration, while their horses seem
stronger and look better than they did with the former feed of corn and
timothy.
TOO MUCH HAY FED
It is no doubt true that Americans feed their horses too much hay. It is
common among horse owners to let horses stand to full mangers when not
at work. In London the cab horses, for example, are given hay for but
two hours a day, in the evening. At the end of two hours the mangers are
cleared. Careful testing in decreasing the timothy hay ration one-half
has not shown that the horses required any more grain than before to
keep them in equally good condition.
Horses do not need a heavy ration of alfalfa hay. Fed with grain,
probably 10 or 15 pounds of it is equal to a manger full of other hay.
As they become accustomed to the alfalfa it may be increased a little,
and the grain decreased. It is a rich food and should not be used as
freely as hays with less protein.
Prof. L. A. Merrill of the Utah station made six tests of alfalfa hay in
comparison with timothy for horses under varying conditions of work, and
found that it was less difficult to maintain their weight with alfalfa.
The appearance of the horses in every comparison was in favor of the
alfalfa-fed horse, and no ill results were noted on their health by
long-continued alfalfa feeding. Fourteen-hundred pound horses at hard
work could be maintained in condition on 32.6 pounds of alfalfa hay per
day, and at rest 20 pounds was sufficient for the same horses.
The quantity of hay fed on most farms could be reduced at least
one-half.
With all its merits alfalfa hay is by no means a properly balanced
ration for all purposes, and those unacquainted with this fact are
liable to feed it, exclusively or otherwise, in such quantities as are
both extravagant and harmful. D. C. Smead, a veterinarian of note, in
writing about using the hay in too great quantities, especially in
feeding horses, says this:
“There is more danger in deranging the digestion or man or beast by an
excess of protein than by overfeeding on a carbonaceous food. The
proteins in food are more easily acted upon by the digestive fluids, and
thus more easily digested and carried into the blood, where an excess
means work for the kidneys to carry it off. We can founder a horse more
easily on wheat than on corn for this very reason. Alfalfa has a
nutritive ratio of practically 1 to 4. An ordinary 1000-pound horse, if
given all it will eat of it, will eat from thirty to forty pounds in
twenty-four hours. As the alfalfa contains about 11 per cent of easily
digested proteins, you will readily see that the horse would be taking
into his system nearly four and one-half pounds of protein.
“About two and one-half pounds of digestible protein is all that an
ordinary horse or cow of a thousand pounds weight, when at work or in
milk, can utilize. In the alfalfa hay we have nearly twice as much as is
needed. If it were not for some of it being physicked off, we would soon
have an animal with overworked kidneys or muscular stiffness of a
rheumatic nature. In case of a mare in foal, when fed on alfalfa and
nothing else, the chances are she would drop her colt prematurely, or if
it went full time, the colt would be a nice, fat, little, plump fellow,
with little vitality and with a tendency to rickets or bowel disease,
all because the alfalfa was too narrow a ration.
“Now if we fed this mare alfalfa hay once a day or even twice a day, in
moderate quantities, say fifteen pounds, and gave her one feed of straw
or timothy hay or corn fodder, which are carbonaceous foods, with a
quart of oats a day to impart a little nerve force, we would have her
practically on right lines. Alfalfa, good as it is, is not an
all-sufficient food for any animal. The danger lies in sections where it
is being thrown to the animals relishing it so well and the owner having
it in such abundance that it will come to be considered all-sufficient,
and then trouble is liable to follow. But fed with judgment it is the
best of all protein foods, and will enable the farmer to feed wisely and
well many of the unmarketable rough foods he raises, like straw and corn
stover, the one balancing the other.”
Here and there are horses with digestive apparatus not suited for the
best use of alfalfa, but they are rare exceptions rather than the rule.
PRODUCES RAPID GROWTH
One of the foremost horse breeders in America, who constantly maintains
upwards of one hundred head of various ages, writes the author this:
“In my experience of twenty-five years in pasturing horses on alfalfa,
results have convinced me that it produces more bone, muscle and blood
in horses in less time than any other pasturage with which I am
acquainted. But I believe it profitable in raising the best horses to
also use a moderate grain ration, to stimulate rapid growth and early
development; my horses, however, have shown no ill effects from
pasturing on alfalfa without grain, or other feed, and I have found such
pasturing conducive to health and prolificacy, maturing animals equal
for service to any reared otherwise. I have raised three-year-olds grown
on alfalfa and a light grain ration to exceed a ton in weight, carrying
all the good qualities of the breed to which they belonged. Further, I
find using alfalfa as a horse pasture a much more economical method of
raising horses than any other.”
[Illustration: =Alfalfa One Year Old Showing Effects of Inoculation=
Plants on the left inoculated with “nitro-culture,” those on the right
not inoculated]
[Illustration: =A Good Type of a Four-year-old Alfalfa Plant=
grown on Kansas upland. Height, May 28, 36 inches. The crown shows the
effect of splitting with a disk harrow]
_CHAPTER XV._
Alfalfa and Sheep-Raising
The day is not far distant when the free “range” will be practically
eliminated from the stockman’s assets. His stock must be reared on
cultivated crops instead of by grazing on grasses that cost nothing.
Pound for pound alfalfa is more fattening for young lambs or old sheep
than clover. Lambs soiled on alfalfa cut daily make a phenomenal growth
and are as a rule free from disease. They may be carried through the
summer on a light feeding of green alfalfa and general pasture or farm
grazing, and fattened in the fall on alfalfa hay and cowpeas or a little
grain, at a generous profit.
Thousands of sheep and lambs are every year brought from Colorado and
Montana to western Kansas and Nebraska and fattened for market on
alfalfa hay and grain, making for these commodities a convenient market
at good prices.
HOW TO PREVENT BLOATING
Pasturing sheep or lambs on alfalfa is dangerous, although there are
sheep raisers who make it a main reliance. One man reports absolute
freedom from loss for several years, and his method is to have his sheep
pen adjoining the alfalfa field and early in April when the alfalfa is
just beginning to put on its green, he arranges a “creep” for the lambs
to go through into the field, and lets them stay there at pleasure. They
soon wean themselves; the “creep” is then closed and a safe pen in the
alfalfa field is used for shelter from rains and protection from dogs.
When necessary to fasten them in at night to guard against dogs or
wolves, he cuts green alfalfa each evening to give them with a little
grain in the morning before turning them back to the field. The lambs
grow rapidly and none ever bloat. Nevertheless, most sheep raisers will
continue to reckon alfalfa pasture too expensive when it costs so many
animals for the privilege of its use. Safety is the exception, and not
the rule.
Owners of large flocks of sheep claim to be able to market lambs from
alfalfa pasture, or when soiled, at one-half to one-third the cost of
maintenance with any other crop. Green or cured it seems to hasten
development and the lambs are in fine condition for fattening in
October, or the ewes to put into the breeding pen.
The Nebraska station in a winter experiment of 98 days with one hundred
50-pound lambs, divided into different lots and variously fed with
prairie hay, alfalfa hay, shelled corn, wheat bran, oats and linseed
meal figured at the prices then current, reached these results:
1. The alfalfa-fed lambs consumed 1.34 pounds of alfalfa hay and one
pound of grain per day as against .88 pound of prairie hay and .89 pound
of grain consumed by the prairie hay fed lambs.
2. The alfalfa-fed lambs made fifty-two per cent greater gains than the
lambs fed prairie hay and the same grain ration.
3. The lambs fed prairie hay with corn and 16 per cent of oil meal made
26 per cent larger gains than the lots fed prairie hay with a grain
ration of shelled corn, or shelled corn with 25 per cent of bran or oats
added.
In the twenty-fifth annual report of the Ontario agricultural college
are some interesting reports on feeding lambs on various foods. The
feeding periods were 74 days for the first experiment and 42 for the
second.
By these tests alfalfa hay was shown to be slightly better for the lambs
in every way than clover hay under practically equivalent conditions.
The first and second cuttings of alfalfa were equal in value; the third
cutting was slightly better than the first.
W. L. Carlyle, dean of the Colorado agricultural college declares
alfalfa hay is the basis of the feeding industry in northern Colorado.
“Without alfalfa our agriculture would be of very little moment. Alfalfa
forms the basis of all our sugar-beet growing. It not only enriches the
soil in which it grows, but prepares it for the growing of sugar-beets
in a way that no other crop or system or cultivation can, and while
doing this preparatory work it yields an enormous tonnage of the most
valuable feed for fattening sheep and cattle. Usually lambs are given
free access to the hay and are allowed to eat all of it that they will.”
Lamb feeding in northern Colorado has been carried on quite extensively
for a number of years, and with such success that “Fort Collins lambs”
are recognized in the eastern markets as superior to anything that is
shipped from any other section of the country. The name “Fort Collins
sheep” has extended to all of northern Colorado, just as the “Greeley
potato” is the term given to all potatoes grown in the northern part of
the state.
In recent years many thousands of old ewes have been fed at the various
sugar factories upon beet pulp, alfalfa hay and corn. The old ewes
thrive much better upon the beet pulp than the lambs or younger sheep.
It produces a very desirable sappiness of flesh, and when these sheep
have been on this feed with alfalfa hay for two or three months and are
then finished with corn, they bring the highest price on the market.
_CHAPTER XVI._
Alfalfa and Bees
THE BEE FERTILIZES THE ALFALFA
It has been discovered that the honey bee is of even more importance to
the alfalfa than the alfalfa is to the bee. The wonderful strength and
speed of the bees take them long distances for their food and they have
recourse to a great variety of plants. But the peculiar construction of
the alfalfa blossom renders it unable to fertilize itself and its shape
makes cross fertilization very difficult. In the marvelous “balance of
good” in nature, alfalfa, like thousands of other plants, is aided in
its lease on life by the insect world. It is not known just how many
insects or birds assist this remarkable plant, but the honey bee is the
most conspicuous, the most industrious, the most eager, and certainly
the most useful.
Careful observations have been made of seed pods grown near colonies of
bees, and also of those so far from any bee colonies that it was safely
assumed no bees had visited the fields producing the pods. In every case
it was found that those from nearby fields had from 50 to 75 per cent
more seeds than the others and that they were larger and more perfectly
developed. In Colorado and western Kansas, where bee culture has been
greatly developed in recent years, it is found that the alfalfa seed
crop in fields nearest to bee colonies is much heavier and of better
quality than that of fields but a few miles away.
At the Kansas experiment station a small plat of vigorous alfalfa was
covered just before coming into bloom with mosquito netting supported on
sticks. It was therefore known that no bees nor other insects could come
into contact with the blossoms. Later a careful examination disclosed
that the pods which had formed were entirely without seeds.
HOW THE FERTILIZING IS ACCOMPLISHED
As suggesting something of the relation of bees and like insects to the
cross fertilization of alfalfa blossoms and consequent increased seed
production, Prof. S. J. Hunter, entomologist of the University of
Kansas, who has spent much time making critical observations of bees in
the alfalfa fields of the Middle West, writes the following for this
volume:
“Every farmer is familiar with the evil effects of continuous inbreeding
among live stock. In plant life this same continuous fertilization of
one plant by its own pollen works no less injury to its race of plants.
To prevent such inbreeding among plants nature has devised several
means. One of these is illustrated in the alfalfa blossom. If the reader
will tear away the purple blossom exposing the true organs of
fertilization, it will be seen that the central round body, the stigma,
designed to receive the pollen grains, is higher than the surrounding,
elongated, pollen-bearing anthers. It will become evident, then, that it
will be possible and most likely for the pollen to drop to the base of
the flower without coming in contact with the stigma, and the flower
will thus go unfertilized. This is as nature intended it should be,
namely, that the plant should go unfertilized if it could be fertilized
only by the pollen of its own blossom. Provision, however, is made for
cross fertilization, that is, fertilization from the pollen of another
flower.
“The color of the flower itself, its fragrance, and finally the sip of
nectar secreted at the base of the flower, are all intended to attract
flower-frequenting insects. Chief among these is the honey bee. The
fragrance of the flower draws the insect from afar. The color of the
flower reveals its exact location to the insect and when the tongue of
the bee is inserted into the flower, in quest of the coveted nectar, the
stamens and pistil spring up, striking the under part of the
hairy-covered head. These hairs are barbed and readily retain the
pollen, so that the flower both discharges its own pollen and also takes
from the head and breast of the bee pollen previously collected from
other flowers. Obviously, the first flower which the insect visits is
not cross-fertilized. Practical observations upon the relations existing
between the honey bee and the alfalfa plant are of value in illustrating
the effects of the bees upon alfalfa.
“A case in point: A hundred well matured pods were collected upon an
alfalfa field less than one-half mile away from a large apiary. A
similar number were taken from another field. The two fields were as
nearly identical as possible in the matter of soil, culture, and
conditions governing the vegetable growth of the alfalfa plant. The
second field, however, was about twenty-five miles away from a colony of
bees. No bees were observed in the field and since there was no timber,
nor other place of shelter where bees might possibly live, it seemed
reasonably safe to say that there were no wild bees in the vicinity. An
examination of the seed pods from each of the two localities was made
and the number of seeds counted. In the field near the apiary the
average number of seeds in a pod was found to be 5.58. The seeds were
plump and the pods were numerous upon a cluster. The pods themselves had
several spirals. In the other field, the one remote from a known colony
of bees, the average number of seeds in a pod was 3.35. The seeds in at
least one-third of the pods were small and shriveled. The pods were few
in the cluster, short, and with but few spirals. The seed crop of the
first field could be estimated on this basis at two-thirds greater than
that of the second field.
“It is a well-known fact that the seed yield per acre for Red clover is
comparatively small. Red clover belongs to the same family of plants as
alfalfa and it, too, is dependent upon insects for fertilization of its
flowers. The work, however, is restricted largely to the bumble bee,
since but few other insects have tongues long enough to reach down to
the nectar of the clover blossom and consequently do not visit the
clover blossom and bring about proper formation of seed. So in
proportion as the bumble bees thrive, the clover flourishes. Alfalfa,
however, is not so limited in its number of insect assistants, since the
flower itself is shorter and the nectar accordingly accessible to a
greater number of insects.”
THE HONEY PRODUCT
Alfalfa raisers find it to their advantage to have a few stands of bees.
As the original cost is slight and the bees provide their own food, go
after the raw material for the manufacture of honey, demand but slight
attention and make such bountiful returns, bee culture has come to be a
valuable “side line” for the farm. As blooms are to be found in alfalfa
districts every day from early May to late October, the bees have a
constant opportunity for service.
Alfalfa honey is white and clear, in an extremely delicate comb, has a
delicious flavor, and an aroma that is delightful. One authentic report
from a western Kansas county is of a single hive that contained nearly
two hundred pounds, and of another having ninety-six pounds. The owner
of these had twenty-five acres of alfalfa which in one year yielded him
over one hundred tons of choice hay besides the honey. The next year he
increased his apiary to fifty stands.
While the average yield per hive elsewhere varies from fifteen to thirty
pounds, the average in the alfalfa-growing territory is far higher. Thus
the financial returns of alfalfa may be greatly increased and in some
instances doubled by having, say, two colonies of bees for each acre. Or
if only a part of the alfalfa raisers in a neighborhood keep bees, this
ratio could be doubled or trebled by those who do. Unlike other
trespassers on neighbors’ fields the bees do the neighbors a distinct
favor, by fertilizing their alfalfa.
_CHAPTER XVII._
Alfalfa and Poultry
BETTER THAN MEDICINE
At first it might seem that too much was claimed for alfalfa if written
of as a specially valuable adjunct in poultry raising. The poultry
industry of the United States is making wonderful advances, and the
volume of its returns is enormous; the figures are well-nigh incredible.
One of the handicaps is disease. Poultry men are a unit in saying that
where alfalfa in any form can be supplied to poultry disease is almost
unknown. Fowls like it green, and whether allowed the run of the field
or it is given to them daily they eat it greedily and thrive. Many
farmers say emphatically that the hens lay more and larger eggs when
allowed alfalfa in any form. Its nitrogen contributes to the albumen of
the eggs and to the growth of the young chickens.
MAY INFLUENCE EGG FERTILITY
Scientific tests of feeding alfalfa to poultry have not been made, but,
no doubt, will be in the near future. If it is found that the eggs are
larger when the hens are given alfalfa, it may also be found that the
percentage of fertility is greater. For years the complaint has been
made by farmers and poultrymen that there are too many infertile eggs.
The financial losses are great if a fourth or third of the eggs used
for incubation prove infertile. It would seem that the same elements
that contribute to the growth of the hatched chicken should also add to
the vitality of the embryo, increasing the percentage of fertility and
adding to the vigor of the newly hatched chick.
AIDS IN PREPARING FOR MARKET
The growth of young chickens is greatly aided by alfalfa. One man
reports an experiment with five hundred capons, hatched early in March,
that averaged in December nearly eight pounds and sold in the city
market at nineteen cents per pound. They were given the run of a patch
of alfalfa for a time and ate little other feed. Later they were put in
the yards and fed with alfalfa cut into short lengths, with a little
grain; still later alfalfa meal was added, with a little wheat. Then,
finally, alfalfa hay was cut and steamed and added to the ration. The
cost of maintenance and fattening must have been small compared with the
large returns.
This item is from the Harper, Kansas, _Sentinel_: A subscriber tells us
that the mites and chicken lice were completely driven out of his barn
and hen house, as soon as he had alfalfa hay put in his barn and used it
in the house for nests. He says that before the hay was cut, it was
impossible to keep a horse in the barn or to have a hen hatch a nest of
eggs, but neither mites nor lice can be found now. This is a new use for
alfalfa, but if it does the work, it will be lots cheaper than buying
poisonous decoctions and spraying pumps to get rid of lice and mites,
the greatest pests to poultry raisers.
_CHAPTER XVIII._
Alfalfa Food Preparation
The growing appreciation of alfalfa as a stock and dairy food and the
expense of baling and shipping it as hay, the loss of leaves, and the
liability to heat and mold unless well cured, have led to the
manufacture from it of several food preparations. These in some cases
are made by simply grinding into a meal, and in others by mixing the
meal with molasses, or a variety of food products, and assumed
condiments and appetizers.
The Colorado station in a feeding test concluded that the ground alfalfa
was not an economical feed for fattening pigs. With cut alfalfa hay
costing $8 a ton and ground alfalfa $16 a ton the cost of producing one
hundred pounds of gain with the former was $2.62 and with the alfalfa
meal $3.12. With corn and cut alfalfa hay fed in equal parts by weight
the cost of producing one hundred pounds of gain was $2.72. With corn
and alfalfa meal fed in equal parts by weight the cost was $3.96. It is
not improbable, however, that better results would have been obtained if
a less proportion of ground or cut alfalfa had been fed. It is also
probable that the hog’s grinding machinery is better adapted to his
digestive apparatus than is any other.
PROFESSOR COTTRELL ON ALFALFA MEAL
It is worth while, however, to consider the arguments in favor of
grinding alfalfa. Prof. H. M. Cottrell says:
“Grinding alfalfa increases its digestibility. How much has not been
determined. Grinding increases the digestibility of corn and oats as
much as 14 per cent, and of wheat 10 per cent. It is probable that there
is a greater gain in digestibility from grinding alfalfa, a coarse feed,
than there is from grinding grain.
“When alfalfa is to be fed at a distance from the place where grown it
must be baled for shipping. When the bales are opened and scattered in
feeding a considerable part of the leaves is wasted. Over 8 per cent of
the protein in alfalfa is found in the leaves, and the loss of protein
from leaves wasted in feeding baled hay is frequently from one-fourth to
one-half of the total amount in the original hay. With ground alfalfa
there is no waste in feeding either from leaf or stem. Alfalfa ground is
in the best condition for shipping and handling cheaply and without
waste.
“Ground alfalfa is not only a good feed itself but when mixed with grain
aids in the digestion of the other feeds, enabling the feeder to get
more out of his home grown grain.
“Experiments have not been made to determine the exact value of this
diluting effect of alfalfa meal in increasing the feed value of heavy
grains. Tests have shown that corn-and-cob meal has the same feeding
value as an equal weight of clear corn meal. Practically worthless
ground cobs by their ‘lightening up’ the heavy corn meal add 20 per cent
to the feeding value of the meal with which they are mixed. It is
reasonable to believe that a rich feed like ground alfalfa has even a
greater influence when mixed with corn meal. The more intimate the
mixture the greater the benefits from alfalfa, and for this reason
ground alfalfa is far superior to the whole hay.
“Grinding alfalfa hay reduces the power needed to digest and assimilate
it. It takes power for an animal to chew the feed, digest it and bring
about the chemical changes that convert it into flesh or milk. All this
energy is taken from the actual food material in the alfalfa.
Experiments show that a much larger amount of food value is used up in
this way with coarse feeds than with concentrated fine feeds. In corn, a
concentrated feed easily worked up in the animal’s body, three-fourths
of the protein actually in the hay is digested; and in straw, a still
coarser feed, only one-tenth. Forty-eight per cent of all the energy in
coarse hay is used up in chewing and digesting it, while only twenty per
cent of the energy in oats is used in these processes. This shows the
value of preparing feed in such a way as to require the least effort on
the part of the animal to use it.
“In a well constructed mill it requires one horse-power ten hours to
grind alfalfa sufficient for a month’s ration for a dairy cow in full
milk. This indicates what a saving the grinding of alfalfa makes in its
effective use by an animal.
“Experiments show that good alfalfa hay and wheat bran have practically
the same value in feeding for milk. In a test made of bran and alfalfa
meal, two lots of cows were selected that were giving equal weights of
milk. One lot was fed bran, the other lot the same weight of alfalfa
meal. For each 100 pounds of milk given by the cows fed bran, 141 pounds
were yielded by the cows fed alfalfa meal.”
As an example, “Alfamo” is the name of one of the numerous new feeds on
the market, having alfalfa meal as its principal ingredient. After a
year of experimenting with grinding and mixing various feeds it was
determined by the manufacturers that a feed made of three parts alfalfa
meal and one part beet-sugar molasses would possess a very high value.
The ingredients are mixed by a special apparatus and subjected to a
process which retains and preserves the high nutriment of the feed.
Prof. Samuel Avery of the Nebraska station made an analysis of “Alfamo,”
which showed the following composition:
Per cent
Moisture 2.74
Protein 15.04
Carbohydrates 50.48
Ash 13.87
Crude fiber 17.85
Professor Avery also states: “This feed was made by mixing molasses with
alfalfa meal which contained 16.15 per cent protein. It will be noticed
that the protein content is not greatly reduced, while a large quantity
of nutritious matter has been added in the molasses. An analysis of the
molasses used in this product, showed practically fifty per cent sugar,
and it should be remembered that the sugar in molasses is all digestible
and ready for the animal without extra effort on the animal’s part,
which is not so in corn or other foods, strong in carbohydrates from
which the starch must be extracted by the digestive apparatus.”
SOLVING THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
Several mills for the manufacture of alfalfa foods have been and are
being established, and it is reasonable to assume that the use of these
foods will become quite general in cities and districts remote from the
alfalfa regions. Whether or not the actual feeding value is appreciably
increased, or the nutritive constituents made more thoroughly available,
is as yet not determined by sufficient tests, nor has it been determined
by any station test that any factory food preparation is more economical
than alfalfa hay, where the hay can be obtained well cured and with a
reasonable proportion of its leaves. It is altogether probable, however,
that alfalfa meal will be more economical in distant cities than baled
hay. If these preparations of alfalfa prove to be satisfactory to
consumers in distant markets, it will lead to the multiplication of
mills in the alfalfa regions, thereby decreasing the cost of
transportation and giving the grower a wider and probably a better
market. The use of the meal or the food preparations is likely to prove
most especially valuable for dairy cows and poultry.
_CHAPTER XIX._
Alfalfa for Town and City
While the preceding chapters have dealt with almost every phase of
alfalfa, it is thought well to emphasize the advantages of its more
general use in cities and towns. In the minds of many there is an
undefined impression that alfalfa is for farm consumption only. Often
when first introduced into a community, farmers who raise more than they
have stock to consume, complain that it is difficult to sell in small
towns.
THE TOWN COW NEEDS ALFALFA
Milk producers who know it best concede that alfalfa is an invaluable
feed in the dairy, closely akin to wheat bran in results and usually
much less expensive. In the average small town or city there is about
one cow for every ten or fifteen people. Therefore, in a town of one
thousand population, there will probably be seventy-five to one hundred
cows. If alfalfa will increase the quantity of their milk and butterfat,
giving a product at a lower cost than the concentrated foods, it should
be more used. But as yet it is not generally used, because it is not
understood and appreciated.
The best time to secure a supply is when it is being harvested and can
be taken directly from the field. If the mow is large enough for three
or more tons, a ton can be stored from each of the different cuttings,
and be cured in superior condition almost regardless of the weather. It
would be found a most economical feed for the family cow and, if fowls
are kept, it could constitute one-third of their ration, adding to
growth and to the egg supply.
A CHEAP FEED FOR HORSES
The larger users of hay in the towns and cities are liverymen,
deliverymen and teamsters. These have been unacquainted with or doubtful
of the utility of alfalfa and have never given it a fair trial, or
possibly any trial at all. Those who have used it and thought its
effects harmful have perhaps not understood its highly nutritious
character and may have fed it in too large quantities. Having such a
large protein content it should not be used with the same prodigality as
prairie hay. For driving horses it should be cut when more matured than
for other stock, or when about half in bloom, and should be well cured.
Fed then, in reasonable rations of from ten to twenty pounds a day,
livery horses may be kept in vigorous thrift with a small additional
quantity of grain, and thus a saving be made of twenty to thirty per
cent in cost of maintenance. In the alfalfa districts there may be found
many liverymen who, having had experience with alfalfa hay, feed their
horses little of anything else. In the last few years there has been a
growing demand for alfalfa hay for southern towns and cities.
The coat and general appearance of horses fed alfalfa are improved, as
compared with those fed timothy or prairie hay and the tendency to
constipation and indigestion is greatly lessened. It is rarely that an
alfalfa-fed animal of any kind is constipated.
_CHAPTER XX._
Alfalfa in Crop Rotation
MAINTAINING FERTILITY
It is a fundamental principle of the best agriculture that every acre
should be kept constantly at its highest productive capacity. In one
sense the farm is a great machine for the production of food. All
prosperity must originate on and emanate from the farm; the farmer is
really the only original producer. The measure of the world’s material
success must be the relative amount of the product of the farm. As lands
decrease in fertility, the cost of living increases in direct
proportion. As fertility decreases, land values decrease and rural
population decreases. Already there are districts in America that are
almost depopulated because of the barrenness of what was, but a short
while ago, fertile land.
The fundamental principle of maintaining fertility is to restore to the
land annually those chemical elements taken from it by the crops grown.
A prominent importer of horses relates that he was once entertained on a
great horse farm in France, whose owner told him that much of the farm
had been in cultivation for over eight hundred years and was, he
believed, as productive now as ever in its history.
Alfalfa ranks as the greatest fertilizing plant known to scientific
agriculture. All cereal crops use large quantities of nitrogen. A field
cropped for years in corn or wheat will come to have too little nitrogen
for the production of a profitable crop. Alfalfa, as has already been
stated, after the first few months of its life obtains its whole supply
of nitrogen from the air; in fact, more than it really needs. As a soil
improver it possesses at least five valuable properties:
1. It gathers nitrogen from the air for its own maintenance and a
surplus that is constantly being added to the soil.
2. It is a deep feeder and its roots penetrate the earth to
extraordinary depths, drawing toward the surface and utilizing moisture
and valuable mineral elements that other crops would never reach,
leaving the desirable elements there for future crops, of whatever
kinds.
3. By capillarity, these roots and rootlets draw up moisture from below
the surface until it modifies the very top soil, changing wonderfully
the nature of the field. The analysis of a cubic foot of earth of a
flourishing alfalfa field shows a marvelous change in moisture content
since the sowing.
4. The mere mechanical effect of the extensive root system can scarcely
be over-estimated. As soon as germination begins the plant starts its
tiny roots downward on the search for moisture. Roots four feet long
have been found on alfalfa but four months old; roots nine feet long
have been found below alfalfa but nine months old. After the taproot
reaches a few inches below the surface, it sends out smaller roots that
have a lateral growth of but a few inches, when they too, take a
downward course for moisture and for mineral elements needed for the
growth above. These first smaller roots decay and others start out from
the taproot lower down. These decay and still others start. The decaying
roots add humus to the soil, and the openings left by them form a
wonderful system of channels for the penetration of air and water into
the soil. The erstwhile compact earth is honeycombed and air and water
penetrate the graves of the dead roots until, when the alfalfa field is
ready to be used for a different crop, the soil has been wonderfully
changed not only in its chemical elements but in its physical character.
5. The regular deposit of alfalfa leaves, from the cuttings, under the
best care, has been estimated at one-half ton or more per acre every
year. As these leaves contain a great percentage of protein, it can
readily be seen that they make a heavy contribution to the soil’s
fertility.
VALUE OF STUBBLE AND ROOTS
When in his system of rotation the farmer is ready to plow up his
alfalfa, he has another inestimable contribution to the land’s fertility
in the stubble and roots. It is not recommended to plow under any
considerable growth as a green manure, as the hay crop is too valuable.
Its market value would buy more fertilizers than the same growth is
worth for humus. After a field has stood for five or six years, the
roots have added largely to the humus content. Prof. W. P. Headden of
Colorado, estimated that the fertilizing value of the stubble and 6¹⁄₂
inches of roots plowed under is about $20 per acre, while the value of
the stubble and entire root system is not less than $35 per acre.
The New Jersey station estimated that the amounts of plant food gathered
by an acre of alfalfa in two years were equivalent in nitrogen to that
contained in 3500 pounds of nitrate of soda; in phosphoric acid to that
contained in 600 pounds of boneblack superphosphate, and in potash to
the amount contained in 1200 pounds of muriate of potash, or equal to
what would have cost $124.
EFFECTS ON SUCCEEDING CROPS
The Wyoming station, at Laramie, under direction of Prof. B. C. Buffum
(Bul. No. 44) made some tests that proved the market fertilizing value
of alfalfa. A plot of ground that had been in alfalfa for five years
adjoined a plot of the same size that had been in varied crops, wheat,
oats, potatoes, etc. After the alfalfa sod was broken the two plots were
prepared together and planted crosswise to wheat, oats and potatoes,
with half of each on the broken sod and half on the other plot with the
following yields and gains:
After
After Other Money
Alfalfa Crops Gain
Wheat 30 bu. 18 bu. $8 to $12
Oats 78 bu. 37 bu. 16
Potatoes 81 bu. 52 bu. 16
Stating the results in another way, Prof. Buffum says: “The value of
alfalfa harvested from one-half acre of land for five years was about
$50 more than the cost of producing it.
“The value of potatoes and grain from an adjoining half-acre for five
years was about $44 more than the cost of producing, at local prices.
“When the alfalfa half-acre was plowed and planted to wheat it produced
$8 to $12 more value in wheat per acre than the land which had grown
potatoes and grain before.
“When the alfalfa half-acre was plowed and planted to oats it produced
$16 worth of grain more than land which had grown potatoes and grain
before.
“When the alfalfa half-acre was plowed and planted to potatoes it gave
$16 worth more of potatoes per acre than was obtained from land which
had grown potatoes and grain before.
“By growing alfalfa the increase of yields and values were produced with
absolutely no cost for fertilizing the land.”
This gain, it will be noted, cost nothing in the way of fertilization,
as the alfalfa had every year been more profitable than the other crops.
A Marion county, Kansas, manager of large estates reports that a field
of wheat after alfalfa averaged forty bushels per acre while an
adjoining field of equal original fertility averaged but fifteen
bushels. These results have been duplicated in innumerable instances
where alfalfa fields have been plowed and planted to other crops. A
Colorado man who farms 1000 acres, with 200 acres of it in alfalfa, says
he cannot afford not to plow his alfalfa after he has had from it four
years’ crops; that it is necessary to maintain the general farm
fertility and obtain big crops of corn, oats and potatoes. In the potato
districts of Colorado alfalfa is used systematically as a rotation to
maintain the yields and quality of their potatoes, both of which are so
famous.
In the corn belt, which may be said to extend from the central meridian
of Kansas to Pennsylvania, alfalfa used in rotation will do much to
prevent the disgrace of raising an average of but twenty or twenty-five
bushels of corn to the acre. And so in what were once famous wheat
belts, alfalfa will restore the crop records, if properly used in a
rotation.
ROTATION A NECESSITY
Some experiment station men insist that where alfalfa is allowed to
stand for many years it will cease to have a fertilizing value; that
alfalfa draws heavily on the potash and phosphoric acid in the soil, and
will after, say, eight or ten years begin to deplete it of these
important elements. Therefore they insist that alfalfa should not be
allowed to stand for over six or eight years unless it is given an
annual top-dressing of manure. They favor plowing up the alfalfa after
about five years and cropping to corn or cotton.
Former Governor Hoard in speaking of the value of alfalfa as compared
with that of clover in a crop rotation says that, “alfalfa having a much
larger root development goes deeper down, thoroughly subsoils the
ground, brings up phosphorus and potash from the lower strata, and
leaves much more vegetable matter to decay and furnish humus. Nothing
else we have ever tried equals alfalfa for putting the soil in good
tilth.”
SPREADS THE BACTERIA OVER THE FARM
Men who are raising alfalfa for use in a regular rotation never leave it
over six years; many prefer five, while others make it a rule to plow
up their fields every four years; thus the bacteria becomes fixed in the
soil of the whole farm. Such farmers use alfalfa as they formerly used
clover, to restore fertility needed for profitable crops of grain, hay
and forage.
The sod is hard to plow. It is well to do the breaking immediately after
the season’s cutting, if possible; disk and harrow it several times and
sow to rye for winter pasture, and plant to corn or cotton or potatoes
in the spring. The winter’s freezing will help to put it in fine tilth.
If it is desired to follow with wheat (not always advisable, however, on
account of causing a too rank growth), the sod may be plowed after the
year’s second mowing, disked and sowed to rye to prevent the soil from
leaching.
Breaking up a well set alfalfa field is no trifling matter. It may be
done with three heavy horses, but it is hard work for them, and they
will not be able to break more than one acre a day. An authority says
the best plan is to use five heavy horses--three in the lead and two on
the end of the beam. They can go right along and plow two acres a day.
Alfalfa roots are very tough and strong when the plants have attained
full growth, and they give a jerky motion to the plow, which is severe
on horses’ shoulders. A cast steel plow is the best to use and if it is
tempered right a file can just cut it. It can be hammered out thin at
the blacksmith’s shop when it becomes too thick to file easily. “The
reason for filing, rather than using the hard, thin edge as in other
plowing is that the edge needs to be rough as well as thin, or the roots
will slip along the sloping edge of the share and not be cut.” It is
important that the furrow turned shall not be wider than the plowshare
will all the time cut clean, as any main roots that are left uncut will
send up a more vigorous growth of stems than before, which, in another
cultivated crop will be the same as weeds.
[Illustration: Alfalfa Plant and Roots Showing Bacteria Nodules]
[Illustration: =Tubercles on Clover Roots=
In untreated soil
In inoculated soil]
_CHAPTER XXI._
Nitro-Culture
AN OLD-NEW THEORY
The inoculation of soil, like many other lately exploited theories, has
no doubt been known for hundreds of years. There are evidences that it
was practiced in England at least a century ago, and it is thought to be
an old custom among the Chinese. Some space was given to “soil
inoculation” in a preceding chapter, attention there being devoted to
the simple methods of infecting soil with bacteria.
IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES
Some twenty years ago a German scientist, Nobbe, discovered that the
small nodules found on the roots of the leguminous plants contained
bacteria that took nitrogen from the air and transferred it to the
plant. It had been known that cultivated soils were rapidly losing their
original supply of nitrogen and there seemed no practicable way of
restoring it in sufficient quantity. Commercial nitrogen costs fifteen
cents per pound and the expense of applying it to the land to equalize
the loss from an ordinary farm crop is almost equal to the value of a
crop. Hence, the discovery that the legumes were nitrogen-gathering, by
means of these bacteria, was hailed as one of the greatest of the age.
With millions of pounds of nitrogen over his land there seemed now a
method whereby the farmer could utilize some needed portions of it. The
bacteria live in tubercles upon the roots of various leguminous plants,
such as Red clover, Sweet clover, Bur clover, alfalfa, cowpeas, garden
peas, vetches and beans. These tubercles are the home of the bacteria,
minute forms of vegetable life, too small to be seen with the naked eye.
The legumes have no power in themselves to draw nitrogen from the air,
yet these bacteria seem to have the power to absorb the free nitrogen
and cause it to combine with other elements, forming nitrates or other
assimilable compounds suitable for plant food. It has also been
demonstrated that, as a rule, there are different species of these
bacteria for different species of legumes.
After German scientists had made their discoveries, one of the existence
of these bacteria on the roots of the legumes and another that in the
laboratory, these organisms could be bred and multiplied, they seemed
unable to develop them of sufficient vigor to survive any general
distribution. At this point Dr. George T. Moore of the United States
Department of Agriculture, hit upon a plan of cultivating them in a way
by which they could be preserved for many months, and he also gave them
a much greater power. This nitrogen-fixing power was so developed that
seeds soaked in the solution, it is claimed, sprouted and produced
plants in sand that possessed no nitrates. He then found that these
bacteria when grown upon nitrogen-free media will retain a high activity
for a long time, if carefully dried out and then revived in a liquid
medium. He also devised a plan by which they could be mailed to any part
of the world and arrive in perfect condition.
Most experiment station men have given to Dr. Moore great credit for his
discoveries and have tried, with rather marked success, his method of
nitro-culture; on the other hand a few have been opposed to the method
from the beginning and are still opposed. It would seem that the tests
made prove that nitro-culture does introduce bacteria when directions
are followed.
Of course if a farmer’s soil has the alfalfa bacteria, it is not
necessary to use any system of inoculation. If Sweet clover or Bur
clover is growing in the vicinity, or if alfalfa is thriftily growing
near without the aid of inoculation, it is hardly necessary to make
there further efforts for the introduction of bacteria.
SUGGESTIONS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
In a preceding chapter the opinion was expressed that in most states,
and in most localities in those states, inoculation was unnecessary
because bacteria were already present; yet it is true that these
bacteria are present, if at all, in varying quantity. If comparatively
few are present, any method of inoculation that will introduce more into
the soil, to hasten the growth of the tubercles and promote the
gathering of nitrogen, will be helpful. The fact is, we know as yet
comparatively little of all there is to be learned about this wonderful
principle. It is altogether probable that the use of nitro-culture is as
practicable and as free from objections as the use of inoculated soil,
especially from distant and unknown fields. In one of its bulletins the
United States Department of Agriculture has summarized its advice as to
inoculation as follows:
_When Inoculation is Necessary._--Inoculation is necessary--
1. On a soil low in organic matter that has not previously borne
leguminous crops.
2. If the legumes previously grown on the same land were devoid of
nodules, of “nitrogen knots,” thus showing the need of the
nodule-forming bacteria.
3. When the legume to be sown belongs to a species not closely related
to one previously grown on the same soil. For instance, soil in which
Red clover forms nodules will often fail to produce nodules on alfalfa
when sown with the latter crop for the first time.
_When Inoculation May Prove Advantageous._--Inoculation may prove
advantageous--
1. When the soil produces a sickly growth of legumes, even though their
roots show some nodules.
If the cultures introduced are of the highest virility, their use will
often result in a more vigorous growth.
2. When a leguminous crop already sown has made a stand, but shows signs
of failing, owing to the absence of root nodules.
The use of the culture liquid as a spray or by mixture with soil and
top-dressing may save the stand if other conditions are favorable.
_When Inoculation is Unnecessary._--On the other hand, inoculation is
unnecessary and offers little prospect of gain--
1. When the leguminous crops that are usually grown are producing up to
the average, and the roots show nodules in normal abundance.
Cultures of nitrogen-fixing bacteria are not to be regarded in the light
of fertilizers, or as capable of increasing the yield under average
conditions. They do not contain nitrogen itself, but bacteria, which
make it possible for the legumes to secure nitrogen from the air
(through the formation of root nodules). Where the soil is already
adequately supplied with these bacteria, it will not usually pay to
practice artificial inoculation.
2. When the soil is already rich in nitrogen.
It is neither necessary nor profitable to inoculate a soil rich in
nitrogen when sowing legumes. Not only does the available nitrogen in
the soil render the formation of nodules less necessary, but the
nitrogenous materials in the soil largely prevent the bacteria from
forming nodules.
Any increased virility in nitrogen-fixing power possessed by any of the
types of bacteria yet distributed, may be rapidly lost in a soil
containing an abundance of nitrogen, because the bacteria are in a
medium in which there is no demand for activity in securing atmospheric
nitrogen.
_When Failure is to be Expected._--Inoculation will fail where other
conditions (aside from the need of bacteria) are not taken into account,
among which are the following--
1. In soil that is acid and in need of lime.
Liming to correct acidity is as important for the proper acidity of the
bacteria as for the growth of the plants.
2. In soil that is deficient in fertilizers, such as potash, phosphoric
acid or lime.
The activity of the bacteria in securing nitrogen from the air and
rendering it available to the legumes does not do away with the need for
such fertilizing elements as potash and phosphorus.
3. It must also be remembered that inoculation does not “act like
magic”; it will not overcome results due to bad seed, improper
preparation and cultivation of the ground, and decidedly adverse
conditions of weather and climate.
In the use of the cultures, also, failure is almost certain where the
directions are not carefully studied and intelligently followed.
SWEET CLOVER SOIL USED TO INOCULATE ALFALFA FIELDS
The discovery in Illinois that inoculation of the soil for alfalfa was
necessary in certain places and not in others suggested the theory that
bacteria living on some other, probably native, plant were identical
with the alfalfa bacteria. Investigations led to satisfactory evidence
that this was the case and that the native plant was the ordinary Sweet
clover (_Melilotus alba_). The illustration facing page 230 shows the
results of a series of pot culture experiments made at the University of
Illinois and reported in Bulletin No. 94 by Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins. The
four photographs were made five, six, seven and eight weeks,
respectively, from the time of planting. Alfalfa seed were planted in
each of the five pots, in carefully prepared soil practically free of
combined nitrogen, and at the same time four of the five pots were
inoculated as follows:
Pot No. 1.--Not inoculated.
Pot No. 2.--Inoculated with bacteria obtained from infected alfalfa
soil.
Pot No. 3.--Inoculated with bacteria obtained from alfalfa root
tubercles.
Pot No. 4.--Inoculated with bacteria obtained from infected Sweet clover
soil.
Pot No. 5.--Inoculated with bacteria obtained from Sweet clover root
tubercles.
The results indicate that the same effect is produced upon the growth of
the alfalfa by the nitrogen-gathering bacteria obtained from Sweet
clover as by those from the older alfalfa, and seem to prove that
infected Sweet clover soil can be used for the inoculation of alfalfa
fields. Investigations have shown that 100 pounds of thoroughly infected
soil to the acre is sufficient to produce a satisfactory inoculation
within one year from the time it is applied.
_CHAPTER XXII._
Alfalfa as a Commercial Factor
EFFECT ON LAND VALUES
Only a few years ago alfalfa hay was not named in the market reports.
Now it is conspicuous in the lists of hays. Then there were thousands of
sandy acres in Kansas and Nebraska being held at from $2 to $5 per acre
that now, seeded to alfalfa, are selling at from $30 to $75 per acre.
Then, cultivated farms in those districts could be rented for $1 per
acre; now, seeded one-half to alfalfa, they rent for $3 to $5 and more
per acre. In the South cotton lands rent for $5, and alfalfa lands at
$15 per acre. Land in the Yellowstone valley was worth, wild, $1.50 per
acre; now, under irrigation and seeded half to alfalfa and half to wheat
it commands $100 per acre. A few years ago labor commanded in those
districts that now raise alfalfa about $1 a day; since then, during
alfalfa harvest, hundreds of men have been imported there and paid $2 or
$2.50 per day. Then farmers were poor and trade was dull; now, a farmer
who owns eighty acres well set in alfalfa, harvests about 300 tons of
hay worth from $5 to $12 per ton and has the proceeds available for
added comforts, improvements and luxuries.
A few years ago it was thought that America was approaching a crisis in
the matter of beef and pork and mutton production because of the rapid
diminishing of the free public ranges by the forest reserves, irrigation
projects, and the like. It was insisted that the farmers could not
nearly sustain the meat supply. Possibly they cannot, but alfalfa is
doing wonders in helping to solve the problem of cheap meat production.
Millions of sheep and thousands of cattle are being fattened annually on
the alfalfa of California, Montana, Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska, and
in some portions where a few years ago the sandy prairies gave but a
scant subsistence to scrawny range cattle.
ENHANCES DAIRY INTERESTS
In parts of the East since the introduction of alfalfa, the number of
dairy cows in many townships has trebled and the dairy product more than
quadrupled. When two acres of alfalfa will carry ten dairy cows through
a summer, the day and opportunity of the small dairyman are certainly at
hand. When, as is the case, alfalfa increases the rental and selling
value and consequently the taxable value of land; when it increases the
demand for and price of labor; when it increases the fertility of the
land for other crops that may follow; when it brings enlarged profits to
the entire stock-raising and stock-fattening interests, and puts more
money in circulation, it is inevitably to be considered a commercial
factor.
_CHAPTER XXIII._
The Enemies of Alfalfa
The most notable enemies of alfalfa are weeds, insects, parasites, and
animals. More failures to raise alfalfa are caused by weeds than by all
other enemies combined. The cause of weeds in a field is usually poor
farming. Clipping alfalfa early in May will kill many weeds. If the
weeds grow up, clip again and do the same every time they threaten to
become rampant. If they are kept from seeding, and do not in a large
measure crowd out the alfalfa, good crops may be had from it the second
season. If sowed in the fall, disking early in April may kill most of
the weeds. It is folly to sow alfalfa on a foul field, as it is far less
expensive to kill out the weeds beforehand. Disking and clipping will do
much to destroy them, but if they secure a strong foothold the best
thing to do is to plow up the field, plant it in corn, give it clean
cultivation, and sow alfalfa again when the weeds have been
exterminated.
DODDER
Dodder is an annoying enemy. It is a parasite, belonging to the
morning-glory family, growing from its own small seed but attaching
itself very soon to the alfalfa stalk. It then separates itself from its
own root and thereafter lives on the juices of the alfalfa until it
ripens its seeds or has killed the alfalfa. The wisest and safest thing
to do is to sow only seed so thoroughly cleaned that there will be no
dodder with it. If, later, it is found that any dodder seed escaped the
cleaning operations and is growing, the grower should go through the
field with a knife or sickle and a large basket or sack and cut out and
burn every dodder vine and every plant to which dodder is attached. If
so unfortunate as to have sown seed with a considerable mixture of
dodder, clip the alfalfa early in May, let the clippings dry for two or
three days or longer, and then burn on the field, watching carefully to
have the fire touch every part. It will facilitate a complete burning to
sprinkle parts not burning readily, with kerosene. If there is a poor
stand of alfalfa, largely infested with dodder, safety lies in plowing
it up and cultivating the field in corn or potatoes for two or three
years.
[Illustration: =Peculiar Nodules in Groups on Small Rootlets=
and distant from the large alfalfa roots. From Michigan Experiment
Station Bulletin No. 225]
[Illustration: =Alfalfa Roots Showing Normal Nodules=
small and near the large roots. From Michigan Experiment Station
Bulletin No. 225]
From an excellent article on the dodder that infests alfalfa (_Cuscuta
epithymum_) by Mr. F. E. Dawley, a New York authority on alfalfa, and
printed with illustrations in the _Country Gentleman_, the excerpts here
following are taken:
“The only sure method of keeping alfalfa fields free from dodder is
through exercising greater caution in the purchase of seed. There is no
reason why thoroughly recleaned alfalfa seed should have any dodder seed
in it, as reference to the illustrations will show. The relative sizes
and forms of the seeds of alfalfa and dodder are shown herewith. It will
be seen that there is a marked difference in both the sizes and the
shapes of the seeds. The alfalfa seed is shaped like a little kidney
bean, and varies in color from light yellowish-green to a rich
golden-yellow, and in some instances, because of weathering, or sweating
in the cock, or perhaps standing too long, it shows a reddish-brown
color. The dodder seed is darker in color than the alfalfa, all of that
which I have succeeded in gathering from the plants being a rich
golden-brown. The accompanying illustrations show the form of the dodder
and alfalfa seed respectively.
“The seeds, being sown, germinate in the soil, throwing up a slender,
thread-like stem somewhat resembling a corn silk, which retains its
connection with the ground until it comes in contact with the stem of
the alfalfa plant. It twines around this tightly, sending its feeding
suckers through the outside bark, and as soon as it is firmly attached
to the host plant, the ground connection is severed and it is sustained
by the plant juices which are taken in by the suckers. It continues to
grow and spread, twining around other stalks and increasing very rapidly
until a colony is established. Continuing to grow, it climbs toward the
upper portion of the plants, feeding on their juices and sapping their
vitality, but never goes to the extreme top, seeming to prefer the
dampness and darkness of the matted alfalfa rather than sunlight. The
plants first attacked begin to die, and the dodder, spreading out in all
directions, forms a circle or ring.
“The rapidity with which the pest spreads makes it a serious menace to
the alfalfa grower. Comparatively little work has been done by
scientific men in studying the dodders and methods of eradication, and
the fact that the little rootlets or suckers (haustoria) become so
firmly affixed to the host plant that it must be destroyed together
with the parasite, has made the work hard and the results obtained
unsatisfactory. There are a number of methods by which dodder may be
spread through a field. As soon as it becomes thoroughly established on
a host plant, the many little branches, waving about like the shoot
produced from the seed, attach themselves to other plants, and thus the
colony is increased in size. In legumes, the host plant first attacked
soon dies, but before this occurs, the parasite has become firmly
established on adjoining plants and is reaching out and completing the
colony. As soon as a host dies, the dodder also perishes, but before
this happens it is very likely to have blossomed and seeded.
“In the operations of mowing, tedding, raking and drawing the alfalfa
hay, these little colonies are spread about the fields by the machines
and the workmen, and on the horses’ feet. The sale of infested hay is a
prolific means of dissemination. Hunters and pleasure seekers, walking
through the fields, notice the peculiar corn-silk-like growths and
often, by picking up particles of it which are soon cast away, establish
new colonies. The flower is very peculiar and attracts the attention of
people passing, who are apt to pick them together with some of the
maturing seed, and scatter these over the fields. In a pastured field,
the animals spread the seed to some extent while moving from place to
place in feeding. The most serious menace, however, is from the purchase
of impure seed; farmers should always be absolutely certain that the
alfalfa seed which they are buying is thoroughly recleaned and that no
small weed seed is to be found in it. One should never sow clover or
alfalfa from a field or even from a locality in which dodder is known to
exist. It is probable that the seeds thoroughly ripened will retain
their germinating powers for some years. The purchase of hay from dodder
infested fields, or the purchase of manure from barns where infested hay
has been fed, are sure sources of contamination.
“Where a newly seeded alfalfa field shows evidence of quite general
dodder infection, it is useless to attempt to eradicate it, and the
field should be plowed up and planted with some hoed crop for a period
of years. Old fields that have been thoroughly infested will probably be
more economically treated in this manner than in any other. In newly
sown fields, one of the most effective methods is probably hoeing over
the spots where the dodder appears, going over them once in two weeks
and allowing nothing to grow on them until the dodder seed is
germinated. A modification of this method has been used successfully by
spading in fields where the colonies of dodder were seen, raking out all
the tops, roots and branches, adding a little straw or hay and burning
the mass, and then keeping the spot thoroughly hoed for a season. For
fields where the colonies are small and scattered, this method of hoeing
and shallow cultivation is probably the most practicable, as it helps to
secure the early germination of any seeds that were left in the ground,
and also kills them as soon as they are germinated. If the seed has
developed, one must be careful not to spade it in too deep, as it may
retain its vitality for some years if left covered in the moist soil.
“Burning has been recommended by some, raking the dodder vines and what
is left of the alfalfa to the center of the colonies, putting brush or
straw with it, together with some fine, light wood or chips and
sprinkling with kerosene, so that the alfalfa plants will be burned
close to the ground. This is necessary from the fact that the little
coils of dodder close to the crown of the plants will retain their
vitality and grow after a very severe burning, providing the alfalfa
which is above the ground is not killed also. The most difficult problem
to be confronted in killing out dodder where it has become established,
arises from the fact that if these little coils which wind themselves
closely around the plant are not killed or removed, the dodder will
spread from these and make a new growth. Many experiments have been made
with chemicals, but none of them have proved wholly successful, from the
fact that these little rings were not destroyed. All the rest of the
plant was killed and the production of flowers and seed prevented; but
as these little rings were not killed, the dodder began growing again
and continued to grow throughout the season.”
LEAF SPOT
Leaf spot is a very peculiar disease and, fortunately, not common in
this country. It has been known in France since 1832. In 1891 it was
destructive in Iowa alfalfa, the loss in the neighborhood of the
experiment station being estimated at 50 per cent. In reference to this
infliction the Iowa station, among other information, printed the
following:
“Any time after the plant has attained a growth of four to six inches
from the seed, but most commonly after the first year’s growth, there
appears upon the upper side of the leaves small, irregular brownish
spots, which enlarge to about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter and
extend through the leaf to the under side, turning all parts brown. When
many spots occur on the same leaf the whole leaf soon turns yellow and
falls off. This falling of the leaves and the natural loss in vigor, due
to the diseased condition before the falling, constitute its great
damage. Frequent cutting of the crop materially prevents the disease.”
In eastern states farmers report that there are frequent patches in
their fields where the leaves turn red and the plant dies. The probable
explanation of this trouble is “wet feet,” which alfalfa will not abide.
Don’t expect to get a crop of alfalfa from a field in which water is
near the surface. Drain it or use another field.
ROOT ROT
A disease peculiar to portions of the southern states is called “root
rot,” and similar to the root rot found in cotton fields. The alfalfa
dies in spots, these spots widening in circular form. This is a fungus
that spreads only in summer. The only means of eradicating so far
(reported by the Texas station) is the application of common salt and
kerosene. It has not proven a serious annoyance.
GOPHERS AND PRAIRIE DOGS
Gophers and prairie dogs are great pests in some parts of the Middle
West, and about the only successful means of combating them is poison.
The state of Kansas has, probably more than any other, made a systematic
effort to destroy its gophers and prairie dogs, by liberal
appropriations and a field agent to supervise the work to be carried
out under provisions of law by local officials.
The injury done by the gophers consists chiefly in throwing up mounds of
soil taken from the burrows and these greatly interfere with operating
the mowing machine in harvesting. In the alfalfa fields there is also a
noticeable thinning out of the plants, by reason of the cutting off of
the roots. These root cuttings are stored in the burrows in considerable
piles, and are used in cold weather by the gophers for food. It is
claimed by some alfalfa growers that this process of thinning out the
plants is a benefit rather than an injury to the field, but, says Prof.
D. E. Lantz, the official formerly in charge of the Kansas work, “I have
known fields where this thinning has continued until the crop did not
half cover the ground at cutting time, and the fields were plowed up for
the planting of other crops. The loss from gopher depredations to the
alfalfa growers of Kansas during 1901 was probably fully one-tenth of
the entire product, and had a money value of at least $500,000.”
According to Professor Lantz, carbon bisulphide and other poisonous
gases have frequently been recommended for the destruction of the
pocket-gopher, but the great length of the burrows and their
irregularities in depth prevent the gases from flowing into every part,
and the animals often escape. Trapping, if properly done, is a sure
method of killing the gopher; but it is attended with considerable labor
and is very slow. An excellent trap for general use is the No. O
ordinary steel trap. Sink it in loose soil to the level of the runway,
nearly conceal it by sprinkling fine earth over it, and leave the hole
open.
Gophers are easily poisoned. They are fond of potatoes, sweet potatoes,
apples, raisins and prunes. The presence of strychnine, arsenic or other
poisons does not seem to deter them from eating the food; but if the
poison is sweetened they seem to eat it more readily. In summer it may
be desirable to sweeten the poison, but in the fall and early spring it
does not seem worth while. The poisoned food being introduced to the
burrows below the surface, there is no danger of poisoning stock. It
might be well, however, not to let swine run in the fields for a time
after the poison has been put out.
The following method of introducing poison is recommended: Cut the
potatoes or other food into pieces not more than three-fourths of an
inch in diameter. Cut a slit in each piece and with a point of the knife
blade insert a little sulphate of strychnine; as much as half the bulk
of a grain of wheat. Having prepared the bait in sufficient quantity, go
to the field armed with a round, sharp-pointed implement an inch or an
inch and a half in diameter and of sufficient length. The tool here
illustrated was made by a blacksmith.
[Illustration]
It is a spade handle shod with an iron point. A bar is attached about
fifteen inches from the point to enable the operator to use his foot in
pressing it into the soil. With this tool it is only necessary to find
the runway of the gopher. The handle is sufficiently thick to make a
hole large enough to permit one to drop the poisoned potato directly
into the burrow. The operator then passes on to another place, leaving
the hole open. No digging with a spade or other hard labor is necessary.
An experienced person can distribute poison to many acres of alfalfa in
a day; and if proper care is taken to rightly distribute the bait, it
will not be necessary to go over the ground a second time. Some
experience is required to find the burrows quickly. It is best to insert
the food as near as possible to the freshest mounds of earth. Two or
three pieces of potato at that place are worth many scattered in other
parts of the runway. The operator should avoid the larger mounds and
those that are not freshly made.
For destroying prairie dogs, Professor Lantz says that out of thousands
of suggestions nothing has been found more effective than strychnine
poison and carbon bisulphide. Following are directions for preparing and
using the strychnine:
“Dissolve one and a half ounces of strychnine sulphate in a quart of hot
water. Add a quart of syrup--molasses, sorghum, or thick sugar and
water--and a teaspoonful of oil of anise. Thoroughly heat and mix the
liquid. While hot pour it over a bushel of clean wheat and mix
completely. Then stir in two or more pounds of fine corn meal. The
quantity of corn meal needed will depend upon the amount of extra
moisture present. There should be enough to wet every grain of the wheat
and no more. Care should be taken that there is no leakage from the
vessel in which the wheat is mixed. Let the poisoned grain stand over
night, and distribute it in the early morning of a bright day. Use a
tablespoonful of the wheat to each hole occupied by prairie dogs,
putting it near the mouth of the burrow in two or three little bunches.
Do not put out the poison in cold or stormy weather. It will keep for a
considerable time, and is much more effective after a cold period, as
the animals are then hungry and eat the grain readily. A bushel of wheat
should poison 1000 to 1200 holes. An excellent substitute for the oil of
anise in this formula can be made by soaking two ounces of green coffee
berries in the whites of three eggs. Let this stand for about twelve
hours, and use the liquid instead of anise oil.”
A tablespoonful of carbon bisulphide, upon some such absorbent material
as cotton, dry horse manure, or a piece of corn-cob, and rolled into the
burrows, is effective. It is best immediately to cover the hole with a
sod and stamp down firmly.
GRASSHOPPERS
Grasshoppers are a source of no little loss to alfalfa growers in some
parts of the West. They usually do their greatest damage to the season’s
second crop, the young not being very destructive to the first. The best
remedy, or rather prevention, is deep disking in April and then
harrowing to destroy the eggs.
Where the pests attack or are about to attack a field of alfalfa, Prof.
L. Bruner, of the Nebraska station recommends the use of a “hopper
dozer,” which is “simply a long, shallow pan of stove-pipe iron or
galvanized iron mounted on runners and backed by a light frame covered
with cloth. The pan is about four inches deep, from eighteen inches to
two feet wide, and from ten to sixteen feet long. It is partly filled
with water and a little kerosene. A horse drags the machine across the
field over the stubble of the first crop and the half-grown hoppers
jump into the pan where the oil coats them over and kills every one that
it touches. The hopper dozer works best on level land. On sloping ground
the oil and water run to one end and slop over. To prevent this the pan
is usually divided into sections by a number of partitions. The runners
should stick out in front of the pan about a foot and one-half, and a
piece of chain or heavy rope should be stretched loosely between them to
drag ahead of the machine and make the hoppers jump. On level fields
there are no great difficulties in the use of the hopper dozer. Careless
driving may spill oil on some alfalfa and kill it. If these machines are
to be really effective, they must be used before the grasshoppers get
their wings. The first crop of alfalfa should be cut as early as
possible, and the hopper dozers should follow the rakes as closely as
may be. On the whole, they should be used only where plowing and
harrowing have not been done or have failed to keep the grasshoppers in
check.”
Of the use of this implement or machine Prof. S. J. Hunter has this to
say:
“The height of the runners depends upon the height of crop to be
protected. It is important that there be no timbers in front of the pan,
so that its front line may come in contact with the grain passed over.
The insects then fall directly into the fluid. When ready for use place
two buckets of water and one-half gallon of coal-oil in a pan, and then
drive back and forth across the end of the field where the grasshoppers
are entering until you have filled the pans; remove the insects,
replenish with oil and water, and continue until the field is rid of the
pest.
“Many grasshoppers will be seen strike the sheet-iron back, drop into
the pans and immediately jump out again. Those farmers who observed the
experiments were at first of the opinion that the locusts that jumped
out had jumped away ‘to live another day.’ The writer asked those
interested to watch the insects and note the actions of grasshoppers
that had jumped out. In every case the report was that the insects
became sick and soon died. In fact, persons going over fields where a
day or so before the hopper dozer had been at work, were impressed with
the number of dead grasshoppers on the ground. An examination showed the
presence of coal-oil upon the body. This kerosene and water is an
external irritant, and my observations have been that the mixture is
more effective than the oil alone.
“The use of the machine may be best shown by examples. In Ford county,
Kansas, a large tract of alfalfa was cut, and the locusts at once began
moving into a large field of Kafir corn which had been sown broadcast.
The hopper dozer was drawn back and forth across the end of the corn
field nearest the alfalfa land until a portion of the field about twenty
rods deep had been gone over. Here it was apparent that there were very
few grasshoppers; or, in other words, the advance line of the locusts’
march only extended twenty rods into the field. Two days later the same
area of ground was covered, but not as many insects were taken.
Grasshoppers no longer entered this corn and the hopper dozer was no
longer used at this point.
“It has been my experience with this machine that after it has passed
over vegetation it does not injure the plants, but in some way renders
the vegetation distasteful to the grasshoppers, so that they turn their
course and seek food elsewhere. I have observed that these native
grasshoppers enter a field from one corner or side, and that they are
not as a rule scattered over the whole field, but occur in great numbers
in patches. This being the case, it is evident that with very little
labor with this machine the products of a field can be given full
opportunity to mature.”
ARMY WORMS
In Nebraska the fall army worm has caused considerable damage. It is
distinct from the true army worm, having small hairs growing out from
small black spots; it has a whitish “Y” shaped mark upon the head. The
parent of the worms is a moth of a yellowish, ash-gray color. The female
moth deposits her eggs in clusters upon the leaves and stems. With the
approach of cold weather the worms pass into the ground and enter the
chrysalis stage about one or two inches below the surface. When very
numerous the only effective treatment is to disk thoroughly in the
spring.
BIND WEED
Bindweed, belonging to the morning-glory family, is one of the meanest
weeds that annoy alfalfa raisers. It spreads from the root, and is more
than liable to smother out alfalfa or any other crop which tries to
occupy its ground. If infested fields could be grazed closely with hogs
or sheep, they might keep the bindweed down and finally eradicate it. If
this cannot be done, the only remedy is to plow and use the land for
some other crop.
_CHAPTER XXIV._
Difficulties and Discouragements
Notwithstanding the fact that alfalfa is now grown successfully in all
parts of the United States, in almost all kinds of soils and under many
dissimilar conditions of climate, there are grouped here as a summary
from preceding chapters the several difficulties and discouragements
that may confront the one who would grow it.
1. _Securing a Good Stand._ Theoretically, the farmer should secure a
good stand every year with every crop, but he does not. He obtains,
however, poor stands of wheat and corn and potatoes oftener than a poor
stand of alfalfa. Why does he fail with alfalfa? The following, at least
in part, suggests why:
_a_ He neglects to prepare sufficiently in advance. He should select his
alfalfa field one or two years before he intends sowing. If he raises
wheat, he should sow a little alfalfa seed with wheat, one or even two
years before ready for alfalfa. This will leave a few roots and the
proper bacteria will have been introduced into the soil. For two years
there should be a vigorous fight against weeds, the fewest possible
being permitted to ripen seed.
_b_ He neglects to prepare properly for the preceding crop, and
sometimes plants the wrong crop, although sorghum and Kafir corn are
about the only very objectionable planting to precede alfalfa. These
have usually taken too much of the land’s moisture, especially if the
season has been somewhat dry, to permit a prosperous beginning of the
plants from fall sown seed. Millet, oats or cowpeas are the best crops
to precede, i. e. for the first trial. The plowing for this preceding
crop should be deep. In clay land a subsoil plow (the kind which loosens
but does not throw the subsoil to the surface) should follow. It is
extremely important that a dressing of stable manure be plowed under for
this preceding crop. The seed bed should be carefully prepared, and
under favorable conditions. Working the ground when too wet would make
it impossible to secure a proper seed bed later when preparing for
alfalfa.
[Illustration: And There’s Still More to Follow]
[Illustration: =Dead Prairie Dogs=
gathered up in a 20-minute walk through a “town” that had been poisoned.
Nearly all the animals die inside their burrows. The cost of destroying
them, according to Professor Lantz, is not over two cents per acre, not
counting the labor, and a man can distribute the poison over about a
quarter-section in a day]
_c_ He neglects to prepare the alfalfa seed bed properly. He should
begin disking and harrowing as soon as the preparatory crop is off the
ground, and continue this at intervals of ten or fifteen days until time
for sowing, when the soil should be as fine as for an onion bed.
_d_ He uses poor seed; seed that is infertile, or adulterated with weed
seeds--undesirable and unreliable in every way.
2. _Dying out the second year_, which in most instances is due to one of
two causes, viz.: neglect to plow under stable manure for the preceding
crop, or pasturing alfalfa in its first year. Not an animal should be
turned on an alfalfa field for pasture until the second or, preferably,
the third year. Another cause is disturbance of the soil and plants by
severe freezing. This may often be prevented in a degree by a light
top-dressing of manure in December.
3. _Failure through harvesting and stacking_.
4. _Injury from insects or disease_.
These are practically all the things that need occasion serious
vexation. Of course alfalfa calls for more work in harvesting than corn,
or clover, or timothy; but one acre of prosperous alfalfa is worth two
or three of corn, or clover or timothy, even for market, while for
feeding purposes the difference is even greater. The “poor” farmer, the
lazy farmer, the “corner grocery” farmer should not sow alfalfa.
_CHAPTER XXV._
Miscellaneous
ALFALFA IN THE ORCHARD
Probably nine-tenths of those who have written on this subject have
condemned the practice of sowing alfalfa in the orchard. They have said
that the alfalfa demanded so much moisture that the trees would be
dwarfed if not destroyed. In going through an immense amount of material
in the preparation of this book only two instances have been found of
men who claim that the alfalfa is a benefit to orchards. One of these
was from Texas and the newspaper quoting him did not give his name. He
was reported to have used his orchard for hog pasture, keeping on five
acres from ten to fifteen sows with their pigs from early April to
September. He claimed that the alfalfa instead of robbing the orchard of
moisture actually contributed to the surface moisture and benefited the
trees.
Prof. F. L. Watrous, of the Colorado station, is an earnest advocate of
the use of alfalfa in the orchard and from an article of his this is
quoted:
“Whatever may have been believed or imagined as to the uncongeniality of
trees and alfalfa the theory is destined to an early downfall. The
evidence is at hand now to show that not only is alfalfa not a
detriment when grown among fruit trees, but in many ways it is a
positive benefit, lending itself and its properties to the advantage of
the trees.
“On land where moisture can be found at from six to ten feet from the
surface, the congeniality of the alfalfa plant and the apple tree
becomes apparent. Both need plenty of water the first year, a little
less the second, and very little or none thereafter.
“After trees become old enough to bear and need all the land between
them, and that fertilized and renovated, alfalfa may be used as a food
gatherer and distributer. It pushes down into the lower strata, bringing
up mineral elements, captures nitrogen from the air through its root
processes, and brings all together near the surface, thus giving to the
trees the food they need to fill up and mature fruit. Nor is this all.
The alfalfa falling on the ground makes a soft cover upon which
windfalls may drop with little bruising; it so occupies the soil as to
allow no foul growth to creep in; it does away with the work of weeding
or cultivating, and keeps the surface cool and porous, furnishing
excellent pasture for hogs if the trees are protected. It would be
possible, of course, in this system of co-operation between fruit trees
and alfalfa to secure a crop of hay or seed during the off years for
fruit, but whether this would prove profitable may be questioned.
Orchards growing under the conditions described have produced
magnificent crops of fruit which, for size, quality and coloring, is
seldom equaled.”
SOME ALFALFA “MUSTS” AND “DON’TS”
A Knox county, Ohio, man, in expressing himself as to some of the
requisites for success with alfalfa, as observed from his viewpoint has
this to say:
“I have known about alfalfa from boyhood; been familiar with it for
thirty years, and have grown it successfully on many soils, from a stiff
clay, upwards. The failures which I have seen have been accounted for by
the non-performance of some of the essentials. There are certain
‘musts’, not ‘shoulds,’ to be observed to secure success. Here they are
from my experience:
“First of all the seed must be pure, of high germinating power, and of
the highest possible vitality. If I doubted my own proficiency in these
determinations, I would consult the nearest experiment station. I have
had occasion to consult experiment stations, from New Jersey to
Wisconsin, on various subjects, and in every instance have met with
prompt and valuable--and sympathetic--assistance.
“The soil must have lime; either as one of its natural constituents, or
lime must be added. If the soil is deficient, then the lime must be
incorporated with the soil some months before seeding.
“The land must have efficient drainage, either natural, or, as in the
case of clay and heavy clay loams, artificial.
“The land must be fertile to a depth of at least nine inches. Beyond
that depth the taproot in its search for water will take care of
itself.”
Another writer, impressed by practices he regards as reprehensible,
enumerates them as follows:
“Don’t sow any nurse crop.
“Don’t sow on freshly plowed land, no matter how carefully prepared.
“Don’t let weeds or grass grow over six inches high without clipping.
“Don’t clip or mow when wet with rain or dew.
“Don’t let alfalfa stand; if turning yellow, cut it.
“Don’t sow old seed.
“Don’t sow less than twenty pounds per acre, one-half each way.
“Don’t sow twenty-five acres at first; sow five.
“Don’t pasture it.
“Don’t put any of the rotten manure anywhere but on your alfalfa plot.
“Don’t depend upon ‘culture cakes’ or soil from some distant field.
“Don’t let any water stand on it.
“Don’t let it go if a thin stand, but disk in more seed; don’t be afraid
you will kill it.
“Don’t replow the land, disk it.
“Don’t wait for it to stool; it never does.
“Don’t try to cut for hay until the alfalfa takes the field.
“Don’t sow on any land not well underdrained.
“Don’t leave your land rough; use a roller or a plank float to level and
smooth it.
“Don’t give up.”
ALFILERILLA OR “ALFILARIA”
(_Erodium citcutarium_.)
On account of the similarity of its name to that of alfalfa and the
possibility of the two plants being confused in the minds of those not
acquainted with them, it is proper to make mention here of the plant
referred to in the caption above. It is not generally known nor widely
distributed, and has as yet its principal habitat in semi-arid parts of
the southwestern United States. The Century Dictionary calls it
Pin-clover or Pin-grass, and classifies it with the Geranium family.
Webster’s Dictionary speaks of it as a weed in California. It is an
annual and seeds profusely; a few seeds scattered over quite a large
area result in a thorough seeding the second year. A stockman in Arizona
writes that it will grow on any kind of soil except alkali; that it was
introduced from Australia by sheep carrying it in their wool. It is a
southern plant and should not be seeded largely north of the northern
line of Oklahoma until tested by the experiment stations. It should not
be confused with alfalfa, as it is entirely dissimilar and not related.
In discussing this plant an Arizona editor writes the following:
“It is by no means a new or experimental crop, for it was the main
reliance of Arizona stockmen during ten years of drouth. We suppose that
the experiment stations in the West have given it little attention
because it is as well known as alfalfa here, and millions of acres are
covered with it in various portions of the Territory.
“We know from many years experience that alfilaria will thrive and keep
stock in good condition where no grass roots would live through one of
the dry seasons. It is peculiarly adapted to the poorer soils in western
Kansas, Nebraska, the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, and portions of the
northern section of Mexico.
“Its merits are that it will grow in seasons so dry that other forage
fails and that it will keep cattle in better health and condition as to
flesh and growth than anything else we can grow in Arizona, not
excepting alfalfa. In the spring cattle and horses will go miles to find
it and it is better than ‘condition powders’ to put them in condition
for summer growth.
“What it will do on other classes of soil, under excess of moisture, is
a matter of experiment; but where it is needed most--as above outlined,
there is nothing that has ever been tested under these adverse
conditions which can compare with alfilaria. This will be certified to
by every ranchman and cattleman in this section of Arizona.”
MEASURING HAY IN THE STACK
Some method of arriving at the quantity in a stack, rick, or mow without
weighing it, is, at one time and another, found desirable by everyone
who has to do with loose hay. There can be no absolute rule laid down
for this because of the varying compactness the hay attains under
differing conditions of coarseness or fineness, moisture, length of time
stacked or stored and the weight which has rested upon it.
For prairie hay stacked not less than thirty days a cube seven feet
square (343 cubic feet) is not uncommonly bought or sold as a ton; yet
seven-and-a-half feet square, or 422 cubic feet, are often made the
basis of estimating. The author is advised that in the alfalfa growing
districts of the Yellowstone valley it is the general custom to accept
as a ton 422 cubic feet of alfalfa hay if it has settled thirty days or
more. Also that hay-men find there is a noticeable variation between the
different cuttings. The first cutting will fall short of actual weight
more than the second, while the third cutting will hold up in weight,
and sometimes overrun. Prof. E. A. Burnett, of the Nebraska experiment
station, thinks an eight-foot cube, or 512 cubic feet, a fair figure.
Professor Ten Eyck says:
“The rules for measuring hay in the stack will vary according to the
length of time the hay has been stacked and the kind and quality of the
hay, and also according to the character of the stack. With alfalfa or
prairie hay which has been stacked for thirty days it is usual to
compute an eight-foot cube or 512 cubic feet as a ton. When the hay has
been stacked five or six months, usually a seven-and-a-half-foot cube or
422 cubic feet is calculated for a ton. In old stacks which have been
stacked a year or more a seven-foot cube or 343 cubic feet is allowed
for a ton.
“There are different methods of measuring a stack, depending upon its
shape and also its size. For a long stack or rick the usual method is to
throw a line over the stack measuring the distance (in two or three
places, and use the average) from the bottom on one side to the bottom
on the other; add to this the average width of the stack, divide this
sum by four (which equals one side of the square) and multiply the
quotient by itself and this product by the length of the stack; this
will give the number of cubic feet in the stack, which may be divided by
512, 422, or 343 in order to find the number of tons. For small, low
ricks the rule is to subtract the width from the ‘over,’ divide by 2,
multiply by the width and multiply the product by the length, dividing
the result by the number of cubic feet in a ton.
“There is no established rule for measuring round stacks, but this one
will approximate the contents of one of the ordinary conical form: Find
the circumference at or above the base or ‘bulge’ at a height that will
average the base from there to the ground, find the vertical height of
the measured circumference from the ground and the slant height from the
circumference to the top of the stack. Multiply the circumference by
itself and divide by 100 and multiply by 8, then multiply the result by
the height of the base plus one-third of the slant height of top. The
hay in a round is necessarily less compact than in a rectangular stack,
hence a greater number of feet should be allowed for a ton; with well
settled hay, probably 512 feet.
“The rules given may also be used in measuring any kind of hay, sorghum
or Kafir-fodder in the stack. However, for sorghum or Kafir-fodder only
approximate results can be procured by stack measurements because the
fodder is apt to vary greatly in weight, according to the moisture it
contains.”
[Illustration: =Pot Culture Experiments at University of Illinois=
showing effect produced upon growth of alfalfa by nitrogen-gathering
bacteria obtained from older alfalfa and Sweet clover. Reading from top
to bottom the four photographs were made five, six, seven and eight
weeks, respectively, from time of planting
+----------------------------------------------+
|Bottom row, signs from left to right: |
|ALFALFA. No Bacteria. |
|ALFALFA. Bacteria from Alfalfa soil. |
|ALFALFA. Bacteria from Alfalfa Tubercles. |
|ALFALFA. Bacteria from Sweet Clover Soil. |
|ALFALFA. Bacteria from Sweet Clover Tubercles.|
+----------------------------------------------+]
[Illustration: =Six Months Growth of Alfalfa Foliage=
grown from one crown under irrigation in southern California, sixty feet
below sea level Height slightly less than eleven feet]
_CHAPTER XXVI._
Practical Experiences of Alfalfa Growers in the United States of America
ALABAMA
_Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director Alabama experiment station._--Alfalfa is
grown in Alabama with entire success on the lime soil of the central
prairie region of the state. This is a strip of land from 10 to 20 miles
wide, extending southeast and northwest almost across the state and into
Mississippi. Beginning near Union Springs, this prairie passes near
Montgomery, Selma, Demopolis, Greensboro and northwestward towards
Columbus, Miss. On the prairie lands in this area alfalfa affords from
three to six cuttings per year, usually four, and the yield is from
three to six tons per acre. Irrigation is not practiced. The seed is
sown either in September or in the early part of March, usually from 20
to 24 pounds per acre. Almost a full crop is secured the first year from
fall seeding, but only from one-third to two-thirds of a full crop is
secured the first year from sowing seed in March. It is not customary on
this soil to use fertilizer on alfalfa, but an application of even a
light coat of stable manure immensely increases the yield on the poor
spots. Failure has generally attended attempts to grow alfalfa on
non-calcareous or sandy soils, though under favorable conditions, with
liberal manuring and constant warfare against crab-grass, it
occasionally succeeds. In Bulletin No. 127 of the Alabama experiment
station the results in alfalfa growing are summarized as follows:
Usually the best crop to precede spring sown alfalfa is cotton,
especially if cotton follows melilotus (Sweet clover). The best crop to
prepare the land for fall sown alfalfa is cowpeas, sown very thickly.
Farmers have found that alfalfa thrives when sown on Johnson grass
meadows, holding its own, at least for the first few years, against this
aggressive grass. Dodder, a yellow threadlike growth, is a serious enemy
of alfalfa. One of the remedies consists in mowing and burning. Seed
merchants often pass alfalfa seed through a machine which is claimed to
remove the dodder seed. On sandy upland soils at Auburn, alfalfa has not
afforded very profitable yields. On such soils it requires heavy
applications of lime or barnyard manure, and it is believed that more
profitable use can be made of manure. At Auburn neither nitrate of soda
nor cottonseed meal very greatly increased the yield of alfalfa that was
properly stocked with root tubercles. Acid phosphate and potash
fertilizers are considered indispensable here, and generally advisable
on sandy or other soils not rich in lime. Inoculation with soil from old
fields of either alfalfa or Bur clover greatly increases the yields of
alfalfa growing on sandy land. The germ that causes tubercles to develop
on Sweet clover also causes tubercles to develop on the roots of
alfalfa. Hence artificial inoculation of alfalfa is not necessary when
it is grown on prairie land that has recently borne a crop of
melilotus. Artificial inoculation of alfalfa is probably advisable even
for prairie soils when it is uncertain whether either the melilotus or
alfalfa germs are present in great numbers. In regions in Alabama where
neither alfalfa, melilotus, nor Bur clover is extensively grown,
inoculation of alfalfa is advisable. For this purpose one may use soil
from old fields of either of these plants or inoculating material
prepared in the laboratory.
ARIZONA
_John Blake, Graham county._--Alfalfa is the king of forage plants here.
It will stand considerable dry weather and live, but it will not yield
profitably unless irrigated, or on naturally damp ground. It does not do
well here on clay soil, and if clay subsoil is near the surface it is
likely to dry out, unless watered. I have grown alfalfa for eight years
on 175 acres, first and second bottom, and upland, with sandy and loam
soils, with small patches of clay and various subsoils; the alluvial
bottoms are usually loam of different depths, underlaid with sand and
gravel; the next bottom more clayey, with quicksand about 13 feet deep
and gravel about 30 feet below the surface. On first bottoms, well water
is reached at a depth of 3 to 8 feet, the soil being dry on the surface
only; on the upland, the soil is dry for 20 to 30 feet, or until water
is reached. Land intended for alfalfa had best be cultivated in other
crops for two or three years, thus insuring the killing off of native
brush and grass, and their roots; then it must be laid off in “lands” of
various widths, according to the slope, each land being leveled
uniformly and bordered to hold water. Seed may be sown in August,
September, and October; in fact, all the year, except from the middle
of April to the first of August, when it is so hot and dry here. The
quantity of seed used varies with the preparation, from 12 to 20 pounds
per acre. Sow with a “Cahoon” seeder, and cover with a brush or light
harrow. It is generally sown here with barley, wheat, or oats. The grain
is cut early for hay, or ripened and headed, in which case the stubble
and alfalfa are cut immediately afterward and hauled off. The ground is
then irrigated, and if it has previously been foul, there will be plenty
of weeds. Another cutting in good time will usually eradicate these. The
plant will not winterkill here if old enough to have four leaves before
frost. We irrigate abundantly, from the Gila river, in winter and
spring, filling up the soil and thus making less need for water during
the hot, dry period. Irrigate after each crop is taken off, and some
land is benefited by two irrigations for each cutting. The quantity of
water needed depends on the character of the soil and subsoil; some on
the bottoms needs but little after the first year, and it is a good
plan, if the subsoil is open, to let the plant go without artificial
water after it has a good start, as it sends its roots down to moisture
or water, if at a reasonable depth below; it will then thrive on much
less water, and the crop will be more nutritious. If one is raising hay
for quantity, of course this does not apply. The four crops per season
yield on an average: First, 1¹⁄₂ to 2 tons; second and third, 1¹⁄₄ to 4;
fourth, three-fourths to one ton. If cutting for quantity, mow when
fairly in bloom; if for feeding, when the seed has formed. I have raised
no seed, but the crop used for that purpose is usually the second, and
it is not irrigated. The time required for curing depends on the stage
at which the hay is cut, the dryness of the ground, etc.; a good rule is
to rake as soon as the rake will take it up clean, and let it cure in
windrows or cocks. I use a “Landen” single pole stacker, with slings,
which puts the hay, just as it laid on the wagon, in the center of the
stack. The seed, threshed on an ordinary thresher, contains straw and
chaff, which are easily taken out by running through ordinary wire
screen-door netting, and then it is suitable for the “Cahoon” seeder. On
land worth $40 per acre, the hay in the stack costs $3 per ton. Baling
costs $2 per ton, the best size being 100 or 150 pounds in weight. Size
does not affect the keeping quality of the hay. The hay has sold here
for $6 to $12, averaging about $7.50, and the seed sold here last year
for 9 cents per pound. I do not think the straw is of much value.
Alfalfa will yield abundantly the second year, and, if harrowed with a
good harrow, digging up the soil, it will yield for a very long period.
Mine, which is 10 years old, looks as well as it did when two years old.
To rid land of it, it would be well to plow when dry, then cross plow
later on. On naturally damp bottom it is hard to kill. Cattle pastured
on rank alfalfa in the spring are liable to bloat.
_Thomas C. Graham, Pinal county._--Though I have been familiar with
alfalfa growing for 10 years, my first experience on a large scale was
five years ago, when I seeded the Kenilworth farms, containing 900
acres. I was successful in securing a good stand on the entire tract.
Some of the land is upland, with sandy loam soil, washed from the
mountains, and various subsoils, hardpan being, in places, only 10
inches below the surface; the remainder of the land is low, or bottom,
with adobe soil. Well water is found at a depth of 95 feet, and the soil
is dry from the surface to within a few feet of the water stratum.
Before sowing, the surface soil is plowed and harrowed thoroughly; 20
pounds of seed is used to the acre, and covered not more than one-half
inch deep. In our section, the best time for seeding is in September and
October, and there is no danger from the winter frost. During the first
season we cut twice or three times, to destroy all weeds, and obtain
2¹⁄₂ or 3 tons of hay per acre, but have never been able to get a paying
crop of seed from the first season’s cutting. For irrigation, we obtain
water from the Gila and Salt rivers, but in some sections of our country
water is pumped from wells by steam pumps. It has not been found
practicable to lift the water from a greater depth than 50 feet for this
purpose. The first year, as the land is very dry, it requires twice the
quantity of water that is needed the second year and after. We flood the
alfalfa five or six times a year--once in the fall, in the spring, and
after each cutting, using water enough to cover the land to a depth of
about one inch. We have no rain to amount to anything here, and depend
entirely on irrigation. I think the ground should be prepared in the
fall, and seeded in February or March as, if seeded in the fall, the
young plants might be liable to injury from frost. In all cases, the
soil should be thoroughly prepared, and the seed not covered more than
one-half inch deep. It is not uncommon to harvest six crops of alfalfa
in a single season, and its feeding qualities are unequaled for cattle,
horses, or swine. It is found, by careful tests, that alfalfa is 45 per
cent better than clover and 65 per cent better than timothy for feeding
farm animals. In my opinion, there is no other hay that will equal
properly cured alfalfa. That grown without irrigation is much better, as
it contains less sap and is not so stalky. The threshed hay is splendid
feed for milch cows, and is sold here for the same price brought by the
hay cut earlier. Last season I pastured 65 head of hogs on 10 acres of
alfalfa, and they did well. In my experience, it is far better than
clover, from the fact that it cannot be dislodged, the roots penetrating
to a depth of 10 to 20 feet. The pasturage is profitable and
satisfactory for sheep and horses, and 45 per cent better for cattle
than clover. They will bloat sometimes, but if properly handled there is
little danger. The best preventive is to not allow the cattle to become
too hungry. We get, on an average, three cuttings a year, averaging 1 to
1¹⁄₂ tons per acre each, and have pasture for five or six months. For
hay, we mow when in full bloom, rake as soon as possible, and let stand
in windrows until the stems are about half dry; then put in the cock for
two days, and stack in large ricks of about 80 to 100 tons each. If put
up damp or green, it will mold. The seed is harvested, usually, from the
second crop, when the pods turn black and can be shelled out by rubbing
in the hand. It is cut, raked in windrows, and allowed to stand until
thoroughly dry. I used, this season, a J. I. Case separator, and
threshed and cleaned 6000 pounds of seed in three days. An ordinary
yield is 100 pounds to the acre, and the cost of cutting and threshing
is 3 cents a pound. The total cost of the hay in the stack is about $3
a ton on $50 land, with 15 cents an acre for irrigation. The average
selling price for hay is $4 a ton, and for seed, 10 cents a pound. With
proper care, alfalfa will last time without end, and improve each year,
and it is difficult to kill it out, as it makes more or less seed every
crop. An open soil, free from hardpan, is best for it.
CALIFORNIA
_Henry Miller, San Mateo county._--Since 1871, we have gradually
increased our acreage of alfalfa, until we now have about 20,000 acres.
This is on reclaimed swamp and upland, under a complete system of
irrigation, with the exception of a little light, loamy soil, with water
near the surface and no irrigation. On the latter ground the plant is
short-lived, on account of the gophers. The depth at which well water is
found varies from 10 to 40 feet, and, with irrigation, it is immaterial
whether the soil is naturally moist or dry. The preparation for seeding
consists of deep plowing and cross plowing, and the depth for planting
is not over two or three inches. For light, loamy soils, 12 pounds of
seed to the acre is ample, while for hard, rough, new land, from 16 to
20 pounds is required to insure a good stand. Seeding may be done here
after the cold season, and when danger of heavy frost is past, but in
time to take advantage of the spring rains, which are very essential.
During the first season, the weeds should be mowed as they require it,
without regard to returns of alfalfa, and after they are subdued it is
well to let the first year’s growth go to seed and allow it to be
trampled into the soil by young stock, but if there is a full stand this
is not necessary. We irrigate from streams, applying water as soon as
the spring opens and every time a crop is cut, the quantity of water
needed depending on the quality of the soil. Drainage is very necessary,
especially when irrigation is done in warm weather. After the first
irrigation, less water is needed at an application than at first.
Winterkilling seems to be effectually prevented by watering in the fall.
Alfalfa will attain its best state in three or four years, and its
condition after that will depend upon its treatment. We put stock on our
land generally after the first and second growth is cut, and the only
rest the land receives is when it is being irrigated. After hay has been
cut for several years, we harrow in the spring with a heavy harrow or
disk cutter, and take the opportunity to reseed that which shows lack of
vigor. The more sun and the less shade there is, the better the growth
and the more satisfactory the yield. We find it more difficult to get a
stand than to get rid of it; but, in some instances, where we have
wanted the land for orchard, vegetables, or root crops, we found several
plowings would destroy it. Without irrigation, we have not found the
crop very profitable, but there are a few favored spots in the state
where it can be grown without water; but when we plant we usually select
such land as can be put under a perfect system of irrigation before
using. Longevity of the plant depends on treatment and on the nature of
the soil. On heavy adobe soil it will not live and thrive as long as on
loamy soil, and on sandy, light soil it will be of short duration
without constant and judicious irrigation. After the first season, we
make two cuttings a year, and consider two tons to the acre each time a
good yield. For hay, we cut when the first crop is moderately ripe--say
nearly in full bloom; the second crop and any later ones are cut when
the bloom first shows; otherwise the lower leaves will drop off. The
first crop is generally preferable for seed, provided butterflies and
other insects have not injured the bloom, as they often do. If the
second crop is used for seed, it should ripen longer than the first. The
crop for seed is mowed, windrowed as soon as possible, allowed to dry in
that state, gathered with a hand fork, loaded on hay wagons, and put in
stack as gently as possible. We find a good crop of seed a rare thing,
but use the ordinary threshing outfit, and turn out 800 to 1000 pounds a
day, in rare instances double that quantity, with a cost for threshing
and cleaning of about 5 cents a pound. The hay we never put in barns,
but stack in small, narrow ricks, to avoid danger of heating,
endeavoring to get it in the rick as dry as possible, gathering in the
forenoons to avoid shelling. When we use our own press and men, the cost
of baling does not exceed $1 per ton. The weight of the bale depends on
the kind of press used. An average, handy bale weighs about 150 to 175
pounds, and we never have any trouble about the hay keeping perfectly in
bales of that size. The average price per ton for hay in our San
Francisco market is about $8 to $10; of seed, by the ton, 8 to 12¹⁄₂
cents a pound, 10 cents a pound being about the usual average price. For
feeding farm animals, good, well-cured alfalfa hay is better than
clover. For milch stock, especially, we consider it fully as good as any
other hay. We find but little difference between the straw and the hay,
and while all stock like the straw better, there is no doubt that the
hay contains the more nutriment. Like all rank growths, alfalfa will
produce double under irrigation, and the quantity will greatly
overbalance any possible improvement in quality without irrigation, for
I have found little difference between that grown by irrigation and
under natural moisture. For horses, there is no pasture better than the
alfalfa; for sheep and cattle, it sometimes works injury by way of
bloat, caused by too rapid grazing, especially when there is dew, thin
cattle and young stock being most liable. Cattle in high condition and
cows suckling or well forward in calf do not bloat. As preventive of the
bloat, hay should be kept in the pasture where the stock can run to it,
and a good supply of salt in troughs to which they have constant access.
The plant will not stand trampling by stock unless the surface of the
ground be entirely dry, and we do not allow sheep or cattle on the
fields during certain stages of growth nor during certain states of the
weather. We consider this pasture better than clover for swine,
especially when the ground has a smooth surface, but if the soil is of a
sandy nature, and allowed to dry, it is not so good. The capacity per
acre depends on the nature of the soil, and the gain in weight made by
the hogs depends on the breed and on the comfort they have. We can raise
hogs on alfalfa, and by feeding them two months on grain (say barley,
wheat, or Egyptian corn) they will average, when 10 months old, 250
pounds, gross.
_J. B. De Jarnette, Colusa county._--I have had 11 years’ experience
with alfalfa, and have about 100 acres bordering on the Sacramento
river. The soil ranges in depth from 10 to 20 feet, and rests on a clay
subsoil, while water is reached at a depth of from 12 to 20 feet. In
sinking two wells on my place, the soil was found as follows: First 12
feet, decomposed vegetable matter; 4 feet of quicksand; 4 feet of clay
loam; 4 feet of hardpan; 16 feet of yellow clay; 6 feet of hardpan; 2
feet of black sand, and at 48 feet, coarse gravel. The ground should be
thoroughly pulverized--the finer the better--after plowing at least 12
inches deep, and then seeded with not less than 25 pounds of seed to the
acre. I have had the best results from sowing in the early fall,
immediately after the first rains, using the “Gem” seeder, harrowing in
with very light harrow, and rolling the ground well. The first crop is
usually quite weedy, and of little value, but the second is better,
producing about 1¹⁄₂ tons of hay to the acre, if the stand is good.
Stock of all kinds should be kept off the first year. There is no danger
here of winterkilling, and by the second year the full yield is
realized. The length of time the plant continues vigorous depends on the
treatment. If pastured extensively, it will require to be reseeded in
from five to eight years; but otherwise it may go considerably longer. I
invariably obtain three crops a year, averaging per acre for the first
2¹⁄₂, and for the others 1¹⁄₂ to 2 tons. I irrigate only in the winter,
when the river is bank full and I can turn in water from it. Alfalfa
produces the best results with irrigation after each cutting, and in
that case there are five to seven cuttings obtainable, where with winter
flooding I can secure the three only. I mow for hay as soon as the bloom
begins to develop, raking in the afternoon following the morning
cutting, commence hauling about the third day after, and then put in the
barn with plenty of salt. The third crop is given the preference for
seed, and is harvested when the plant is well matured. I let it cure in
the windrows and haul to the thresher, handling as little as possible.
The common yield of seed is from 100 pounds up, according to the stand.
The cost of my hay, on land worth $100 to $150 per acre, does not exceed
$2 per ton, and it sells for from $5 to $8, while seed brings from 8 to
16 cents per pound. The hay after threshing is of but little value. The
pasture is unquestionably the most profitable I have ever had any
experience with, supporting more stock of any kind to the acre than any
other forage plant. In early spring, cattle are liable to bloat on the
rank alfalfa, but after the first of June I have had no trouble. There
is no special difficulty in ridding land of the plant, and it is
undoubtedly as good for fertilizing as Red clover.
COLORADO
_Jacob Downing, Arapahoe county._--I introduced alfalfa into Colorado in
1862, and have between 500 and 700 acres. It is on upland, clay, sandy
and loam soil, with some adobe subsoil, but mostly sandy loam; it is
generally dry to sand rock, and then it is necessary to drill 50 to 100
feet to get water. The plant will not thrive where there is hardpan, but
will grow in any soil that is dry. Unlike most other forage plants it
derives considerable nourishment from the air and water, though too much
moisture will kill it. After deep plowing and thorough pulverizing of
the soil, the land should be scraped thoroughly smooth, as this cannot
be done after sowing, and is needed to make the mower work smoothly. I
sow about 25 pounds to the acre, drilling in about two inches deep,
12¹⁄₂ pounds one way, and the other 12¹⁄₂ pounds across it, thus making
an even stand. Prefer to sow in the spring, early. After the plant is
eight inches high, it may be cut and used for feed, but is not very
good. After this there will be no weeds. It matures in three years, and
after that is good for seed. I have seen, near the city of Mexico,
fields of alfalfa 300 years old that had been constantly cropped and
never reseeded. It will last 1000 years, and possibly forever. Irrigate
from streams, as is required; when there is a great deal of heat and
wind, probably three times. The water must not run too long, or the
plant will be killed, and the land should be kept as dry as possible
during the winter, particularly in cold climates, as on wet soil alfalfa
winterkills. Well water is better than the stream, provided it is pumped
into a reservoir and allowed to get warm. Water is brought from the
streams by ditches. Less water can be used the first year than after the
plant is matured. I am five miles west of Denver, and 500 feet above the
city, in warm valleys. With plenty of water, I can obtain three cuttings
a year. Have raised as much as 3¹⁄₂ tons to the acre at one cutting, and
my highest yield of seed per acre has been nine bushels. Hay is cut when
the plant is in bloom, cured until it is dry to the touch of the hand.
Stacking by hand makes the best hay, as machinery is likely to pack it
in bunches, causing it to heat and become dusty. Hay in the stack costs
about $1.50 per ton. Baling costs $2 per ton; 100-pound bales are well
esteemed, but it is probable that large bales keep better than small, if
properly cured. The seed pod assumes the form of a cornucopia, and, when
the seed is ripe, it is of a rich brown or mahogany color. The first
crop is preferable for seed, and should be cut and stacked as the hay
is. It can be left and threshed when most convenient, but the longer it
remains in the stack the more easily its threshes. The ordinary
threshing machine does for the alfalfa, but the seed must be fanned to
be marketable. Six bushels is a common yield, and the cost of threshing
and cleaning is probably 25 cents per bushel. The price of hay has
ranged from $5 to $15 per ton, and of seed, from 8 to 20 cents per
pound. The straw has almost no value, as it is cut up very fine, and can
be used only where it is threshed; if fed there, it is very fattening.
For feeding horses for slow work, the hay is better than clover or
timothy. For fattening purposes, it is the best in the world, for, while
the animal lays on fat, it is never feverish, but always healthy. For
pasturing cattle and swine, alfalfa is superior to anything else, and,
after it is mown, it makes very excellent feed for horses and sheep. If
the alfalfa is wet, ruminants pastured on it bloat and die very quickly.
It is not properly a pasture plant, and such animals should be kept away
from it, but the hay, properly cured, is superior to any other food
raised for fattening purposes. There is no difficulty in ridding land of
the plant, as a good team and sharp plow will cut it out without any
trouble. I have plowed fields of alfalfa under and put in oats,
obtaining three or four times the usual yield, and have known of 50
bushels of wheat to the acre on broken alfalfa land.
_L. W. Markham, Prowers county._--I have had four years’ experience with
alfalfa. Have under my charge 500 acres. It is on both second bottom and
upland; part has clay subsoil, other dark loam, and all has more or
less sand. Water is reached at from 10 to 40 feet, and on land not
irrigated the soil is dry all the way down to the water veins. The
preferred time for sowing is either April 1 or August 1. Have as good
success right on the sod as on old land. If to raise seed only, 10
pounds is sufficient to the acre; for hay, 20 pounds is not too much.
Seed not more than two inches deep. About June 15 cut weeds and tops of
young alfalfa, and then irrigate well, and you get one-half to one ton
of hay in September. It is best to not try for seed the first year, but
give all the strength to the roots. It does not winterkill here. We
irrigate from the Arkansas river, and the number of irrigations depends
on the soil. The first year requires twice as much water as later ones.
Usually three applications are needed: in early spring, mid-summer, and
late fall. I have 160 acres not irrigated for three years. We have three
cuttings, yielding 1¹⁄₂ to 2 tons per acre each. Cut for hay just when
coming into full bloom, and stack in the field--never in barn--in long
ricks, 12 feet wide by 80 to 120 feet long. It will not heat in the
stack. Let all pods become dark brown or black before cutting for seed.
The second crop is preferable, unless there is a large acreage, when I
take one-half the first crop and one-half the second, in order to help
the farmer out with work. Have men follow the machine closely, and cock
up, to remain four or five days before stacking. Never cut for seed with
a mowing machine, as you will lose one-third of the crop in trying to
gather it. The cost of alfalfa in the stack is not over $2 at the
outside. To bale--preferably in 80-pound bales--costs $1.50 per ton. An
ordinary yield of seed is five bushels per acre. The cost for threshing
is 60 cents per bushel. There is a special alfalfa huller, as even the
ordinary clover huller is not a success. For a number of years the
average price paid the farmer for alfalfa seed has been $4.50 per
bushel, and hay in the stack has sold for $3.50 to $5. For feeding farm
animals, alfalfa hay is far more valuable than timothy or clover. Horses
will work and do well the year round on the first cutting of alfalfa,
and no grain whatever. The pasturage for hogs and cattle is far better
than clover, and is profitable and satisfactory for horses and sheep. I
have 250 hogs now, and raise them to weigh 200 pounds on green alfalfa
alone; turn the sows in the lot in early spring; they raise their young,
and I never bother them for eight months at a time, as they have plenty
of alfalfa and water. Put cattle on the pasture in early spring and let
them run, and few, if any, will bloat; but when they are not used to it,
they eat too fast, or too much, and bloat. The hay is not so good after
it is threshed as that cut earlier for hay alone, but the straw sells
readily at $1.50 in the stack. The stand gets better every year for hay,
and I know of fields in old Mexico 60 years old that have never been
reseeded. There is no difficulty in ridding land of the plant if it is
plowed under eight inches deep while green. It makes far better green
manure than does red clover. On the same quarter section, wheat grown on
old wheat land produced 20 bushels per acre, and that on broken alfalfa
land 50 bushels per acre.
CONNECTICUT
_Dr. E. H. Jenkins, Director Connecticut experiment station._--Alfalfa
has been tried in a haphazard way in Connecticut for many years and
scattered plants and colonies may often be seen in fence corners and
headlands. Within five years, however, some farmers under direction of
the agricultural station at New Haven, or on their own initiative, have
made more careful experiments and while failures are numerous, there are
at present a number of small areas well established, yielding three or
four cuttings yearly and highly valued by their owners. On the farm of
C. W. Beach of West Hartford, F. H. Stadmueller had for seven years a
considerable field of alfalfa which yielded well and was used as a
soiling crop. Mr. Barnard of North Haven, after repeated failures, has a
fine field and feeds it to both cows and poultry. The Gaylord Farm
sanatorium at Wallingford, John Matthies of New Milford and others might
be cited as successful growers of alfalfa. It does well on a variety of
soils with us. Liming heavily, 1500 to 2000 pounds per acre, is a
necessity. Some form of inoculation of the soil is generally required
and clean, well-tilled land. Weeds are the worst enemy of the newly
seeded alfalfa and easily smother the crop. For that reason we prefer
August seeding, using at least 30 pounds of clean, fresh seed. It will
pay to fallow the land, in order to kill the weeds before seeding down.
Thin spots cannot be successfully patched by seeding later. Great care
in preparing the land pays with a permanent crop like alfalfa.
DELAWARE
_Dr. Arthur T. Neale, Director Delaware experiment station._--Twenty
years ago, I drilled alfalfa in rows 18 inches apart, and cultivated at
intervals of ten days until the crop occupied the ground, seeding late
in March, say the 28th. The first cutting of nearly 8 tons of green
forage per acre was made nine weeks later. Thereafter four additional
cuttings were made that season, resulting in a total yield of 21 tons of
green forage per acre. This plot remained in good profit, all told, for
five years. An adjoining plot seeded broadcast, grew into a weed crop
the first year, but during four succeeding years was in every respect
the equal of its neighbor, the drilled plot. Twenty similar experiments
made during that year in as many other sections of the state failed
utterly. The dates of seeding were in every instance subsequent to March
28, but followed each other as rapidly as men could travel from point to
point, drilling the seed on well and previously prepared soil. Two years
later nine similar failures resulted from spring seedings. Late summer
is now the time most frequently selected for alfalfa seedings, but
success is by no means invariably attained even then. Liming has been of
service in one five-acre test conducted in Kent county, by W. H. Dickson
in co-operation with this station. The third trial within four
consecutive years appears at present to be a complete success. The first
seeding gave a satisfactory stand, but the plants died late in the
following spring. The ground was limed that summer, after thorough
preparation of the seedbed. Nitro-cultures from federal sources were
used upon portions of the seed, and 1000 pounds of soil per acre from a
successful alfalfa plantation were applied to the other areas. This
second seeding also failed. The five-acre plot was then plowed, wheat
was drilled and a fair crop resulted. The wheat was harvested, lime was
again used after the seedbed had been prepared, and alfalfa seed sown
as usual. The crop this year has exceeded anticipations. The check
strip, to which no lime whatever has been applied, but upon which
nitro-cultures were used, carries no crop. It will be disked after the
third cutting of alfalfa this year, well limed and again seeded.
GEORGIA
_Prof. R. J. Redding, Director Georgia experiment station._--This
station has successfully cultivated alfalfa for 12 years, and we have
never found it necessary to inoculate when we have sown the seed on
rich, well prepared land. The plants at once became supplied with
nitrogen tubercles and grew as luxuriantly as might be expected from the
quality of the land. Our practice is to fertilize annually in January or
February by sowing from 800 to 1000 pounds of acid phosphate and
one-fourth as much muriate of potash per acre. We run a cutaway harrow
over the alfalfa two or three times in different directions. We then use
a smoothing harrow and finally a heavy roller. This puts the land in
good shape for the mowing machine and at the same time destroys weeds
that come up during the fall and early winter. I believe that it is not
desirable to continue land in alfalfa more than six or eight years,
because of the impossibility of preventing infestation of weeds to such
extent as to very greatly diminish the yield of alfalfa. We have a plot
growing, that was sown about April 10, which seems to be as favorable a
time as any, provided there shall be one or two good rains to give the
young plants a start. The main factors in success are: First, a deep,
well-prepared and well-drained soil, made very rich; and second, good
seed, carefully sown and repeated mowings at the proper time.
IDAHO
_H. W. Kiefer, Bingham county._--I have grown alfalfa in Idaho, under
irrigation, for 12 years. Have 40 acres on second bottom, heavy clay
soil for 12 feet. This subsoil pulverizes by the action of the air, and
will produce a good crop of small grain. Water is reached at 100 feet.
The 12 feet of clay is dry; the gravel and sand below are more or less
moist till water is reached. Land having produced two successive crops
of small grain is preferred for alfalfa. Sow 20 pounds, in the spring,
and cover lightly with harrow, brush, or drag, or roll. The plants
should be vigorous enough to choke out weeds. Amount of hay obtained the
first year is governed by conditions and treatment. When sudden freezing
and thawing occur, it is liable to winterkill. The frequency of our
irrigation is governed by the rainfall, but is usually done when the
ground is dry, without regard to stage of growth, allowing the water to
run until the soil is wet the depth of a spade; usually average two
irrigations to each cutting. Our supply of water comes from Snake river
and tributaries, which furnish sufficient for the Snake river valley.
Have noticed no difference in amount of water required during first or
later years, except as affected by the amount of rainfall. We get three
cuttings, averaging about five tons for the season, cutting for hay when
in bloom, and for seed when seed is matured, which generally requires
the entire season to mature in this locality. The seed crop should be
handled as little as possible, to avoid loss of seed. Alfalfa should
cure at least two days, and, if dry, will not mold in stack. The cost of
alfalfa hay, if irrigated, is about $2 per ton. Cost of baling, $1.75
per ton, in bales weighing 75 to 100 pounds, the keeping being governed
more by the solidity than size of bale. During the past six years, hay
has averaged about $4 per ton, in the stack, and seed about 8 cents per
pound. Alfalfa makes satisfactory pasturage for sheep and horses. Cattle
are liable to bloat, but, if taken in time, may be relieved with a gag,
and by exercise which will cause the gases to escape; the knife is used
as a last resort. The straw from which seed has been threshed has about
the same value as green oat straw. The various soils here appear equally
favorable to longevity. Usually the third year gives about the best
yield. If not damaged by freezing, it will not need reseeding for 10 or
15 years. We have no trouble in ridding land of alfalfa. We cut a hay
crop, and plow under, for spring wheat, with good results. Our best
alfalfa land is clay, which requires moisture, artificial or natural.
Our best yields have been six tons per acre for the season. The feeding
qualities of the hay have been well established.
_James Otterson, Logan county._--Have had 12 years’ experience growing
alfalfa on sagebrush land, that will grow nothing but sagebrush without
irrigation. It is fine, sandy loam, extending down 6 to 10 feet, where
lava is encountered, which is from 1 to 100 feet deep. The soil is dry
until water is struck, which is at a depth of from 100 to 200 feet.
There is no water in the soil. When preparing for alfalfa, we plow well,
level the ground, and sow 15 to 20 pounds of seed per acre, and harrow
lightly, or brush it in. Sow as early as the ground can be worked--about
March 1. The first crop, if properly handled, will yield from three to
five tons per acre; it will have more or less sunflowers, which are a
protection while the plant is getting a start. It seldom winterkills. We
irrigate by flooding the ground twice each season from a stream. After
the first year, three cuttings are had; 2¹⁄₂ tons per acre the first;
1¹⁄₂ to 2 the second; and one ton per acre the third. Cut for hay as
soon as well blossomed. It grows too rank here for seed. Hay should cure
in from one to two days, and, if properly cured, stack as other hay.
Alfalfa costs, in stack, $3 per ton. The size of bales is immaterial,
except in fitting cars. Prices for hay have ranged from $5 to $10 per
ton; for seed, from 7 to 15 cents per pound. It is the best hay in use
for farm animals. Horses will thrive on it without grain, if properly
handled. For swine pasture it is far ahead of clover. It is satisfactory
for sheep. In some localities it will cause cattle to bloat; as a
preventive, feed well with dry hay before turning them on the pasture.
Deep soil is the best for the long life of the plant. The second year it
is at its best, and, if properly handled, and does not winterkill, will
last for all time. It is much better than Red clover for green manure.
ILLINOIS
_Prof. C. G. Hopkins, Agronomist Illinois experiment station._--Alfalfa
is being introduced into Illinois to a considerable extent. Very careful
and somewhat extensive investigations conducted by the experiment
station, beginning in 1901, have positively established the fact that
alfalfa can be grown in this state on several of our most abundant types
of soil. As a rule, it is markedly advantageous to thoroughly inoculate
the soil with alfalfa bacteria, preferably by taking infected soil from
a well-established alfalfa field, where root tubercles are found in
abundance or from land where Sweet clover (melilotus), has been growing
successfully for several years. Infected Sweet clover soil serves just
as well as infected alfalfa soil for the inoculation of alfalfa fields.
As a rule, the best results are secured from summer seeding. The land
should be thoroughly prepared and made as free from weeds and foul grass
as possible and then seeded between June 15 and August 15, if the
conditions are favorable. Under exceptional conditions good results are
obtained from earlier and later seeding. Three cuttings are usually
obtained in the northern part of the state and four in the southern
part. The average yield is five or six tons per acre. A liberal use of
farm manure in getting the alfalfa started is advantageous and on some
soils the application of lime is necessary in order to correct the
acidity of the soil. As a rule, the yield is increased by adding to the
soil some form of phosphorous. A yield of 8¹⁄₂ tons of thoroughly
air-dry hay has been obtained where a special effort has been made to
make the conditions favorable.
INDIANA
_C. M. Ginther, Wayne county_ writes in _Orange Judd Farmer_, July 8,
1905:--“Up to last year there had not been half a dozen attempts to grow
alfalfa in Wayne county, not because there was no desire on the part of
the farmers to raise the crop, but because the farmers knew absolutely
nothing about the methods to pursue in order to get a fair stand. Last
year, however, a number of agriculturists in the county determined to
try the crop. A mile west of Richmond lies the farm of J. H.
Hollingsworth, a well-known farmer, whose practical ideas about farming
have given him a local reputation. He is an advocate of intensive
farming and cultivates his crops in the most thorough manner. He keeps a
herd of dairy cattle and in his search for more economical food than
mill stuffs and clover hay, he decided to try alfalfa and feed it with a
ration of corn meal. He had a tract of five acres. This land was a clay
loam with a good mixture of sand. It was not underdrained, and Mr.
Hollingsworth believes the result would have been better had there been
a thorough system of underdrainage. The soil is what is known here as
sugar tree land. About May 1 of last year, the tract was plowed
moderately and then rolled. During the previous winter a heavy
top-dressing of barnyard manure had been applied to two acres for the
purpose of comparison. One week later the roller was run over it again.
After this the ground was thoroughly torn up with a two-horse
cultivator. This was for the purpose of killing the weeds, which had
been given time to take a start. After the cultivator had thoroughly
torn up the ground, the field was harrowed twice both ways. It was then
rolled, and pronounced in first-class condition. The weeds had succumbed
to these repeated attacks and but very few appeared in the crop later.
This thorough preparation of the ground is absolutely necessary for the
successful starting of alfalfa. It is a fastidious plant, requiring the
most favorable surroundings in its early life, but gradually grows quite
robust and strong. Its early weeks seem to be the critical time in its
life, and if it can once be started well its thrifty nature will assert
itself and it will grow with amazing rapidity. On June 11 the seed was
planted. It was sown broadcast and harrowed in lightly. One hundred
pounds pure alfalfa seed were sown, which was 20 pounds to the acre. The
experience of many others is that 15 pounds per acre is better. The seed
was first treated with bacteria, procured from the department of
agriculture at Washington, and when the seeds were thoroughly dry, they
were planted. Exactly five weeks after the seed was planted, the crop
was 1 foot high and covered the ground everywhere. On that day it was
clipped first and later given two more clippings during the season. The
effect of the clipping was to cause the crop to become more stalky, and
spread out more over the ground. None of the crop was removed from the
soil last year, the three clippings being allowed to remain about the
roots as a mulch. This was regarded as highly important and its effect
was noticeable in the perfect manner in which the crop passed through
the winter. Early this spring it started to grow and on April 18 the
plants averaged 12 inches high all over the tract. Mr. Hollingsworth is
a firm believer in the efficacy of the bacterial treatment of the seed
before planting. He attributes the wonderful growth of this crop to the
effect of the organisms produced by inoculation. It is interesting to
note the effect of the top-dressing which was applied to two acres of
the tract. The crop on that part of the ground is larger and more
luxuriant than the part that received no dressing. The crop all over the
tract appears vigorous and healthy, but the two acres show a decided
improvement and superiority.”
[Illustration: Cutting Alfalfa in Southern California]
[Illustration: Bailing Alfalfa in Southern Oklahoma]
[Illustration: =A 400-ton Rick of Alfalfa=
in Malheur County, southeastern Oregon. Dimensions, 400x30x26 feet]
[Illustration: =A Cable Derrick, Provided with a Grapple Fork=
The cable is supported by poles at the ends, and these in turn by guy
ropes]
_Farmers Guide_ says:--With alfalfa more generally grown throughout
Indiana we are hearing less complaint regarding hay crop failures. In
fact, some farmers who have taken our advice and tried the crop are now
saying that they are having all they can do to take care of their crops
of hay. Think of cutting four or even three crops of good hay from the
same area each season. Isn’t it worth being busy and not going fishing
when a farmer can do that? It means an enormous saving in high-priced
land when ten acres will produce as much hay as thirty or more formerly
did, and hay better in quality also. And then, think of keeping a field
in meadow thirty, forty, or more years and having it growing better each
year. There is not much necessity for crop rotation under those
conditions, is there? especially when every season means three or four
crops of good hay. But that is the way with alfalfa and the more farmers
get of it the more they usually want. We are glad so many Indiana
farmers are getting busy with this crop, and there is no question of its
keeping them busy if they will only give it a trial.
IOWA.
_Prof M. L. Bowman, Department Farm Crops, Iowa experiment station._--We
are receiving very good results from the alfalfa which is being grown at
this station, making from three to four cuttings each season with the
yield ranging from 4 to 7 tons to the acre. From one field, seeded in
August, 1905, the first cutting was taken June 11, 1906, and yielded
2.17 tons per acre. Two other cuttings were made. We believe alfalfa is
sure to become one of Iowa’s great crops as desirable results are being
obtained in many parts of the state where land is properly seeded. We
take great pains to see that the ground is in good physical condition
and that the seed is sown in late summer, some time between August 5 and
15, so that the young plants will make sufficient growth to withstand
the winter. If the seeding takes place in the fall, the alfalfa plants
will not make sufficient growth to withstand the winter. Alfalfa should
not be pastured the first season. The growth from seeding time until
winter sets in should be 6 to 8 inches and should be left on the ground
for winter protection. A nurse crop should not be used. Alfalfa will not
do well on low, wet ground, but must have land that is well drained. In
the northern parts of the state it may be sown in the spring, and in
this case desirable results have been secured by using a nurse crop. If
oats are used at all, they should be an early variety. Wheat or barley
is much better. They are not so likely to lodge. If the nurse crop is
heavy, a poor stand of alfalfa is almost sure to follow. Not more than
one-half the usual amount of grain should be sown to the acre. Better
results may be expected if no nurse crop is used. In this case, it will
be necessary for the weeds to be mowed down two or three times during
the summer, so that the alfalfa will not be choked out. It is better to
sow in the spring than late in the fall. Late summer seeding is the
best. The following year it will be freer from weeds and have a better
stand than that which was sown the spring before. Cornstalk ground which
was well manured the year before for corn is generally used for spring
seeding. The stalks should first be removed. The field may then be
thoroughly disked and harrowed. The seed should be sown about the middle
of April.
KANSAS.
_C. D. Perry, Clark county._--In 1887, I sowed 200 acres of alfalfa, and
now have 270 acres. This is nearly all on second bottom land, with
black, sandy loam, black sand, and gumbo. The land is largely “made”
land, about 6 to 12 feet of good soil, with gumbo only on top for 12 or
14 inches. On the heavy land the dry soil begins at the top, and, at the
breaking of the sod, extended down eight or nine feet. Water is found at
a depth of 12 to 21 feet. We irrigate most of our crop from the Cimarron
river. The first time the land is watered it takes from two to five
times as much water as is required later, and now we find the best
results are obtained by watering about 10 days before cutting, using
three or four inches of water. There is no damage by frost, except on
low, wet land. Without irrigation, I should double plow the ground
before seeding, having one plow follow the other in the same furrow, and
going as deep as possible. Seed by drilling one-half to one inch deep,
10 pounds to the acre for seed, 20 pounds for hay, and 30 pounds for
pasture, usually about March 15 here. We mow the weeds the first year
before they seed, leaving them on the ground. After this, there will be
a yield of three-fourths to two tons of hay, or one to six bushels of
seed to the acre, depending on the season. In two or three years the
plant is at its best, and does not seem to need reseeding after that. We
have from three to five crops a year depending on promptness in
watering and cutting. Any later cutting is better than the first for
seed, and, before cutting, two-thirds of the seed pods should be black.
We mow, then rake and cock at once, stacking as soon as well cured. Hay
should be cut when it is coming into bloom. To make good hay, let it lie
for half a day (if dry weather), then rake and cock, and let cure
thoroughly. We stack in long ricks, and it keeps well. The alfalfa land
is valued at $50 an acre, and the four irrigations cost 25 cents each;
the estimated cost of the alfalfa in the stack is $2.15 a ton. An
average yield of seed is three bushels to the acre, and the cost of
threshing and cleaning it is 80 cents a bushel. Hay has sold for $5 a
ton, and seed for 6, 8 and 10 cents a pound. The threshed hay is not so
good as that cut earlier, but cattle eat it all clean. The pasture is
excellent for horses, hogs, and cattle. If the alfalfa is wet, it is
liable to cause bloating with sheep; for cattle, there is not much
danger, except for the first few days they are turned on. If the animal
is seen in time, it may be relieved by driving around, but if too bad to
be helped in that way, it needs the trocar. I have had 50 hogs on six
acres of pasture this summer, and have 50 pigs, 3 to 12 weeks old; used
two bushels of ground wheat and barley each day, and think I could have
had as many more hogs on the pasture. The sod is very hard to plow, but
it can be killed. On a piece of hog pasture plowed under, I raised 70
bushels of barley to the acre. My alfalfa seems to do the best on black,
sandy land and on gumbo, with sand or open subsoil below.
_J. R. Blackshere, Chase county._--I began with alfalfa in 1875, by
sowing 1¹⁄₂ bushels of seed bought in San Francisco, at the rate of $21
per bushel. As the germination was defective, or the seed grown so far
away was not adapted to our soil or climatic conditions, a good stand
was not at first obtained, but I now have 700 acres on Cottonwood river
bottom land, having a clay subsoil underlaid by a layer of sand 20 feet
below, and with a good portion of gumbo, where the best alfalfa grows.
The soil is not especially moist until water, 20 to 30 feet below, is
reached. My best results have been obtained on corn land, cutting across
the rows with a disk harrow, leveling with a plank drag, and sowing,
after danger of freezing is past, 20 pounds of seed per acre with a disk
having seeder attachment, being sure to have all the seed covered. I cut
the weeds off with a mower, and leave them on the ground. After the
first year my average product annually for 10 or 12 years has been about
five tons per acre. That permitted to ripen seed yields three to five
bushels per acre. I do not irrigate. The plant will thrive on upland
having a clay subsoil without a stratum of hardpan. Grazed closely late
in the fall, it is liable to die out in a dry winter.
_Benj. Brown, Osborne county._--I have had four years’ experience with
alfalfa growing in this country, and have also grown it in England,
without any irrigation, and now have 45 acres. The land is bottom rising
to second bottom, with vegetable loam and some gumbo in the upper
portion, and loam subsoil, similar to surface, but somewhat paler, for
15 feet down. Well water is found by digging 11 to 22 feet through the
soil, which is usually moist except in dry weather, when the upper two
or three feet are not. It has been found best to plow six inches deep,
in August or September; to roll or level with a heavy float about April
15, then harrow, and broadcast 25 pounds (or drill 20 pounds) of seed to
the acre. I broadcast all of mine, and harrow and roll or level. The
best time for sowing here is April 14 to 30, as it almost invariably
rains here about April 20, and frosts have never hurt my crop, nor does
it winterkill. Mow first when the weeds are six to nine inches high,
and, if worth hauling, stack; if not, let lie; generally mow again about
July 4 to 20, and stack; there may be one-fourth to one-half ton of hay
per acre. The second season we cut three times, unless we ripen seed,
and obtain from one-fourth to one ton each cutting; after this it grows
about a foot high by October. For hay, mow as soon as about half full of
flowers, rake the same morning, and haul in one or two days, as the
leaves fall if dry. It does not heat nor mold here if the sap is half
out and the straw long; I use the “Acme” hay harvester, making stacks
with rounded ends, nine steps long by five wide, and top out with straw
or hay, taking care to keep the middle well filled. The total cost of
hay in stack is about $1.50 per ton, the land being valued at $15 per
acre, or $60 with a good stand of alfalfa. The hay has sold for $4 to $6
per ton during the past four years. The best crop for seed depends on
the weather; sometimes the first flowers set best, and again the later
ones do better; on my bottom land the plant grows too large for seed,
unless in a dry time. If seed is ripe, cut only while damp or in the
early morning, rake into rows immediately or early the next morning,
haul with a “Monarch” rake, and use a stacker. Last year and year
before I obtained four bushels of seed to the acre, and it cost me 60
cents per bushel for cleaning. Used ordinary threshing outfit, and set
hind end of thresher 10 inches lower than front. The seed has sold here
during four years for $5 to $8 per bushel. Horses and sheep should not
be pastured on the alfalfa, as it pays to mow and haul it to them,
either green or dry. It makes good pasturage for cattle, but they must
not be turned on when the ground is frozen, nor when they are hungry, as
it is necessary to start them gradually to avoid bloating. Mine never
have bloated, and I feed milch cows in the early spring and on the
fourth crop in the fall. Alfalfa ripened and threshed has little value,
as it breaks up into dust and chaff. My stand improved every year; was
about at its best the sixth year, and continues about the same for an
indefinite time. If it gets a fair start, and is cut three times, a good
stand can be kept; but if it is pastured, and the weeds are not eaten,
it is apt to thin itself. A neighbor plowed under alfalfa for green
manure, but the next year it grew up as thick and strong as if not
plowed. We do not need manure here. I have seen several pieces of fairly
good alfalfa on high prairie, with some gumbo in the soil, but it grows
best where the subsoil is fairly open. Upland is generally best for
seed, as the plants should grow only one to two feet high, and mine on
the bottom grows 2 to 3¹⁄₂ after the second year. I think there is no
other crop here to compare with alfalfa. My third year’s crop cleared me
over $20 per acre. I have known of nine bushels of seed on one acre, and
have heard of 15 in this county. My bottom lands will grow three good
crops of hay almost without rain, and kill out all the weeds.
KENTUCKY
_Prof. H. Garman, Botanist Kentucky experiment station._--We have grown
alfalfa on the experiment farm for a good many years and have been
impressed with its many good qualities, although we have not found it as
well adapted to our soil and climate as it appears to be in the western
states. In our small experimental plots, on good soil, it has recently
done remarkably well. This is partly the result of understanding it
better than formerly, and partly due to the care which these plots
receive. Last year we harvested, from some of them, hay at the rate of
from 6.32 to 10.03 tons per acre. The same plots are yielding very well
this season, but I think will not produce quite as much hay as last
year, though they look very well at present. Farmers in this state are
becoming interested in alfalfa, stimulated by the reports made to them
at farmers’ institutes, and urged by failure to grow Red clover
successfully in some parts of the state. But thus far they have not met
with uniform success. Part of this is due to a lack of acquaintance with
the plant and part may be attributed to our climate. A few men have been
growing alfalfa successfully for eight or 10 years, and I can see no
reason why many others should not succeed with it. The chief difficulty
appears to come in getting a start. Alfalfa, thoroughly started, holds
its own better than Red clover and yields much more forage. The value of
the forage is recognized by everybody, and I expect to see in the course
of the next quarter of a century a much larger acreage sown in
Kentucky.
LOUISIANA.
_Prof. W. R. Dodson, Director Louisiana experiment station._--Alfalfa
has been grown by the Louisiana stations since 1887. At the time the
stations were established there was little or no alfalfa grown in the
state. From the very first experiments conducted by Dr. W. C. Stubbs, it
was apparent that the plant was well suited to the alluvial lands of the
Mississippi and Red rivers. Dr. Stubbs never lost an opportunity to
advocate its culture, and the great progress made in securing its
extensive cultivation is largely due to his efforts. Alfalfa is now
extensively grown in the Red river bottoms, and a very large percentage
of the sugar planters grow it for soiling and for hay for the plantation
mules. We get from four to seven cuttings per year. The average is about
1¹⁄₂ tons for the first three cuttings, but less for the last cuttings.
The station one year secured a harvest of 12 tons of cured hay per acre;
six tons in a season is a good yield. Were it not that one or more of
these cuttings will fall due during a rainy season, when it is difficult
to cure hay, we would go into the business very extensively in this
state. As to the quality of the hay or forage, there is no question
about its place at the head of the list of desirable forage crops. The
sugar planters find it especially desirable to mix with their cheap
molasses, as the former is rich in protein and the latter rich in
carbohydrates. In the southern portion of the state best results are
secured by planting in the fall. In the northern portion good results
are secured from early spring planting. We use from 25 to 30 pounds of
seed to the acre. Some planters use more than this. Land that is least
suited for growing corn in Louisiana, because of its stiffness, is the
very best land for alfalfa. Where the crop has once been used and the
local supply runs short, it is shipped in from Colorado to supply the
demand. It is selling now for $15 a ton. No better testimonial need be
given of the people’s estimate of its value.
MASSACHUSETTS.
_Prof. William P. Brooks, Director Hatch experiment station._--Our
experiments with alfalfa have been continued both upon our own grounds
and those of a few selected farms in different parts of the state. We
are bringing to bear upon these experiments information in regard to
successful methods from every possible source. We find in all cases a
distinct benefit from a heavy initial application of lime. We have used
from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds per acre. We are enriching soils already
naturally good by heavy applications both of manures and fertilizers,
using materials which experience has proved best. We are also giving the
soil a most thorough preparatory tillage. It has usually been
fall-plowed, and in addition it is plowed in the spring, and repeatedly
harrowed to destroy weeds which start in the early part of the season.
We have tried inoculating the soil, both with earth obtained from a
field in New York, where alfalfa is successfully grown and with the
cultures sent out by the department of agriculture and prepared by
private firms. We have not attained such degree of success as justifies
us in recommending the crop. We have occasionally got a fair stand of
alfalfa, but in all cases the winters prove more or less injurious. In
the course of a few years the alfalfa is mostly crowded out by grasses
and clovers. The alfalfa almost every year suffers from leaf spot, which
tends to cut down the yield. We have found a very distinct benefit from
the inoculation with earth from the New York alfalfa field. We have not
found an equally distinct benefit to follow inoculation with any of the
cultures; and, although we are not as yet ready to make a final report,
it should be here remarked that the most careful experiments on the use
of these cultures in sterilized soils, under conditions calculated to
give accurate results, indicate that they have little, if any, value. In
our various experiments alfalfa has been tried on a wide variety of
soils. We have had a quarter of an acre field upon a coarse-textured
soil upon a farm in this neighborhood where there is never any standing
water within 50 to 60 feet of the surface. Even on this soil the
alfalfa, although it did fairly well for a year, has been injured by
successive winters, until it is at the present time almost ruined. In
this connection I call attention further to the fact that D. S. Bliss of
the department of agriculture, who has been making special efforts to
promote the introduction of alfalfa into New England, and who has
traveled extensively for the purpose of studying the results obtained,
now speaks very discouragingly as to the outlook in general. In
conclusion, while we are not inclined to discourage experiments with
alfalfa, we do wish most emphatically to caution against engaging in
these experiments upon an extended scale, for we feel that
disappointment is almost inevitable.
MICHIGAN
_Prof. C. D. Smith, Director Michigan experiment station._--Alfalfa has
had and is having a checkered career. Under favorable conditions it
makes a good stand. Some fields have produced crops for many years, the
ground being occasionally fertilized by manurial salts. The difficulties
that environ the crop are: (1) The severe winters, which sometimes kill
off whole fields, leaving scarcely a root alive; this has happened to
fields two, three, or four years old. (2) The Blue grass crowds it out
badly; (3) the ignorance of the farmers in regard to the requirements of
the crop and the consequent imperfect preparation of the soil in the
matter of tillage or fertilization, has made it difficult to introduce
it in a broad way. Notwithstanding these difficulties and the farther
consideration that alfalfa does not easily lend itself to a short
rotation, the crop is advancing in the state by leaps and bounds.
Hundreds of farmers are experimenting with it and are learning how to
prepare the ground, sow it and care for the crop afterwards. Statistics
are not at hand to show how many acres of alfalfa there are in the
state, nor can definite figures be given as to the growth of interest in
the crop and its actual acreage. When proper strains have been
developed, it seems fair to presume that alfalfa will be one of the
staple crops in Michigan. On the station grounds at the agricultural
college fields of alfalfa have been continuously maintained from 1897 to
1904. There are fields here sown in 1903 bearing their three crops each
year, yielding from 5 to 7 tons of dry hay annually per acre. There has
been some difficulty in getting pure and vigorous seed.
MINNESOTA
_Prof. W. M. Liggett, Director Minnesota experiment station._--Our
experience with alfalfa has extended over 12 or 15 years. In the early
days of this station, it was not very successfully grown. During the
past eight or ten years, however, the changes in soil due to manures and
cultivation and the discovery of several varieties of alfalfa which
appear to be hardy, have made it possible to grow it successfully in
nearly every part of the state. For the past five years we have cut
three crops of alfalfa hay, yielding from 4 to 5¹⁄₂ tons per acre each
year. With the land properly prepared and some attention given to
seeding at the right time, there is no difficulty in growing it on the
state farm. Occasionally it will winterkill. We were unfortunate enough
to have a heavy, driving rain during March of the present year which
froze as it fell and smothered the alfalfa crop. We are not discouraged,
however, as the clover crop in southeastern Minnesota was killed at the
same time and from the same cause. We regard alfalfa just as sure as Red
clover. It is sometimes a little difficult to get a stand under careless
methods of farming. With the land nicely prepared and with a good supply
of humus in such condition that the plant food is readily available,
strong, vigorous growth and a good stand can be secured during any
normal year. We have alfalfa growing at the northwest sub-station at
Crookston, and in several localities in the northwestern part of the
state, where even clover is not supposed to grow. The outlook at the
present time for this crop is very bright. Dairymen, swine raisers and
sheep men unite in praising its merits as stock food.
MISSOURI
_Prof. M. F. Miller, Agronomist, Missouri experiment station._--Alfalfa
is being grown with success on various types of soil, although many
soils are not well adapted to its growth. A knowledge of the
peculiarities of the plant will ultimately make it possible to extend
Its culture to most soil types of the state. Liberal manuring is the key
to successful culture on upland soils. The manure may be applied before
plowing and also as frequent top-dressings. The value of the crop as a
feed and its high yield, where favorable conditions are supplied, make
it a particularly desirable one to grow, at least in small areas, on
farms where mixed fanning or dairy farming is practiced. While alfalfa
makes a most nutritious pasture crop, it does not lend itself well to
pasturing unless certain precautions are taken. Where it is grown for
hay, difficulty is often experienced in harvesting the first, and
sometimes other cuttings, on account of wet weather. The silo may be
used in such cases. The stiff subsoils of the state are responsible for
most failures reported, because it requires some knowledge of the
methods of handling the crop to make it succeed under such conditions.
Alfalfa is not adapted to our soils, liming, manuring or drainage being
necessary to prepare such for the crop. If sown on upland soils that
have never grown alfalfa or Sweet clover, it is benefited by
inoculation. On bottom lands or lands that are very fertile, inoculation
has little or no effect. The surest and often the simplest means of
inoculation is by means of inoculated soil. The cultures prepared for
seed inoculation have in many cases given excellent results, but they
are still in the experimental stage and some skill is required to
handle them properly. The best preparation of the seedbed is that which
allows of an early plowing and the use of a harrow every time a crust
forms or weeds start before time to sow the seed. The seedbed should be
much like that for wheat--loose above but firm below. The best time to
sow in this state is between the middle of August and the middle of
September, the last week in August usually giving best results. The
amount of seed to sow is between 15 and 20 pounds, depending upon the
quality and the character of the soil. It is best sown without a nurse
crop. It must be clipped frequently the first and sometimes the second
season, especially on soils to which it is not well adapted. It should
usually be cut when the lower leaves begin to turn yellow.
MONTANA
_Alfred Rasicot, Deer Lodge county._--Alfalfa is the most valuable crop
that is raised in Idaho or Utah for hay, growing on any kind of land but
that which is low and wet, yielding five to seven tons of hay to the
acre, and providing excellent feed for all kinds of farm animals. For
about 20 years I have grown from 20 to 50 acres on second bottom and
upland of heavy clay soil, with gravel below and water at a depth
varying from 16 to 100 feet on different localities. We irrigate from
streams, flooding the land and turning the water off as soon as the land
has been all covered, applying once for the first cutting and twice for
each succeeding cutting, whenever the ground is dry. The first year on
new land requires fully one-third more water than is needed afterward.
Before seeding, the ground should be mellow, then harrowed with the
back part of the harrow or brushed, and seeded with 15 to 20 pounds to
the acre, between the first and middle of April. The plant will usually
run out the weeds, and on that account no special treatment is needed.
The first season will produce a small crop of hay, but no good seed.
Unless water is allowed to freeze on the land, alfalfa does not
winterkill here, and at two or three years of age it is at its best,
continuing vigorous for 10, 20 or 30 years without seeding. The first
cutting of the season yields about 2¹⁄₂ to 3 tons to the acre, the
second about 2 to 2¹⁄₂, and the third 1 to 1¹⁄₂ tons. The hay is cut
when the plant has been in bloom 8 or 10 days, allowed to lie for 24 to
36 hours, and treated as Red clover is. The second crop is always the
best for seed here. The cost in the stack, on $25 land, irrigation
costing 50 to 75 cents an acre, is $2 a ton. To put this into 100-pound
bales costs $2.50 a ton. On the ground it sells for $3 to $5 a ton,
while the seed brings $3, $4 and $5 a bushel. An ordinary yield of seed
is 300 pounds to the acre, and this is threshed with the same machine
used for grain, at a cost of about one-fourth of the seed. The straw is
worth about one-fourth as much as the hay. We consider alfalfa hay, for
cattle, sheep, and hogs, far superior to clover, but for horses timothy
is best. It will keep steers and sheep fat all winter, providing they
are under shelter, and is excellent for milch cows. The pasture for
swine and cattle is far better than clover, and for work horses and
sheep it is good, but not the best for horses that are driven fast.
Cattle will bloat about as they do on Red clover when turned onto it
after rain, dew, or frost. To rid land of a stand of alfalfa is very
difficult, requiring four stout horses with a very sharp plow to turn it
over, but as a green manure it has about the same effect as Red clover,
producing two or three extra crops afterwards.
NEBRASKA
_Olmstead & Olmstead, Furnas county._--Alfalfa, while excellent for all
other stock, is preeminently the feed for hogs. Its early appearance,
its wonderfully rapid growth, its nutritious properties, its perennial
nature (keeping green until about December), its resistance to drouth,
its wonderful fecundity, and, lastly, its adaptability as a dry feed,
make it, in our opinion, the most profitable crop that can be grown. Ten
acres of alfalfa will pasture 150 head of hogs, and give them abundance.
From the 15th of March, or at most not later than the 15th of April,
hogs and cattle can be turned on pasture, and kept there until snow
flies. On first bottoms, six tons per acre can be depended upon as a
fair, average yield, while many fields this year have made as high as
eight. On divide, or high land, where it has been tested for three
years, it averages about two to four tons per acre, but this land gives
the best returns for seed, not growing too rank. Since we have been
investigating and gathering information on this subject, we have had
reported to us a yield as high as eight bushels of seed per acre, and
quite a number as high as nine, and some eleven. Six bushels an acre on
a good stand is an average yield, while some will fall below that. The
seed has never sold here below $4 per bushel. Last year and this, all
seed grown in this part of the country sold readily at $5 per bushel,
and for the next five years will probably not go lower than $3. One crop
of seed and two of hay are the average on low land, and one crop less of
hay on high land. The threshed hay is nearly as good for feed as the
unthreshed. There is no waste in feeding this hay, and horses are
especially fond of the coarse stems. It stands our winters remarkably
well, so far, coming through in excellent condition. There is no stock
but eats alfalfa hay as well or better than clover or timothy. Young
colts and calves will winter in fine condition on this hay, with little
or no grain. If the last cutting is allowed to stand, with a growth from
six to eight inches, horses and cattle will graze on it through the
winter, the same as on Red clover, doing equally as well. Now, as to the
other side. Will this clover grow in all latitudes and longitudes as
well as Red clover? We think it doubtful. It requires a dry, porous
soil, in which there is no hardpan nor too much clay, and it does not
like too much water. It does well where the soil is somewhat sandy, its
roots penetrating to a depth of from 15 to 25 feet, thus drawing its
nutrition from various strata of soil. What else against it? If cattle
are turned on after a rain, when it is wet, or dew is on, they often
bloat and die; but if turned on in the spring, and kept on continuously,
have little danger of gorging themselves or bloating. No other stock is
adversely affected by it. This is all that can be honestly said against
alfalfa, and this is obviated by a little care by the farmer, while the
many good things said about it must certainly recommend it to the
intelligent husbandman. Thus we can enumerate: First, its certainty as a
crop; second, its enormous yield; third, its excellent pasturage
qualities; fourth, its nutritious qualities, being equally good green or
dry; fifth, its yield and price of seed, which is threshed with an
ordinary grain separator; sixth, its tremendously rapid growth during
the summer season. There are many more attributes that can be credited
to alfalfa.
_W. O. Thompson, Lincoln county._--I have had 20 years’ experience with
alfalfa, on second bottom and upland. The upland has a clay subsoil; the
second bottom soil is three feet deep, underlaid with a bed of sand and
gravel. Abundant water is found from 8 to 23 feet from the surface. If
dry soil is found, it is the first three feet below the surface. Land
should be tilled several years before seeding, in order to perfectly
subdue the sod. Use about 16 pounds of seed per acre, and prepare the
ground the same as for wheat, sowing in the spring. The first crop will
be nearly all weeds; cut and haul these off the ground. The second crop
will produce about one ton of hay per acre. Alfalfa is liable to
winterkill if the winter is warm and dry. I irrigate from a stream two
or three times during the season, with sufficient water to flood all the
ground. The first year the ground is soft and porous, and twice the
water is required as in the following years. From three to four crops
are raised during the season, yielding from 1¹⁄₂ to 2 tons each cutting,
or from five to six tons per acre in one season. Cut when in bloom for
hay, and let the seed ripen before cutting for seed, using either the
first or second crop for this seed. When cutting for seed, it should be
pitched out of the way of the mower after each round; then let it dry
before stacking, but not enough for the leaves to fall off when
handled. Stack in the ordinary way, but be sure the hay is thoroughly
dry in the shock before stacking. It is more liable to get moldy in the
barn than in the stack. About $2 per ton will cover all expenses of
raising, on land worth $50 per acre. The expense of baling is about
$1.50 per ton, 100-pound bales being preferred. It should not be baled
until perfectly dry in the stack. About six bushels per acre is the
average yield of seed, and it costs about 75 cents per bushel to thresh
and clean. A clover huller is the most satisfactory for threshing
alfalfa. The hay has sold here at $3 to $10 per ton, averaging $6. The
seed has brought from $3 to $10 per bushel averaging $5. One acre of
alfalfa will raise 35 hogs, with the aid of a little grain. Horses
thrive on it, but it is unsafe for sheep and cattle. Animals which chew
the cud will bloat if pastured on alfalfa. The only way to prevent it is
to keep them from the pasture. The best way to cure it is to insert a
tube into the paunch, to allow the gas to escape. As to the longevity of
the plant, I call to mind a patch sown in 1873, on upland, and it is
still growing. Alfalfa attains its best growth in about two years. I do
not think it can be profitably raised on high, arid ground, without
irrigation. Hogs can be wintered on alfalfa hay and a very little grain,
and cattle can be fattened for the home market, but it produces softer
flesh, and they could not be shipped a great distance in the best
condition.
_Richard Stolley, Hall county._--In reading the farm papers I see many
articles about seeding alfalfa, but have failed to see anything in the
line of advice regarding a sure way to kill it, if it has to be done. We
have had alfalfa on our place as long as I can remember--nearly thirty
years. At first it was a small piece, just for experiment’s sake.
Finally we sowed about nine acres on good soil and had it well manured
before sowing. The result was immense crops, as high as four cuttings;
and, really, the worst feature was to harvest the crop so often, since
it came just as regularly as clock-work. It actually stood in the way of
alfalfa, for I asked one of our neighbors, who had very little hay, why
he did not sow alfalfa, and all he could answer was: “Well, I have to
harvest it too often and I haven’t the time to do it.”
We did not sow more of it until we got more improved methods of handling
it, and we have had as high as fifty to sixty acres on a 160-acre farm
here at home. Some fields run out in about ten years. Our plan is to
then plow it up. The first thing you learn is to have a very sharp plow,
and it must have a strong cutter bolted to the share, being long enough
to reach well through the sod. Then if you have three good horses you
are fixed out. A riding plow that we tried was thrown out too easily or
pulled too hard. Others had the same experience, and the old reliable
fourteen or sixteen-inch walking plow fills the bill best. We plowed
some of it quite early in the spring and after harvesting the oats we
had a wonderful stand on the field in the fall. All the inconvenience
the clover had was to take a little time to start work at the crown and
start sprout at the other end; that is the root end.
I do not know of any other plant that is not a weed that has this
peculiarity. Planting corn on alfalfa sod cannot work well, because the
roots are so tough that no cultivator will be able to cut them, and
since burning does not make any difference, it only has a tendency to
start roots and sprouts at both ends at the same time. This is, of
course, only possible in a wet year. Now, we tried late plowing in the
spring; that is, let the clover get up to about six or eight inches. We
had a chain on the plow and disked and harrowed it well, and to kill it
sure, put in millet to smother it. We intended to raise seed from the
millet, but the crop got too heavy and we cut it for hay. After putting
it up I saw very little alfalfa signs and went home contented that all
was dead.
Some nice rains came on and soon I noticed from our house, since I did
not go to that corner of the farm in between, that all of it was green
again, and sure enough, there was a comparatively good stand and the
sprouts showed quite a bit of vigor. This surprised me. I had no time to
plow right away and having a large harvest of bottom hay, I did not go
to the field for three weeks, and when I saw it again it was just about
ready to cut. I actually did cut and harvest it and it was well worth
the time it took us to do the work. The next plowing and disking, of
course, thinned it out, and especially as dry weather came just right to
assist in killing it.
All this made it clear to my mind that we did not find the right time to
plow alfalfa, so the next time I tried it still later; in fact, it was
almost in bloom, and, being a wet year, there was little difference in
the result. This year I waited the second time for the alfalfa to come
up a foot high before plowing it back and drilled in sweet corn, and now
I can hardly see any difference on parts of the field.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
_Prof. Frederick W. Taylor, Agriculturist New Hampshire experiment
station._--We have tried to secure a stand of alfalfa for four
consecutive seasons, but so far our efforts have been unsuccessful.
Various types of soil, from a heavy boulder clay to a light sandy loam,
have been tried, and, contrary to our expectations, the most promising
crop was on the heavy clay soil. Our chief difficulty has been in having
the alfalfa keep ahead of the weeds and in getting a uniform catch that
would withstand our winters. From one-fourth to one-half of the plants
have usually wintered over in good condition and made a vigorous growth
the next season, but there has not been enough of them to say that we
have made a success with alfalfa. We have largely eliminated the seed
question by plowing the ground early and keeping it harrowed until about
the middle of July, when it is sown. Our experience seems to indicate
that an application of lime is beneficial, if not absolutely necessary,
in this section and we have accordingly been using it at the rate of a
ton to the acre. We have also tried inoculation with the various
cultures, but in no case have any benefits been observed. So far as we
know, there have been no successful attempts to grow alfalfa on a medium
or large scale in this state, although several farmers in the
Connecticut river valley have reported success on some areas of an acre
or less. When we more thoroughly understand the plant, and the
conditions necessary for its growth, we believe it can be grown upon
some of our soils.
NEW JERSEY
_Dr. E. B. Voorhees, Director New Jersey experiment station._--The
farmers of the state have manifested much interest in the growing of
alfalfa, and many experimental plots have been seeded in the past two or
three years. In order to obtain accurate information as to the methods
employed, and the results obtained, a circular letter was sent out
during the past summer to 140 growers. Detailed replies were obtained
from 101 growers. Of these there were 57 distributed over 15 counties,
which showed the successful establishment of the crop. The soils upon
which these successful crops are growing vary widely, both in their
physical and chemical character, ranging from a light, sandy loam, with
sandy subsoil, to a medium heavy clay, with compact clay subsoil, which
indicates clearly that success does not depend so much upon the
character of the soil as upon the methods of seeding, fertilization and
after-treatment, though the most successful stands were, as a rule,
obtained upon sandy soils, overlying a reasonably open subsoil.
Twenty-seven growers had a more or less satisfactory experience, while
17 were absolute failures. A study of the reports of failures shows that
in most instances they were due to lack of observation of the methods
recommended for the seeding and care of the crop, which experience at
the station showed to be essential for success. In most cases the land
was imperfectly prepared; in many an insufficient amount of fertilizer
or manure was applied. In many cases, too little seed was used; in
others the date of seeding was contrary to all recommendations, or the
crop was not clipped often, and thus choked out by weeds. In many
instances, where lime had not been used for many years, none was applied
at the time of seeding. In the case of those having more or less
success, the recommendations were not fully observed or soil conditions
were imperfect.
_D. C. Lewis of Middlesex county_, in the summer of 1903 seeded about
1¹⁄₄ acres with alfalfa, observing closely all of the recommendations of
the experiment station in reference to seeding, but did not inoculate
the soil. The seed germinated well, and the crop grew nicely during the
fall, but entirely disappeared later. In 1904, the same area, after an
oat crop was grown, was seeded again, on August 10. The soil is a clay
loam, with a clay subsoil, and in a good state of fertility. The land
had been previously in grass and corn. The corn was manured and the
alfalfa area well limed previous to seeding in 1903. The seed was at the
rate of about 25 pounds, and at time of seeding 800 pounds of Mapes’
fertilizer and an extra bag of high-grade sulphate of potash were
applied, and the field was inoculated with about 300 pounds of soil,
taken from the old alfalfa patch at the experiment station. The seed
germinated well, and made a rapid and large fall growth and passed the
winter successfully. The yield per acre was about three tons of hay for
the first cutting. This experiment is strikingly suggestive in showing
the importance of soil inoculation, for while inoculation is not
apparently essential in all cases, it would seem that where soils have
not been heavily manured that this point should be carefully observed.
_J. P. Nelson of Monmouth county_ has had a very successful experience
in the growth of alfalfa, since he has observed all of the
recommendations made as to methods of seeding and after-treatment. The
following is a description of his method and the results obtained from a
seeding made August 10, 1904. The surface soil is a medium clay loam,
underlaid with a gravelly clay subsoil. The crops preceding were grass
and corn, and the manures used were barnyard manure and 600 pounds per
acre of ground bone. The corn preceding the alfalfa was limed at the
rate of 1,000 pounds per acre, and 1,400 pounds per acre were applied
just previous to the seeding of alfalfa. Thirty pounds of seed were used
per acre, and lightly harrowed in and the land rolled. The germination
and early growth were good, and the first crop was harvested June 1,
1905. The yield was two big, two-horse loads of cured hay per acre.
_E. T. Gill of Camden county_ has a sandy loam, underlaid by a subsoil
varying from sand to clay. He has an area of 24 acres, ranging from two
to six years in age. The first seeding of about two acres is still
growing profitable crops, though not uniform in stand. The later
seedings show an excellent stand and large and profitable crops are
annually harvested. Usually four cuts are made each year, which are used
both for soiling and for hay, with splendid results. The practice on
this farm is to top-dress with manure during the winter at the rate of
about eight tons per acre. Mr. Gill’s experience leads him to believe
that the stand is often injured, particularly during the first year, by
allowing the crop to reach too great maturity and then cutting when the
plants are just beginning to bloom, and leaving a stubble of at least
three inches. Mr. Gill did not inoculate the seed or soil at his first
seeding, but did follow this practice with recent seedings, and believes
it to be a wise precaution, especially on soils that have not been
previously heavily manured.
NEW MEXICO
_Thomas J. Clark, Grant county._--I have had 15 years’ experience with
alfalfa on first and second bottom land with gravel soil, dry to within
four feet of water, which is reached at a depth of 15 feet. I irrigate
from the Gila river, and my alfalfa, which is 14 years old, is as good
to-day as at any time since it was sown. The seed is sown as turnip seed
is. I plow the land thoroughly, harrow it over smoothly, then sow the
seed in March, and harrow lightly once. Then the water is turned on, and
the ground will remain moist until the seeds sprout. After the alfalfa
is six inches high, I cut it to make it spread and destroy all the large
weeds; and there may be two cuttings of hay that same season. Water will
not injure the plant unless it stands on it in low places. Stagnant
water standing on the plant, or mineral water so near the surface that
the roots reach it, will kill the plant, but it is not liable to injury
from winter frost. After the first season there are three or four crops,
the first being usually chosen for seed and not irrigated. For hay it is
cut when in full bloom, and, if the sun is shining, should cure 24 hours
if in June, or 20 in July or August, before raking, and then 30 hours in
the cock. It must be thoroughly cured before stacking, and then will
not mold. The most convenient bales weigh 90 to 100 pounds, and the
cost of preparing them is $2 a ton. The total cost of hay in the stack
is about $3 a ton, and the average yield about three tons to the acre
each year. When the burs turn brown the seed is harvested, and when well
cured should be stacked in a dry place. An average yield is 500 to 600
pounds to the acre, and it sells for $4 a bushel. The hay makes
excellent feed for farm animals, keeping them in good condition the year
around without grain. The alfalfa pasturage is better for swine and
cattle than clover, and yields more largely; sheep may be kept on it to
advantage also. A good acre will keep five grown hogs in excellent
condition, but will not make them fat. If they are taken up in October
and fed about 40 days on grain, they will be marketable. Cattle on the
pasture sometimes bloat, but I have had 100 head of cows and calves on
mine for two months, and have had no trouble. The irrigated alfalfa is
better than that grown on land that requires no water. The straw is
about equal to oat straw, but not half so good as the alfalfa hay. To
rid land of the plant requires a strong team and a sharp 10-inch plow.
The roots rot at once after plowing, and the land is well fertilized for
other crops. In my opinion, alfalfa is the best forage plant known in
this western country. It is most easily raised, produces the largest
yield, commands the best price, and can be planted at any time from
March to September. Land seeded to it is the most valuable, and the
farmer who has plenty of it is the most prosperous. Farming here cannot
be a success without it, and I take pleasure in recommending it to my
brother farmers. It will lie dormant all summer if it is dry, and with
fall rains revive and make good pasture. It is the earliest plant up in
the spring, and the last to stay green in the fall. In other words, it
is the best of all.
_Hartman & Weil, San Miguel county._--We have been dealers in alfalfa
hay for eight years, and have some small fields of our own. This is on
both bottom and upland. In the bottom, the subsoil is sand and bowlders;
on the upland, stiff bluish clay, and in some places blue limestone.
Well water is reached on the bottom land at a depth of 8 to 10 feet,
through soil moist all the way; on the upland, it is necessary to dig 60
to 100 feet, and, beginning two or four feet from the surface, the
ground is dry. When seed is planted in the spring, the soil should be
well pulverized, moist, and warm, that the seed may germinate quickly.
It should not be put in deeper than 1¹⁄₂ inches, and may be planted in
May or June, or any time in the spring after the soil becomes warm. In
our climate, it is best to sow about 30 pounds of good seed to the acre,
besides just enough oats to shade the ground and protect the young
alfalfa from the hot sun. Once well started, it will kill out all weeds,
and does not winterkill here. We irrigate from streams. Alfalfa should
not be irrigated when quite young, for, if the small plant is covered
with soil, when watered, it will not come up again, but, after it gets a
good start, it is not easily killed. There should be about two
irrigations to each crop harvested, or ordinarily, six in a season. The
heavier the stand the more water is needed. We have three cuttings,
yielding about 3,000 pounds of cured hay per acre per cutting. When the
plant is fairly well in bloom, it is cut, and is best when cured under
large sheds or in the shade. If left until dry where cut, the foliage
will fall off and pulverize. It is best to stack in narrow ricks, as it
is liable to heat if put in large stacks, and it should be salted
liberally when stacked. The last cutting is preferred for seed, which is
mowed when most of the pods are well matured; in this case only two
crops should be cut during the year. The straw makes good feed for stock
in winter, having about half the value of the hay. Each irrigation costs
about 50 cents per acre, and the total cost of hay in the stack is about
$3.50 per ton. Baling costs $1.25 per ton, with 50 cents additional for
wire. The common yield of seed is 6 to 10 bushels from the acre.
“Reeves” clover huller will thresh about 12 bushels per hour. The price
of hay, baled, in New Mexico has averaged about $8 per ton for the past
eight years and seed for the same time about $5 per bushel. Our
experience indicates that alfalfa hay is a more nutritious food for farm
animals than either clover or timothy. We have found nothing better to
feed cattle for market; it makes good, solid beef, and they take on fat
very fast. The pasturage is excellent for swine, horses, and cattle. If
overfed, animals will sometimes bloat on rank alfalfa, especially if
unaccustomed to it. About the third year from seeding, the plant has
acquired its best yield. It is difficult to rid land of it, as plowing
under is sometimes beneficial, making it come up thicker than before.
Success with it on high prairies depends upon the precipitation during
the growing season. We think four inches of rainfall during the time of
its growth would make a fair crop of hay; or 8 to 12 inches from May to
September, for two or three cuttings.
NEW YORK
_Isaac Zoller, Montgomery county_, writes in a recent article in
_American Agriculturist_:--“In the spring of 1889, I sowed my first ten
acres of alfalfa. The field was reseeded for the second time in April,
1905. I now have 25 acres. The land was plowed in the fall after being
manured. In the spring, generally during the last two weeks of April,
the surface for five or six inches is made extra fine and 25 to 30
pounds of the best seed are sown with three pecks of oats as a nurse
crop. By June 1 the oats are cut three inches above ground and again
every four weeks during the first season. The following June during the
third week the first crop is cut, usually yielding about three tons. The
second cutting generally comes during the last week in July when 1¹⁄₂
tons is an average. By September, the third cutting is made, but I
generally let sheep browse it, but not very close or after it is frozen.
The season of 1905 it was cut and allowed to wilt, raked with a side
delivery rake, allowed to lie a couple of hours, then rolled over with
the rake and drawn to the barn. Formerly I used to shock it and allow it
to sweat, but this is too much work. I feed it to sheep and find it
equal, if not superior to Red clover. To be at its best it must be cut
when about one-tenth of the blossoms are out. The soil in which my
alfalfa grows is a heavy, clay loam and rolling, but is underdrained.
The soil here is apt to heave three or four inches during winter and
injure clover. But where properly drained, this does not occur on
alfalfa fields. I am certain alfalfa can be more extensively and
economically grown here.”
_H. B. Fullerton, Long Island._--As an experiment, an acre of scrub-oak,
waste land was cleared and the brush and stumps burned in November,
1905. About 2,000 pounds of wood ashes were applied and turned under at
once. In April about ten tons of manure was applied so that each quarter
acre would have about 2,500 pounds. Three weeks later 400 pounds of
kainit were applied and ten days later 200 pounds of Canada wood ashes.
Since the soil, when tested, still showed acidity, about 400 pounds more
of ashes were spread, chiefly because of its high percentage of
vegetable lime, 40 per cent. The lime of ashes on Long Island soils is
considered superior to that of stone or shells. Early in June the test
acre, being considered ready, was finally prepared and sown to alfalfa
in two directions crosswise over each quarter acre. In less than a week
the plants appeared evenly on all four plots. Showery weather continued
from before seeding until well into June. One of the quarter acre plots
sown with a dressing of 150 pounds of soil from an old alfalfa field at
Fayetteville, N. Y., early took the lead in color and vigor and about
six weeks from sowing could be readily distinguished at a distance by
the richness of its foliage. It was also in flower before the other
plots, one of which was uninoculated, the other two sown with inoculated
seed. Unfavorable weather prevented cutting until mid-August when all
four plots were cut, the few large weeds were removed and the alfalfa
weighed. The plot inoculated with alfalfa soil yielded 1673 green pounds
which cured to 701 dry; the uninoculated plot yielded 726 green and 313
dry, the other two plots sown with inoculated seed 416 and 377 pounds
green or 189 and 168 pounds dry respectively. These results point
favorably to inoculating the soil from old alfalfa fields.
[Illustration: =Sweet Clover= (_Melilotus alba_.)
The seed of Sweet clover is an occasional adulterant of alfalfa. The
plant is much taller than any of the species of Medicago. The flowers
are white and borne in rows on elongated flower stems]
[Illustration: =Yellow Trefoil= (_Medicago lupulina_.)
A common adulterant of alfalfa. The leaflets are broader and more
clover-like than alfalfa. The flowers are yellow and sparsely scattered
in small, hop-like clusters at tips of long flower stems]
NORTH CAROLINA
_Dr. B. W. Kilgore, Director North Carolina experiment
station._--Alfalfa has been grown in a small way in this state,
particularly in the section around Hillsboro, for 75 to 100 years. The
soil there has become well inoculated and there are some small areas of
good alfalfa grown there. There has been for a number of years past
considerable interest in the production of this crop, but its
cultivation has not been very successful. On our experiment farms in
different sections of the state it has done reasonably well, and there
have been put out quite a large number of small areas during the last
few years, which give hopes of success with the crop. When some further
details regarding the time and method for seeding and treatment,
especially to prevent crab grass and weeds from getting the upper hand
of the crop during the summer have been worked out, we believe that
alfalfa will be grown to quite a large extent and be a most valuable
addition to our present forage crops.
NORTH DAKOTA
_Prof. J. H. Shepperd, Dean of the North Dakota Agricultural
college._--Alfalfa has not been given a thorough trial by the people of
North Dakota, but the results secured by the experiment station indicate
that it is capable of producing paying crops here. It will yield two or
more tons of hay per acre annually and will, when sown on well drained
land, continue to live from year to year as it does in old alfalfa
districts. A little growth should be allowed to stand through the winter
season to protect the roots by catching a covering of snow over the
entire field. Our people are thoroughly awakened and encouraged by the
results secured at the experiment station, and its growth is likely to
soon be a common practice in the state.
OHIO
_Prof. Charles E. Thorne, Director Ohio experiment station._--Numerous
attempts were made during the latter half of the nineteenth century to
grow alfalfa in Ohio, but so far as the knowledge of the writer goes,
that of Joseph E. Wing of Mechanicsburg was the first that could be
pronounced a decided success. Mr. Wing had seen the plant growing in the
arid region of the West, and was fortunately able to make his initial
experiments on the soil formed from the decomposing limestone gravels of
Champaign county, a soil possessing three of the indispensable
requisites for alfalfa culture. Plenty of lime, plenty of humus and good
drainage. Other farmers during recent years have attempted the culture
of this plant, and where experiments have been conducted upon suitable
soils and carried out with sufficient care and persistence, they have
been successful. Thus far the most promising alfalfa fields in the state
are to be found either in such localities as those of Mr. Wing, namely
upon the soils underlaid with limestone gravel which are found over the
western half of the state, or upon such of the river bottom lands of the
state as are above overflow and are underlaid with gravel, giving
natural drainage. The experience of Ohio growers of alfalfa has
demonstrated the following points: (1) Alfalfa must have lime. If the
soil is naturally deficient in this substance it must be added
artificially. (2) Alfalfa must have humus. It is idle to attempt to grow
it upon a soil which has been worn so thin that it will not grow a good
crop of corn. Such soils must be manured before they will successfully
produce alfalfa. In this respect it is very different from the plant
which it so closely resembles in habit of growth, Sweet clover. (3)
Alfalfa will not grow with wet feet, yet it is a great consumer of
water, and the soil must be of such a character as to hold large stores
of water without being water logged. Hence the value of bottom lands
naturally underdrained by strata of gravel a few feet below the surface.
(4) When lime, humus and drainage are supplied, the bacterial organisms
through which atmospheric nitrogen is assimilated will gradually appear
upon the alfalfa roots, but their growth may be hastened by inoculating
the land with soil from a field in which alfalfa or Sweet clover has
previously grown. The experiment station has been most successful in
getting a stand of alfalfa where the land was thoroughly prepared in the
spring and then harrowed every week or ten days until July or August.
The seed was then sown and harrowed in. By this means the weed seeds
were germinated and destroyed before the alfalfa was sown.
OKLAHOMA
_Agricultural experiment station_: Bul. 71, by Prof. F. C. Burtis and L.
A. Moorhouse.--This crop is being grown in every county in Oklahoma and
in some sections, a fair acreage is present. From many fields as large
yields are obtained as are produced any place else in the United States
without irrigation. On the uplands in Oklahoma, as elsewhere, the
returns vary. Where the subsoil is hard and impervious, the yields are
quite meager under unfavorable climatic conditions and the crop needs
considerable nursing such as disking and harrowing, to keep the crab
grass from taking the field in a few years. On these upland soils with
the hardpan subsoils which grow cowpeas to perfection, the farmer who is
not willing to inform himself about proper methods and to give his
alfalfa fields much attention and care, should grow cowpeas instead. But
as has been indicated before, alfalfa is being grown on such soil
successfully and profitably, but only in small areas.
The soil of the experiment station farm at Stillwater, on which the
following yields of alfalfa were obtained is a clay loam underlaid by a
very stiff, impervious subsoil of a hardpan nature.
Yields of Field F, containing about four acres; cured hay for the
season.
1902--1.76 tons hay per acre in 5 cuttings.
1903--1.23 tons hay per acre in 5 cuttings.
1904--3.13 tons hay per acre in 4 cuttings.
1905--3.13 tons hay per acre in 5 cuttings.
Average for four years, 2.31 tons of hay per acre.
In the spring of 1904 the field received an application of barnyard
manure at the rate of 15 tons per acre. Every season, the field was
disked from three to four times and harrowed. During 1903 and 1904, web
worms damaged the crop.
Yields of Plats 1, 2, 3, and 4, Field E. The plats are on similar soil
to that of Field F and have been handled about the same as that field.
The yield is given for all the plats together.
1902--2.67 tons hay per acre.
1903--3.27 tons hay per acre.
1904--3.31 tons hay per acre.
Average for three years, 3.08 tons of hay per acre.
Yield of Field H, containing about five acres:
1902--4.20 tons hay per acre in 5 cuttings.
1903--2.88 tons hay per acre in 5 cuttings.
1904--2.12 tons hay per acre in 5 cuttings.
1905--2.27 tons hay per acre in 5 cuttings.
Average for four years 2.69 tons per acre.
Barnyard manure was applied to this field in 1900-’01, and it was given
the same treatment as was received by the fields previously mentioned.
Other results will be given in a later bulletin, but those cited give a
fair idea of what may be expected on upland where the subsoil is a
hardpan. The hay from all the fields mentioned above, obtained in the
last two or three cuttings, contained varying amounts of crab grass, so
the yields given are not all alfalfa. Since the above results were
obtained, some good bottom land has been acquired by the experiment
station and alfalfa has already been seeded on some of it. In a few
years, yields that will look better when compared with those of our best
alfalfa growers can probably be reported. The following summary will be
helpful.
1. Alfalfa is a great and valuable crop for Oklahoma, where there are as
good alfalfa soils as are found in the world and as good yields are
produced as anywhere.
2. The acreage of alfalfa should be greatly increased in Oklahoma. There
are but few farms here that do not contain a few acres at least that
will grow the crop profitably.
3. Select the best soil on the farm for the first trial, and try only a
few acres at first.
4. Decide a year or two in advance of seeding time what field is to be
seeded to alfalfa, and follow the best methods of cropping and
preparation known.
5. Buy only the very best seed. Get a sample and test it before buying
and purchase your seed a year before you expect to sow it unless you are
sure you can get good seed just when you want it.
6. Twenty pounds of good seed to the acre is plenty and as low as twelve
pounds is all that is used by many.
7. Seed either with the drill or by broadcasting. Conditions must be
right for either to succeed.
8. Fall seeding and spring seeding are both followed in Oklahoma with
good success. If the conditions are not right at seeding time, or turn
out unfavorable after seeding, or while the plants are small, either may
fail.
9. As a rule fall seeding is preferable in Oklahoma, particularly on the
less adapted soils.
10. Take due care in harvesting the hay that half its value is not lost
at that time.
11. Don’t give up trying to raise the crop because you fail in your
first attempt or even if the failure continues to the second and third
attempts. Successful alfalfa raisers have stated that in instances they
have failed as many as five times in getting certain fields started to
alfalfa, and after they did get the field seeded, the returns from it
would justify reseeding ten times if necessary.
OREGON
_George W. Dunn, Jackson county._--For eight years I have grown 60 acres
of alfalfa on bottom land with granite loam soil, gravelly and sandy.
The plant does not grow well unless the soil is deep and well drained,
and will not grow where there is a clay subsoil or stagnant water. Well
water is reached at a depth of 10 to 12 feet, and the soil, unless
cultivated or irrigated, becomes dry and hard in the summer. As soon as
the heavy frosts in the spring are over, seed may be put in, after
thorough, deep plowing and pulverizing. I always sow broadcast, 20 to 25
pounds to the acre, then harrow in and clod-mash or roll. Water for
irrigation is obtained from streams, and it should be applied as quickly
as possible, the best way being to flood the whole field for a few days,
and then take all the water off, as standing water will kill the plant
quicker than anything else. The quantity of water needed the first and
later years does not seem to differ materially. As soon as the young
alfalfa is high enough, it should be mowed. This kills the weeds, and
gives better chance for growth. Then I cut for hay, but it does not pay
much the first year. If land is well drained, the plant lives through
the winter easily, and by the second or third year is at its best. In
ground adapted to its growth, it is almost everlasting, unless killed by
gophers or hogs. After the first season, there are three or four
cuttings, averaging each from one to three tons to the acre. For hay, I
cut as soon as it begins to bloom freely, ordinarily raking the next
day, and cocking the third, in this dry atmosphere. The stack does not
shed water well, and the best plan is to put in a good barn. The hay
bales well, and the size of bale is simply a matter of opinion or
convenience, there being no difference in the keeping quality. The
second crop is the one for seed, as the first always contains more or
less foul stuff, and the third will not mature seed. I dispose of hay at
from $4 to $10 a ton--the same price as other hay in the same
market--and it is in great demand for milch cows. The seed costs me from
10 to 16 cents a pound. The straw makes good feed, but of course is not
so good as the hay. For feeding farm animals, alfalfa is superior to
clover or timothy. We produce as fine beef here, by feeding alfalfa
alone, as can be done in Kansas or elsewhere by feeding ordinary hay and
corn. The pasturage is profitable and satisfactory for horses and sheep,
and for hogs it is unsurpassed--they will grow and fatten on it without
other food. Cattle on the pasture sometimes bloat, but not when they are
used to it, or when it is dry. I keep about 150 head, and in eight years
have lost but two. The roots will grow to, but not into, water, and
thrive in deep gravelly or sandy soil. The plant sends down a large,
straight taproot, which, as it approaches water, branches and spreads
out into numerous small rootlets.
PENNSYLVANIA
_Prof. George C. Watson, Pennsylvania experiment station._--The
experiment station has received many letters requesting information
pertaining to the growth and cultivation of alfalfa. From these
communications it has been learned that many farmers have attempted to
grow alfalfa on land that is not at all well suited for this purpose,
and consequently, many failures have resulted. The first attempts to
grow alfalfa were made wholly by spring seeding, which, in most
instances, has proved quite unsatisfactory. As alfalfa starts slowly and
exists as a small plant for a considerable length of time, the weeds
have an abundant opportunity to germinate and outgrow the more delicate
alfalfa plants. Whatever conditions favor the growth of weeds,
particularly in the early part of the growing season, materially
increase the risk of failure with alfalfa. Largely on account of the
weeds and grass, late in summer or fall seeding has been most
satisfactory. While a drouth at this time may seriously interfere with
germination, yet the injury from insufficient moisture is not likely to
be so great as that from a rank growth of weeds earlier in the season.
Land that has been cultivated for a few weeks during the summer may be
sown to alfalfa in August or September with comparatively little danger
from annual weeds, which are so troublesome in spring seeding. Land that
is infested with noxious perennial weeds and grass would not, of course,
be in suitable condition for seeding after a few weeks of cultivation,
no matter how thorough it may be. The most tenacious grasses and weeds,
like Canada thistles and quack grass, should be given at least a few
months of thorough cultivation before seeding. Experiments indicate that
alfalfa will not survive continued alternate freezing and thawing if the
soil contains very much moisture. Land that is at all inclined to
“heave” is not suited for the growth of this crop. The soil of the
station farm, upon which most of these experiments have been made, is a
porous limestone clay underlaid with limestone rocks which afford
abundant drainage through the fissures. Notwithstanding the fact that
the soil is naturally well drained, in some places it seems to hold too
much water to afford a most congenial home for alfalfa. This crop will
endure severe freezing, provided the soil is sufficiently dry so that it
has no tendency to “heave.” Land upon which clover will “heave”
undoubtedly contains too much moisture for alfalfa. It seems to be able
to endure the rigors of winter better than clover, provided the moisture
conditions are favorable.
RHODE ISLAND
_Dr. H. J. Wheeler, Director Rhode Island experiment station._--Alfalfa
culture in Rhode Island is a very uncertain undertaking. A few persons
have occasionally met with some success, but the majority of experiments
have been failures because: (1) Most of the soil in this state is too
deficient in carbonate of lime to enable alfalfa to succeed even if
other conditions are favorable. (2) It is occasionally almost destroyed
by clover leaf spot. (3) The general culture of alfalfa in this state
cannot be made successful even if all of the conditions aside from the
climate are made favorable. Farther north where the snow falls before
the ground freezes and remains until the opening of spring, this plant
can be grown successfully. Farther south where the changes are less
severe, the same is true. In Colorado and other places where irrigation
is practiced, if it is desired to get rid of a field of alfalfa, the
ground is flooded after it is frozen and the freezing of water over the
surface accomplishes what is desired. In Rhode Island it not
infrequently happens that we have in winter a considerable fall of snow.
A warm southeasterly rain may fall which transforms it very shortly to
slush. In a few hours the temperature may drop to zero or below.
Sometimes rain which falls freezes over the surface, forming a solid
coating. These conditions in this state destroy the alfalfa just as the
flooding does it in the West, and while alfalfa may be carried
successfully through the winter, if the season is favorable, I believe
the chances are too great to make it a promising crop. Last winter we
carried some through successfully and have done so once or twice before,
but my advice to Rhode Island farmers is to grow the clovers, soy beans,
and possibly cowpeas rather than attempt to embark in growing alfalfa
until it has been definitely shown by experiment that the climate and
other conditions can be successfully combated.
SOUTH CAROLINA
_Prof. C. L. Newman, Agriculturist South Carolina experiment
station._--We have, to some extent, had remarkable success with alfalfa.
On the old exposition grounds at Charleston, over six tons of cured hay
were cut last year on one acre. This year one cutting afforded 4.15
pounds of cured hay. In the upper portion of the state, alfalfa is grown
with considerably greater difficulty. At Anderson, the county seat of
Anderson county, there is an alfalfa field that was sown 65 years ago
and it still affords some return.
SOUTH DAKOTA
_Prof. James W. Wilson, Director South Dakota experiment
station._--Experience shows that a good stand of alfalfa can be secured,
if ordinary care be exercised in preparing the seedbed. It is not a
plant that does well when sowed on the native prairie sod after disking.
On the college farm during the spring of 1904 a small area of native sod
was disked five times; part was sowed to alfalfa and part to clover. The
next spring only a few scattering plants of alfalfa could be found,
while a fair stand of clover was secured. Good results have been
obtained with both the Turkestan and the American varieties. Neither has
winterkilled during the time, and the yield per acre in each case has
been good. A field sowed to Turkestan alfalfa in 1899 at Highmore Forage
testing station still produces good yields. The quantity of seed to sow
per acre depends largely on the way it is sowed, requiring more if
broadcast than when drilled. We suggest 20 pounds when drilled and 25
pounds when sown broadcast. The time to sow depends upon the condition
of tilth. Contrary to what is sometimes supposed, alfalfa does not
require a wet soil, but one that is well drained, with a loose subsoil.
The plants will stand cutting several times during the first year. This
method should be resorted to when sown on a field badly infested with
weeds, in order to secure a stand of alfalfa. In 1902 a field rented by
the college farm, which had been cropped for several years and become
foul with mustard, was sowed to alfalfa. It was cut three times during
the growing season, and the result was that in 1903 there was
practically no mustard to be seen, but a first class stand of alfalfa
was obtained.
_George E. McEathron of Beadle county_ writes: “I consider alfalfa and
clover culture practicable in this locality. I do not think it necessary
to inoculate soil for these crops in South Dakota. After the first year
I cut my alfalfa fields three times and secured an average yield of five
tons to the acre. I have never allowed seed to mature, always cutting
for hay. No trouble from winterkilling has been noticed.”
_O. S. Jones of Lake county_ writes: “I began raising alfalfa on my
place two miles west of Madison five years ago. The soil is a dark loam
with some sand in it, lays level and has a sand and gravel subsoil.
Water is obtained at a depth of eight to ten feet. I have used both the
Turkestan and the common alfalfa, and I consider the latter the better
for my land, as it grows ranker, with more leaf and better color than
the former. I have had the best success in sowing about the first of
May, without a nurse crop. On one four-acre piece seeded three years
ago, I pastured 150 to 175 head of hogs and spring pigs for two months
this year and also cut between 15 and 16 tons of hay in two cuttings. I
sowed 12 acres this year in two six-acre fields, that have been
pastured, continually, with 175 head of hogs and pigs and ten head of
young cattle since early in July, and a great deal of it matured seed.
I could have cut these pieces in August with profit had I so desired,
and then had plenty of growth to have kept the stock in pasture,
changing pastures each week.”
_N. O. P. Synoground of Brown county_ writes: “I consider alfalfa and
clover culture practicable in this locality. I also consider the
Turkestan variety superior to the home-grown varieties. Cut the field
twice the first year and received four tons per acre. I have never cut
any for seed. These crops have not winterkilled here.”
TENNESSEE
_Prof. H. A. Morgan, Director Tennessee experiment station._--Alfalfa
has been known in Tennessee for many years, but not until the general
failure of Red clover, due to one or more species of _Colletotrichum_,
and the search for substitutes for Red clover, were any serious efforts
made to grow alfalfa in this state. On alluvial land along the
Mississippi river in west Tennessee, in what is known as the Central
Basin section of middle Tennessee, and on the richer lands of east
Tennessee, alfalfa has been grown very successfully, and each year large
areas are being sown to this clover. Mr. L. Donaldson, of Lake county,
gives the following relative to the preparation of soil, etc., for
alfalfa in the alluvial area of west Tennessee: “The land is plowed deep
with large moldboard breaking plows in September or about the first of
March. It is then harrowed until thoroughly pulverized, and either about
October 10 or April 1, two gallons of seed are sown, by machine or by
hand. The harrow is used for covering the seed. We have no more trouble
with the crop after seeding. The plants germinate and take root
rapidly. I have known alfalfa roots to reach a length of two feet from
the last of March to June 25. We frequently cut the crop five times per
year.” George Campbell Brown of Maury county states that he has sown
alfalfa in March using spring barley as nurse crop, and in September
with success. Land sown to alfalfa in 1901 yielded four cuttings per
year in 1902, 1903, and 1904, averaging from 16 to 18 tons per acre in
the three years. Mr. Brown uses soil for inoculating, and believes he
has gotten well-defined results from nitro-culture sent out by United
States department of agriculture. At the experiment station at
Knoxville, alfalfa has been successfully grown for many years. Heavy
applications of farmyard manure and the use of 300 pounds of acid
phosphate and 25 bushels of lime per acre invariably insures large
yields of alfalfa. Crab grass, _Panicum sanguinale_, in summer and
chickweed, _Stellaria media_, in winter are enemies to alfalfa in this
latitude. These pests should be gotten rid of by the use of clean
culture crops preparatory to the sowing of alfalfa. With plenty of
stable manure, lime, and phosphorous, artificial inoculation seems
unnecessary. Any soil of over a few feet deep may be prepared so as to
grow profitable crops of alfalfa. This preparation is much more
expensive on some soils than others.
TEXAS
_Prof. B. C. Pittuck, Agriculturist of the Texas experiment
station._--Alfalfa should receive the attention of farmers in every
section of Texas where conditions are in any way favorable to its
growth. At present prices, after it is once established, a yield of one
ton of hay per acre will afford a good profit, while yields of four and
six tons, which are not unusual on favorable soils, make the investment
exceedingly profitable. The present demand is much greater than the
supply and bids fair to increase in greater proportion during the coming
year. Its increasing popularity with the farmer is based upon sound
business principles, as its value does not consist solely in its market
price, but in its value as food for his stock and food for his soil. It
will furnish green pasturage and hay of the best quality without
materially impoverishing the soil. Many farmers refrain from planting
alfalfa because some neighbor, far or near, planted on land apparently
similar to theirs, and it died of the disease commonly known as cotton
root rot. It would be far better for each farmer to test his own land,
for alfalfa may be affected by this fungus at one place and entirely
unaffected on ground only a few rods away. The value of an alfalfa
meadow is such as to warrant a farmer in giving considerable time, labor
and study to the plant, before deciding that natural conditions prohibit
him from successfully growing it.
UTAH
_Aaron F. Farr, Jr., Cache county._--Fifteen years ago, when I began
raising alfalfa, I had 40 acres, and for the past eight years I have had
about 135 acres, all on heavy clay soil, containing considerable salt,
and underlaid with very stiff, white clay. The soil is dry on top, but
below a depth of 2¹⁄₂ feet is damp, and salty water is found at a depth
of eight feet. Small grain was raised on the new land for one or two
years, after which the ground was plowed in the fall, and again in the
spring, harrowed, and well pulverized. Seed was put in, 12 pounds to the
acre, two inches deep, with a press drill. The time for sowing is about
the same as for corn, in April or May. If there is plenty of water, it
is well to sow the alfalfa with oats, and then cut for hay the first
season. Some of my land is irrigated, by flooding, three times in the
season, by means of a large canal from the river. The more water is
used, the more alfalfa there will be, but the hay from unirrigated land
is less sappy than that which has been watered. The plant is not liable
to winterkill here, and on sandy loam and gravel soils the full yield is
attained the second year, while, on heavy soils, it requires three or
four years. I have some that is 20 years old, and cannot say how long it
will yet continue vigorous. There is difficulty in ridding land of the
plant, unless it is flooded in the winter time. We have usually two
cuttings each season, with an average yield for each of about two tons
to the acre, although some parts of the land yield four tons at each
cutting. I have found it more profitable to raise seed than hay, and for
this purpose I prefer the second cutting, using the self-rake, allowing
the alfalfa to lie in small piles until dry, then hauling, stacking, and
threshing, the same as wheat. The hay lies about 22 hours in the swath,
24 hours in the windrow, and one or two days in the cock, after which it
is stacked in large ricks with a horse fork. If properly cured, it will
not mold or heat, as it will if damp. On land valued at $30 an acre, the
cost of the alfalfa, in the stack, is about $1.50 a ton. The cost of
baling is about $2 a ton, the popular weight for bales being about 100
pounds. An average yield of seed is from 300 to 500 pounds to the acre.
Threshers take one-sixth toll, and can thresh about 100 bushels in a
day. The common machinery saves only about two-thirds of the seed. A
bushel of seed weighs more than 60 pounds, and we put 175 pounds in a
two-bushel seamless sack. The average selling price of the seed is about
$3.50 a bushel. I have one piece of land, containing 60 acres, not
irrigated, valued at $30 an acre, from which, for ten years, I have cut
one crop of hay, and one of seed, and realized an annual net profit of
$1000 cash. As compared with clover and timothy for feeding farm
animals, my opinion is that alfalfa will fatten quicker, but will not go
so far. The pasturage is profitable and satisfactory for horses and
sheep; for hogs, one acre of it is as good as 2¹⁄₂ of Red clover, and
for cattle, one acre is as good as two of clover, provided the land is
dry. On wet land, the clover is better for cattle, and, as to bloating,
the danger is just the same from the two plants. In my opinion, the
plant will do well on side-hills, where the drainage is good, if the
land is plowed deep, and the seed drilled in two inches deep and rolled
with a heavy roller. Once started, the plant lives almost forever, on
any soil, unless the wrong kind of a winter strikes it. I have an
alfalfa root, taken up in digging a well, that is 21 feet long. The
roots of alfalfa are sure to find the water, if anywhere at all within
reasonable reach.
_John Jones, Utah county._--I have raised alfalfa 20 years, and now have
250 acres, mostly on sandy loam upland; have some on bottom land, where
it grows too rank for seed. The subsoil is light clay, with water from
15 to 20 feet from the surface. On land with hardpan subsoil, it
declines after a few years, unless irrigated often. In digging for
water, we find the subsoil begins to get dry at about 18 inches, and
continues quite dry for 8 or 10 feet; then moisture increases until
water is reached. We prepare ground by plowing in the fall, drag very
fine in the spring, and sow as early as the season will permit, in order
to catch the spring rains, using 20 to 25 pounds of seed per acre. Our
first cutting is made about June 20, and is a little weedy, but there
are fewer weeds in later cuttings. We get about two tons the first
cutting, if the stand is good, and about the same the other cuttings
that year; have no trouble here about winterkilling; standing water is
injurious to the plant. Here alfalfa on uplands is watered three or four
times each season; some land needs only one or two floodings, while
other lower lands have no irrigation. After getting a good start from
the seed, we begin watering about May 1, from small mountain streams.
The first year requires water about every week; after that, once a month
is sufficient. For hay, we begin cutting with the first bloom, obtaining
2 to 2¹⁄₂ tons from the first cutting, about 2 the second, and from 1 to
1¹⁄₄ the third cutting; let it lie about two days before hauling to
stack, being careful not to stack too green. For seed, begin cutting
when seed is ripe, the second crop being considered best. The
grasshoppers have been troubling the second crop to some extent, and we
have on that account been cutting the first crop for seed, using a
reaper and separating with a threshing machine. On a basis of 7 per cent
interest on $30 per acre with five tons of hay per acre each year, it
has cost about $1.55 per ton to raise alfalfa. We estimate $1 per ton
for cutting and stacking, and 60 cents per acre for water tax. It costs
$2.25 per ton for baling, 100 to 125-pound bale, the size having no
effect as to the keeping of properly cured hay. From 8 to 10 bushels is
a fair average seed yield, the cost of threshing and cleaning being
about 40 cents per bushel. Baled hay is worth (free on board) about
$6.50, and loose, about $4 per ton; seed sells for about 7 cents per
pound. Alfalfa hay is preferable to timothy or clover, ton for ton, for
feeding without grain; with grain, our liverymen prefer timothy. We find
alfalfa with grain equal to timothy for draft horses, but for drivers,
timothy is preferred. Alfalfa is considered better than clover by our
hog raisers; it makes good pasturage for horses, and is better than Red
clover for cattle. If cattle are kept continually on the alfalfa, they
are not very likely to bloat; the trouble arises from turning hungry
animals on it. We use a gag, made of a stick about three inches in
diameter, to force the mouth open, but sometimes have to make an opening
in the paunch with a knife. Irrigation seems to improve the quantity
without increasing the quality. The early cut hay has at least 20 per
cent more value than the straw from the seed crop; we have had very good
results from feeding the straw, as it always contains more or less seed.
Alfalfa sown on clay soil, with hardpan subsoil, gradually dies out
after two or three years; also when water is near the surface; when the
roots reach water too near by, the plant dies. Sown on good sandy loam,
it reaches its best yield about the second year; on heavier soils,
about the third year. We have alfalfa 20 years old, as vigorous and good
to yield as when started. It is preferable to clover for turning under,
as the large roots make more manure, and the tops are much heavier. We
grow alfalfa on our uplands without irrigation, but it requires two or
three years to get a start; the first year, it makes a growth of 8 or 10
inches, and wilts; second year, it grows a little taller, thickens up
somewhat, and then, apparently, dies; the third year, it gains in height
and strength, and yields a good crop, or even two crops, according to
the subsoil. If the subsoil is hardpan, I would not predict the result
as worth the effort. I do not see how Utah would get along without
alfalfa. I have 100 acres, from which are cut from 2 to 2¹⁄₂ tons of hay
per acre, and from 800 to 1300 bushels of seed each year, and it has not
been irrigated for 15 years. Last year the seed yield was 968 bushels,
and the grasshoppers damaged it considerably; the seed brought 10 cents
per pound on the track here. We make good beef from the hay alone, and
have done so on the threshed straw.
VERMONT
_Prof. J. L. Hill, Director Vermont experiment station_, in Bulletin No.
114 says that popular interest in the question of alfalfa culture was
never so great in Vermont as it is today. The result of 56 trials at as
many Vermont points are summarized: as, permanent successes, 12;
temporary successes, ten; success at outset, eight; seeming success,
five; questionable, seven; failure, 14. Thirty-six per cent of the
trials may fairly be said to have been a success, and 68 per cent of
these were located in the Champlain valley. Only 10 of the 56 alfalfa
growers appear to have sown more than an acre. It should be noted that
success with a fraction of an acre does not of necessity imply that an
equal degree of success would be attained with plantings on larger
areas. The preeminence of the Champlain valley in alfalfa growing seems
to be due to the character of the farming in that section and to the
nature of its soil. Failures may generally be ascribed to one or more of
several unfavorable soil or weather conditions, to weeds, to disease, or
to seed which either is inferior or from an unsuitable source. There
seems to be a sufficient proportion of successes in the state to justify
the encouragement of further trials. It is equally clear, however, that
anyone planting alfalfa for the first time should not only give careful
heed to the needs of the plant and to the methods of culture outlined
later, but should begin by experimenting in a small way. The most
significant thing developed by the analysis of the returns to date is
that the crop seems to succeed best in the Champlain valley. Why is
this? Probably one factor, not apparent on the surface, is that the men
who have succeeded in Addison county are largely sheep breeders who
value the crop so highly in their special industry that they are willing
to give more attention to its culture than are the dairy farmers. It
should be recalled in this connection, however, that the evidence
reviewed indicates practical success with alfalfa at Plattsburgh and in
adjacent Canadian territory. Without pressing the matter to a definite
conclusion, we consider two things to be at least strongly suggested
and worthy to be borne in mind in connection with further experiments
in alfalfa culture: (1) The chances of permanent success with it are
probably better in Vermont than they are farther south and east in New
England. This may be in part attributable to soil conditions and in part
to climate, the latter being associated with greater remoteness from the
seashore. (2) In Vermont the chance of success in its culture seem to be
greater in the Champlain valley than elsewhere. The reasons suggested in
the above may apply in explanation of this. The nature of the geological
formations is also worthy of consideration. It seems not unlikely that
the relative richness of the soil of this region in lime and potash and
its other chemical and physical characters make it especially favorable
to alfalfa growing.
VIRGINIA
_Prof. Andrew M. Soule, Director Virginia experiment station._--In
Bulletin No. 154 from this station we summarize as follows: Alfalfa is
being grown with success in various parts of Virginia and the
indications are that it will do well in humid climates, providing the
soil is brought into suitable condition for its growth. Alfalfa has many
useful qualities. It yields from three to five tons of cured hay in a
year, and remains on the land for a long period of time when once well
established. It grows best on deep, open, porous soils well supplied
with vegetable matter. The roots of alfalfa are from five to 15 feet in
length, enabling it to draw much of its food from the subsoil. It thus
enriches the land for succeeding crops and opens it up to the action of
air and water. Land intended for alfalfa should be made very rich by
plowing under legumes or applying farmyard manure. In addition, from 200
to 400 pounds of acid phosphate, Thomas slag or bone meal, with 100
pounds of muriate of potash, should be applied per acre. If the land is
acid, which may be determined by testing with blue litmus paper, an
application of 25 bushels of lime should be made. It is generally best
to use the unslaked lime, which may be applied with a manure spreader, a
grain drill or broadcasted over the land and covered with a harrow. Land
intended for alfalfa should be carefully cultivated in hoed crops or
summer fallowed so as to destroy weeds, the worst enemy of alfalfa
during the early stages of its growth. Alfalfa may be seeded either fall
or spring. When fall sown it can be cut for hay the next summer,
whereas, the spring sown crop should be clipped several times during the
first season and left to mulch the ground. Alfalfa seed is sometimes
infested with dodder, which grows as a parasite on the plant. The
orange-yellow threadlike appearance of dodder gives warning of its
presence, and it can be easily destroyed by cutting and burning if taken
at the outset. Alfalfa is frequently attacked by leaf spot in the
eastern states. The disease is easily recognized as its name indicates,
and persistent clipping will generally eradicate it. The amount of seed
to sow varies, but 20 pounds will answer as a rule. Alfalfa should be
cut for hay when coming into bloom, as it yields more nutrients per acre
at that time, and succeeding crops yield better. Alfalfa is not more
difficult to make into hay than is Red clover. It may also be pastured
to advantage, though there is some danger of bloat, and, owing to the
high feeding value of the hay, it is doubtful whether it would be good
practice to graze it in the East, except with hogs. Alfalfa being a
legume has the power of assimilating atmospheric nitrogen under certain
conditions. It is thus a soil improver. Farmers cannot afford to
purchase nitrogen when they can gather it from the air through the
action of leguminous plants. Alfalfa often fails, even though all the
physical conditions seem favorable, because the bacteria which live in
the nodules on its roots are not present in the soil. This deficiency
may be supplied by getting soil from an old alfalfa field or from fields
where Sweet clover or Bur clover previously grew with success, or by
means of artificial cultures. The Virginia experiment station, realizing
the importance of alfalfa to Virginia farmers and the difficulty of
securing inoculated soil at a reasonable cost, has undertaken the
preparation of pure cultures which it is distributing at a cost of 25
cents per acre. Soil inoculation through artificial cultures is still in
its experimental stages, but it seems wise that Virginia farmers should
be given an opportunity to test these cultures at a moderate cost and
determine once for all their real value under field conditions. The high
feeding value of alfalfa has long been recognized. It is admirably
adapted to the needs of all classes of live stock. It has been fed with
profit to horses, cattle, sheep and swine. It can be so utilized as to
largely take the place of wheat bran and other expensive concentrates.
The plats of alfalfa seeded in the spring of 1904, both on the station
farm and on Brush mountain, show the importance of soil inoculation and
the advantages of using lime and phosphates on land intended for this
crop. From a general review of the situation it appears that there is no
reason why alfalfa, under good management, should not succeed in many
parts of Virginia.
WASHINGTON
_F. M. Lowden, Walla Walla county._--In 22 years I have had experience
with from 1 to 400 acres of alfalfa, on bottom, second bottom, and
upland, with clay, sand and loam soils, with subsoil of hardpan and
strong alkali from 18 to 20 inches below the surface, and water at depth
of 18 to 20 feet. The soil is seldom moist all the way down, the dry
soil beginning five to eight feet below the surface and ending within
two or three feet of the water. After plowing deep and harrowing well, I
sow in the spring, late enough to miss frost, 25 to 30 pounds to the
acre; then cover, in light soil from one to two inches, and in clay soil
less. During the first season it should be mowed so that the weeds
cannot choke it out, and then there will be about a ton of hay to the
acre to be cut in August. I irrigate with water from streams thoroughly
in the spring and after each cutting, using enough water to soak the
ground for a few days. New land requires more water than old, but the
quantity needed is about the same every year. At three years the plant
attains its best yields, and with proper care will not need reseeding.
There are usually three cuttings each season, with an average of 1¹⁄₂
tons to the acre, and I have known five cuttings. It is mowed for hay
when it commences to bloom, and for seed any time before the frost
comes, the second crop being best for the latter use. The seed is
mowed, threshed and dried as any other clover is. The hay should lie
before raking until it is thoroughly wilted, then cure in cock two or
three days. We stack in ricks 16 to 18 feet wide and any desired height
or length. The hay will not heat if well cured before stacking. On land
valued at $40 an acre, the cost of hay in the stack is about $1.50, and
to bale this costs $2 a ton. The yield of seed is 5 to 10 bushels to the
acre, and it sells for $4.50 to $7.50 a bushel, while hay brings $4,
formerly $8. For threshing, a clover huller is better than the common
machine. The alfalfa straw is of double the value of any other straw for
feeding. The hay grown without irrigation is not so rank as that which
is watered, and is consequently more valuable as a feed; any is better
than timothy, and equal to clover for cattle, but the seed must form in
it to make it valuable for working horses. After cutting three crops in
a season, I usually use the field in the fall for pasturing cattle, and
it furnishes nearly double the feed that Red clover will, acre for acre.
For hogs the pasturage is much better than clover, and I sow with blue
grass and clover, on rich ground. For horses and sheep the pasturage is
better than clover, but causes bloat in the same way. It is difficult to
plow up alfalfa, but continued cultivation will rid land of it when
desired.
_Oscar Drumheller, Walla Walla county._--Have grown alfalfa for six
years, and now have 150 acres, part on bottom, some on clay, and a part
on slightly sandy soil; subsoil is a thin layer of hardpan; below that a
sort of gumbo, and underneath that a white clay. Abundant water is found
at 10 to 18 feet, moist soil reaching to the water. Our land requires no
special preparation for alfalfa; manure is spread on weak spots; we sow
20 pounds of seed broadcast, about May 1st, and harrow once to cover.
Some cut it the first year; some years the crop is not worth touching
for either hay or seed; there is no trouble here from winterkilling. We
never irrigate. The first cutting yields about three tons, the second,
about two and one-half tons, the third, about two tons, and the fourth,
one ton. For hay, cutting should begin when in full bloom; we never cut
for seed, but the first crop is best. The season must govern the time
for curing, whether two days or 10; it will heat and mold if not dry
before stacking; no choice in size of stacks. On land worth $40 per
acre, it costs about $1.50 per ton to grow and put alfalfa in the stack;
baling costs $1.50 to $2 per ton, the bales weighing 150 pounds. Alfalfa
hay sold for $12 per ton in 1890, and is now selling for $2.50; seed
sells for 10 to 12 cents per pound. For cattle, alfalfa hay leads all
others; for work animals, it is a little “washy,” but we use nothing
else; for pasturing hogs, one acre of alfalfa is worth two of clover,
and it is found satisfactory for horses and sheep; alfalfa will pasture
more cattle than clover, but is more productive of bloat, especially on
windy days. The best remedy for bloat is to get the foreparts of the
animal on high ground and splash cold water on its back; when all else
fails, apply the knife to the left side. We prefer unirrigated hay,
which seems firmer and less “washy.” Alfalfa reaches its best yields
about the third year, and will last 20 years; it is not difficult to
kill; it is similar to Red clover for turning under for green manure.
All cattle here are fed on alfalfa hay alone. I have fed cattle in open
yards in December, January, and February, and made them gain 160 pounds
per steer in three months. If beef on the Pacific coast would bring 3
cents, there would be no better investment than alfalfa. In 1892, we
sold hay for $60 per acre; to-day it will not sell for a third of that.
WEST VIRGINIA
_Prof. J. H. Stewart, Director West Virginia experiment station._--Very
little alfalfa is grown in West Virginia. Within the past four or five
years some stimulus has been given it by current publications, etc., but
extensive growth has not obtained as yet. The attempts to grow it on our
small farm at the experiment station have in fact been failures.
However, there are a few small tracts that have done well in portions of
the state. Hon. T. B. Davis of Mineral county and E. W. McNeil of Hardy
county are persons who have been successful. I am frank to say, however,
that the experiences and practice thus far in this state have not proven
it to be a dependable crop.
WISCONSIN
_Prof. R. A. More, Agronomist Wisconsin experiment station._--Alfalfa is
receiving great attention in Wisconsin and dairymen have been quick to
perceive its value. Through the efforts of the experiment station,
alfalfa seed has been disseminated in every county in the state and
crops have been grown which were highly satisfactory. Experiments at the
station show that as much protein can be secured from one acre of
alfalfa as from three acres of clover, nine acres of timothy or 12 of
Brome grass. In this experiment four cuttings of alfalfa were secured,
two cuttings of clover and one cutting each of timothy and Brome grass.
Alfalfa seed should have its viability tested before the seed is
purchased. Seed that does not give a germination test of 90 per cent or
above should be rejected. We advise selecting high, well-drained land
inclined to be rolling. A clay loam on a gravelly subsoil is best suited
for growths of alfalfa. Sow in spring as soon as ground works well,
putting on about twice the cultivation necessary for cereal crops. Where
land is inclined to be weedy, sow three pecks of barley per acre as a
nurse crop. If ground is free from weeds, sow alfalfa seed without nurse
crop, using at least 20 pounds of seed per acre. Several hundred members
of the Wisconsin experiment association have been carrying on tests with
alfalfa since 1903, and practically all have succeeded in getting good
fields started. Bacteria-laden soil has been shipped to members of the
experiment association, who are making tests, with directions for
scattering on a small plot, in order to get the proper bacteria
established in the soil. The sowing of some alfalfa seed with clover for
the purpose of getting a few alfalfa plants established as bacteria
distributers has been followed with good success. These lands when later
sown to alfalfa result in good catches. Alfalfa should be cut when
one-tenth is in blossom, and not later than the first week in September.
We look for greatly increased acreage from year to year as our farmers
learn the value of this great forage plant.
_W. D. Hoard, Editor Hoard’s Dairyman._--It is now twelve years since
the editor of the Dairyman commenced the practical study of alfalfa. A
good deal of experience as well as observation of the practices of
others has come to him in that time. He does not feel that he has
exhausted the subject by any means, but there are a few things which he
believes to be well settled principles. They may be enumerated as
follows:
1. The richer the soil the better.
2. A carefully prepared seed bed. Too much pains cannot be had here.
3. Good seed; every farmer should test the seed he expects to sow. A
great amount of failure has come from weak, infertile seed.
4. Side hills where the rain or melted snow in March will readily run
off and thus prevent an ice cap from sudden freezing is much the
preferable location.
5. Cutting it each time as soon as the first blossoms appear will always
bring a stronger succeeding growth for the next crop.
6. Never pasture it unless you wish to weaken it so it will break up
more easily the next spring.
7. Always cure it in the cock with hay caps if possible. The quality of
the hay is greatly superior to that which is cured in the sun or
windrow.
The nutritive quality and value of alfalfa as well as clover may be
greatly lessened and the owner not be aware of it, by allowing too much
sunshine on the hay. To throw away the feeding value of any food by
unwise methods of handling or curing is very poor economy. For this
reason farmers should make a closer study than they do as to the right
time of cutting alfalfa and clover and the right way of curing it. Too
many farmers look only at the labor involved. They want to do it quick.
Hence they wait before cutting till the stalks are overripe so they will
dry quickly and then they use hay loaders that will take up the hay in
the swath overdried and the goodness evaporated out of it by the action
of the sun. All this time they are never giving a moment’s thought to
the great question: “What kind of food is this going to make for my cows
next winter?” The best of study and care should be given to this matter
of curing alfalfa and clover. Nicely cured clover is worth half as much
as bran as a milk producing food, and alfalfa is worth fully as much. We
have demonstrated in our own stables that with 35 pounds of corn
ensilage and 10 pounds of nice alfalfa hay a day, we can save half of
the grain ration that would be necessary if we fed other hay.
8. As a renewer and renovator of fertility we know of nothing that will
equal alfalfa. The present year is proving that in Wisconsin most
convincingly. Nearly all of the old alfalfa, as well as clover seeding,
was killed by an ice storm in March. That compelled the farmers to plow
up these old fields and plant them to corn, potatoes or some sowed crop.
The greater growth of crops on these old alfalfa fields is universally
noticed. The farmers of the country have not half begun to know the
wonderful value of the alfalfa plant. For just this reason they should
not be discouraged in trying to grow it.
_Dr. A. S. Alexander, Wisconsin experiment station._--After all that has
been written and said in favor of the more general cultivation of
alfalfa, it seems strange to find much prejudice and ignorance still
existing among farmers relative to the merits of this magnificent forage
plant. When we ask a farmer why he has not seeded an area of land to
alfalfa he almost invariably answers by another question; viz., “Do you
think I can make it catch?” And it is this doubt so generally existent
that keeps down the area of alfalfa, and hence the profits of many a man
who could make it a wonderful success.
To our mind there has been too much alleged scientific talk relative to
“nitrification,” “root nodules” and “soil inoculation” for alfalfa; so
much of it, in fact, as a fad, that the average farmer has become
possessed of the erroneous idea that it requires a deeply scientific
knowledge of the subject and much trouble of various sorts to secure a
stand of alfalfa. For this reason many a man has dismissed the subject
from his mind and deemed it best to think most of the simple things
within his ken, but in so doing he has missed some of the greatest boons
and blessings possible in his business. Alfalfa will grow on most any
good land that will produce clover and that is in no way waterlogged.
There is little mystery in its successful cultivation, and the “tricks”
of the business are easily learned from the literature mentioned. We
believe it to be one of the very finest of forage plants and a grand
adjunct in the feeding of hogs; a crop in fact that is bound to become
common and that should at once be given far more general attention than
is now the case. It is neither difficult to obtain a catch nor make the
crop a success if the farmer will but try and in starting follow the
simple instructions now published by many of the agricultural experiment
stations.
WYOMING
_Asil T. Wilson, Fremont county._--For six years I have been raising
alfalfa on first-bench upland, a gravelly loam, with a cement subsoil of
a lime nature. Water is found at 40 feet; moist soil is encountered at a
depth of 12 feet from the surface, and continues until water is reached.
A depth of one inch for seeding is best. Sow in early spring. If alfalfa
and timothy are sown together, sow 20 pounds of the former to 6 of the
latter; if alone, 20 pounds of alfalfa. No weeds will trouble; cut
either crop for hay; the first crop for seed. Watering after the last
cutting will cause alfalfa to winterkill. Irrigate as early as possible,
if dry, and whenever getting dry, also about five days before cutting;
the soil being moist after cutting, the next crop will start up quickly.
The larger the quantity of water used the better if it runs off quickly.
We obtain water from a stream. After the first year I cut twice,
obtaining two tons each cutting. I cut for hay just as it comes into
bloom, as it is not so woody and more leaves are saved. The first
cutting is preferable for seed. When cutting for seed, wait until the
curls get well filled and black; put it into cocks and thresh when dry.
Alfalfa hay should be cut one day and raked the next; then cock, and let
it stand two or three days before stacking; by so doing all the leaves
are saved, and it cures in the cock so there is no danger of molding in
the stack. My alfalfa in stack costs $1 per ton, from land valued at $5
per acre. Irrigation costs 20 cents per acre. Baling costs $3 per ton,
150 pounds in bale. Seed yields six bushels per acre; threshing costs $1
per bushel. Prices for hay have ranged from $5 to $10 per ton, and $7
per bushel for seed. Alfalfa hay is equal to clover or timothy for farm
animals. For swine pasturage it is better than clover; one acre will
pasture 10 head of swine, gaining one pound per head each day. For
horses and sheep it is good, and as good for cattle as clover, but
dangerous, as they bloat and die. The best yields on upland are from
three to five years after seeding; and, if watered at proper intervals,
it will last 20 years. There is no difficulty in ridding land of
alfalfa; plow it late in the fall, level it down and mark it, then
water, and let it freeze up in winter. Alfalfa for green manure is as
good or better than Red clover. Without plenty of rain, I would not
recommend growing alfalfa in any locality. Seed raised from alfalfa thin
on the ground is best.
_John H. Gordon, Laramie county._--During the past 10 years, I have had
from 10 to 200 acres of alfalfa on second bottom and upland, with sandy
loam from two inches to six feet deep, and below this soft rock, water
being found at depths of 20 to 200 feet. I plow or break the soil the
first year, and raise a crop of wheat or oats; the second year plow
deep, sow about half a crop of oats, and when this is well harrowed, sow
20 pounds of alfalfa seed and cover it about two inches deep. To get the
best results, this seeding is done about April 1st, and there is no
trouble here with weeds. In cutting the grain, the alfalfa is cut off
too, but it does not grow tall enough for hay the first year. The plant
does not winterkill, and reaches its full yields by the third or fourth
year; I have found no necessity for reseeding any of my land. We
irrigate from streams, the quantity of water used depending on the
season. There are generally three applications of water, about six
inches each time. After the first two or three years, only about half
the quantity used at first will be needed. After the first year I cut
twice, and obtain about 1¹⁄₂ tons to the acre each time. The first crop
is best for seed, and is harvested when the top bolls are dead ripe,
raked the day after cutting, bunched for two days and then stacked, to
be threshed with the common threshing machinery, putting through twice.
Five bushels to the acre is a common yield of seed, and the cleaning and
threshing cost 50 to 75 cents a bushel. The hay is cut when the greater
part is in bloom, allowed to lie about a day before raking, cured about
three days, and then stacked, 14 to 16 feet wide, 60 feet long, and 20
feet high. It does not seem to heat or mold here. The total cost in the
stack is about $1.50 a ton, and baling, in 100-pound bales, costs $2 a
ton. Selling price of loose hay in this section is $5 a ton, and the
seed, 10 to 12 cents per pound in the market. The straw is worth about
as much as the hay for feed. I am well satisfied with the general
results of growing alfalfa here, and am now preparing 200 acres for
seeding. Where it will grow well, it is the best forage plant ever
discovered, being good feed for cattle, hogs, sheep, fowls, and, in
fact, all animals on the farm, while as a fertilizer it cannot be
surpassed. But one cannot do anything with it if there is not sufficient
moisture to raise wheat or oats.
INDEX.
PAGE
Alabama, alfalfa in 16
Alberta, alfalfa in 15
Experiments 231
Acclimation 8, 13, 28
Acid soil, test for 45
Unfavorable 44, 201
Acreage, too great 87
Address, Professor Spillman’s 9
Adulterants 32, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40
Africa, alfalfa introduced 2
South, alfalfa in 15
Agricultural Department bulletin 33
Agriculture, Stover’s; hay-caps 85
Agrostologist’s opinion 9
Air shaft in mow 95
Alaska, hay for 104
Albuminoids 22
Alfalfa fields 200 years old 5
Alfalfa, fails “here” 51
Description 5
Below sea level 15
Improves land values 204
Origin of name 2
Objection to 18
Preparations 182
Is “queen” 141
Replaces other legumes 151
Synonyms 4
Alfamo 185
Alfilaria, merits of 227, 228
Alsike and alfalfa compared 21, 148
Analyses, corn 22
Seed 33
Soil, free 64
Vary 137
Animals, keep off field 221
Annual manuring 70
Appetizer, alfalfa as an 125
Apples and alfalfa together 224
Arabian seed, imported 8
Arapahoe County, Colorado 243
Argentine Republic, alfalfa in 15
Arizona, alfilaria in 227
Experiments 8, 233
Army worm 219
Asiatic seed introduced 7
Assimilative restrictions 134
Avery, Prof. S., on alfamo 185
Bacteria, cowpeas increase 48
Humus helps 61
In some soils 61
In nodules 60, 198
Introducing 46, 50, 51
Introducing unnecessary 199
Lacking, failure result 66
Need nitrogen 60
Not fertilizers 201
On cowpeas 49
Spread on farm 194
Bale, hollow 105
Bales, heating 104
Loading 105
Poor prices for 104
Round 104
Size 104
Shipping 104
Baling 102
New Mexico 283
Machine, new 105
Space saved 105
Barley as nurse crop 58
Leaves weeds 59
Bare spots restored 71
Barn, storing 95
Beach, C. W. 248
Beadle County, South Dakota 300
Beak on trefoil seed 39
Beef, balanced ration for 135
Cheap western 142
Making 138
Yield to acre 130, 131
Bees and alfalfa 12, 175
Belgium, alfalfa introduced 2
Berry, J. W., storing 96
Bindweed 219
Blackshere, J. R., report 260
Blake, John, experiments 233
Bliss, D. S., report 267
Bloat, lambs do not 172
Preventing 110, 113, 171
Preventing, in Kansas 111
Professor Mayo on 116
Remedy 115, 121, 316
Rules to prevent 115
Tapping for 119
Not due to food 117
On alfalfa pasture 109
Bloom, cutting in 80
Cut in 88
Blossoming, cut before 80
Blue grass or alfalfa for pigs 158
Blue-grass, yields 21
With alfalfa 111
Botany of alfalfa 4
Bowman, Prof. M. L., report 257
Bran analysis 127
And alfalfa compared 10, 79, 85, 144
And alfalfa meal for cows 184
Food value 132
Sown with seed 56
Brandon, Manitoba, yield 14
Breaking sod hard work 195
Breeders’ Gazette on sheep pasture 114
Brewers’ grains and alfalfa compared 114
British Columbia, alfalfa in 14
Broadcast seeding 55
Brome grass and alfalfa compared 21
Brooks, Prof. William P., report 266
Brown, Benjamin, report 261
Brown County, South Dakota 302
Brown, George Campbell, report 303
Bruner, Prof. L., on hopper dozer 216
Buck-horn in alfalfa seed 41
Buckwheat bran, food value 132
Buffum, Prof. B. C., on fertilizing value 192
Bulletin, Alabama 232
Farmers’, baled alfalfa 104
Farmers’, irrigation 77
Farmers’, alfalfa for hogs 160
Kansas, hog raising 156
Nebraska, soiling and pasture 123
Nebraska, feed test 139
New Jersey, feed values 132
New York, fodder crops 126
Ohio, impure seed 33
Texas, feedstuffs 127
Utah, cuttings 128
Utah, irrigation 74
Vermont 309
Virginia 311
Wyoming, fertilizing value 192
Bulletins, various hay composition 75
Buncher 87
Burnett, Prof. E. A., dimensions of ton 229
Burning weeds 69
Bushel weight 31
Butter fat, cost 150
Butter, the marketable product 147
Buyer to blame 41
Buying soil, necessity of 61
Dangers of 62
Not necessary 61
Cache County, Utah 304
California, alfalfa introduced 2
Cutting in 89
Eleven cuttings 10
Experiments 8, 238
Feeding alfalfa alone 148
Sheep fattening 205
Camden County, New Jersey 282
Canada, alfalfa in 14
Time to sow 47
Canadian Northwest yield 14
Cannula for bloat 119
Cape Colony, alfalfa in 15
Capons on alfalfa 187
Carbohydrates and fats interchangeable 135
Function of 135
Not replace protein 136
In excess 136
In hay 76
Lacking 125
Carbonaceous foods needed 125
Carlyle, Prof. W. L., hay 173
Cattle, dangers in pasture 109
Experiences with 110
Growing, balanced ration 135
Young, balanced ration 135
Pasturing 235
Utah, fed 25
Chase County, Kansas 260
Champlain Valley 310
Characteristics, seed 37
Chick weed, destroying 303
City use of alfalfa 187
Clark County, Kansas 258
Clark, Thomas J., report 283
Clay, alfalfa on 15, 19, 17
Climates adapted to 15
Affects irrigation 77
Curing in dry 87
Arid, effect on hay 76, 88, 94
Arid, irrigation in 73
Humid, curing difficulties 88
Humid, difficulties 81
Humid, effect on hay 76
Humid, harvesting 82
Humid, hay-caps 85, 89
Humid, haying in 94
Humid, seed raising 92
Clipping before bloom 67
Invigorates 67
Clothier praises alfalfa 10
Clover, alfalfa following 50
And alfalfa compared 20, 21, 127, 143, 146, 148, 149, 222
Beaten on thin soil 19
Bur, adulterant 32, 33, 40
Bur, bacteria on 199
Bur, everywhere 61
Bur, seed recognized 39
Bur, seed in alfalfa 32
Feed value 126, 132, 145
Hay making 83
Hop, an adulterant 35
Huller for threshing 91
Pin 227
Plowed for alfalfa 49
Protein value 133
Sweet, adulterants 32, 33, 40
Sweet, bacteria 60
Sweet, everywhere 61
Sweet, stock reject 40
Sweet, seed described 40
With alfalfa 51, 112
Clover soil, Sweet, for inoculating 60, 202
Cocking at night 84
Colorado, alfalfa precedes sugar beet 173
Alfalfa in orchards 223
Bees in 175
Corn and alfalfa compared 132
Cutting in 73
Experiments 243
Fall sowing in 53
Feeding in 141
Ground alfalfa for pigs 182
Harvesting in 84
Hay composition 76
Hog rations 156
Lamb feeding 173
Losses from stacking 98
Losses in curing 82
Pasturing sheep 113
Plowing alfalfa for other crops 193
Seed 29
Sheep fattening 205
Siloing 102
Value of stubble 191
Wetted hay 81
Colusa County, California 241
Combustion, spontaneous, See Fire
Composition, irrigation influences 74
Prof. Ten Eyck quoted 75
Varies 149
Compression, double 104
Connecticut, experiments 247
Cooke, Prof. W. W., corn and alfalfa 132
Co-operative irrigation experiments 76
Corn analysis 127
And alfalfa compared 22, 132, 222
Before reseeding 72
Composition 136
Fails 16, 17, 23
Fed with alfalfa 125
Feed value 132
Fodder and alfalfa compared 148
Fodder, feed composition 136
Fodder, feed value 145
Fodder, analyses 127
Fodder, protein value 133
Fodder, value 126
Following alfalfa 193
Increasing yield with alfalfa 194
Lands, Illinois, alfalfa on 16
Meal sown with seed 56
Precedes alfalfa 46
Money from acre 25
Silage and alfalfa for cows commended 152
Stover and alfalfa compared 148
Unprofitable fattening food 126
Cortes brings alfalfa to America 2
Cottonseed, analysis 127
Meal replaced by alfalfa 151
Hulls, analysis 127
Analysis 127
Composition 137
Cotton soils, depleted, for alfalfa 16
Cottonwood river bottom lands 260
Cottrell, Prof. H. M., alfalfa meal 183
Early cutting 80
Sowing 30
Spontaneous combustion 98
_Country Gentleman_, dodder 207
Cover crop, winter before alfalfa 48
Cowpea analysis 127
Cowpeas, bacteria 49
Before fall seeding 49
Feed value 132, 145
Increase bacteria 48
Increase fertility 48
Preceding alfalfa 46
Prepare soil for alfalfa 46
Winter cover 48
Cows, number to acre 205
Scrub fed in Kansas 143
Sell farm produce 147
Crab grass, destroying 303
In seed 35
Keeping down 112
Persistent enemy 68
Craters in center, preventing 97
Creep, in pasturing lambs 172
Cresceus eats alfalfa 167
Critical time with alfalfa 73
Crops, small 65
Comparisons 130
First season 65
To introduce bacteria 50
Crop-worn land improved 16
Cultivation, perfect, essential 44
Curing, Arizona 235
Case in 93
Difficult after rain 82
Dry climates 87
Hay-caps for 84
Important agent in 93
Improper 83
Kansas 259
Losses in 82, 93
New Mexico 283
Pennsylvania bulletin 83
Poor method 87
Proper 83
Rules 89
Stack 90
Test 97
Utah 304
Washington 314
Windrow 87
_Cuscuta arvensis_ 42
_Cuscuta epithymum_ 42, 207
Cut for cows 144
Cutting after rain 82
Before or after irrigation 73
Colorado 246
Dates, Utah 78
Difficulties in humid climate 81
Early 21
Early, objections 89
Early, Professor Cottrell quoted 80
Ensilage first 101
First, not for seed 89
For silo 101, 102
Frequent 88
In bloom 88
Kansas 261
Montana 271
Number of times 89
Rules 89
Seed time 89
Second, for seed 92
Third, for seed 91
Time 80, 82, 89
Utah 304
Clover and alfalfa compared 20
Early, most protein in 81
Nine a year 10
Number in Alabama 231
Number in California 242
Relative values 127
Six or more under irrigation 72
Time between 24
Two preferred 88
_Dactylis glomerata_ with alfalfa 111
Damp hay, storing 97
Dampness in mow 97
Dangers in irrigation 73
Dangers from dampness 97
Dairy cow, balanced ration 135
Interests enhanced 205
Products in South 14
Dairies, alfalfa 26
Dairying, alfalfa in 143
Davis, Hon. T. B., alfalfa in West Virginia 317
Dawley, F. E., dodder 207
De Jarnette, J. B. experiments 241
Deer Lodge County, Montana 271
Defective alfalfa seed 33
Delaware, experiments 248
Seed for 29
Department of Agriculture experiments 8
Buying soil 62
Imports Asiatic seed 7
Hog raising 160
Depths roots go 6
Description of alfalfa 5
Desert, alfalfa in Nevada 16, 17
Dew on hay, effects 85
Dextrin losses in hay 81
Dickson, W. H., experiments 249
Difficulties in growing in 1793 3
Reduced by fall sowing 49
Digestible matter to acre 126
Digestive restrictions 134
Dimensions to ton 229
Diseased soil for inoculation 62
Disking 70
After freshets 44
After turning 69
Benefits of 71
Each spring 70
Fields after cutting 24
Overcomes failure 71
Splits crowns 57
To kill weeds 59
District of Columbia, yield in 14
Distribution of alfalfa 13, 14
Dodder, annoying enemy 206
Cut with scythe 91
Destroying, Alabama 232
Eradicating 210
Fighting 207
In alfalfa seed 32, 35
Virginia 311
Most dreaded 42
Objectionable impurity 42
Seed described 41
Seed not adulterant 42
Seed removing 42, 91
Spreading 209
To get rid of 42
Dodson, Prof. W. R., alfalfa for Louisiana 14
Report 264
Donaldson, L., report 302
“Don’ts” 225
Double compression 104
Downing, Jacob, experiments 243
Drainage necessary 18
Drenching animals 122
Drill seeding 55
Favored by Spurrier 67
Drumheller, Oscar, report 315
“Dry land” alfalfa 29
Dry matter in corn 22
Drying out, danger of soil 50
Duggar, Prof. J. F., Alabama 231
Dunn, George W., report 295
Dyeing with alfalfa seed 32
Dying out 221
Earthworms, encouraging 46
Economy of alfalfa 151
Of alfalfa in dairying 149
Of balanced ration 134
Of labor 21, 25
Of root growth 6
Eight cuttings in Louisiana 14
Eighty feet to water 44
Elements specially needed 65
Eleven cuttings a year 10
Elgin dairyman praises alfalfa 153
Enemies 200
Ensiling 270
Kansas 151
England, growing in 261
Alfalfa introduced 2
Examination of soil 64
Example of success 17
Exhibition stalk, large 6
Experiment stations disfavor nurse 59
Favor inoculation 60
Export alfalfa hay 104
Exports, seeds 31
Erf, Prof. Oscar, alfalfa for cows 140
_Erodium citcutarium_ 227
Essentials of growing 44
Of preparing soil 46
Evaporation in curing 83
In mow 97
Failures, because not cut 69
Causes of 220
Due to weeds 48
Of seed 30
Overcome by disking 71
Redeeming 65
To be expected 201
Fairchild, D. G., Arabian seed 8
Fall sowing 49, 52, 53
Fanning mill 91
Fanning removes dodder 42
Farr, Aaron F. Jr., report 304
Fat and carbohydrates interchangeable 135
In corn 21
In hay 76
Not replaceable by protein 136
Fats in excess 136
Lacking in alfalfa 125
Fattening with corn unprofitable 126
Farming, character altered 17
_Farmers’ Assistant_ mentions alfalfa 3
Farms, fruit, alfalfa on 17
Feed, quality 145
Value, fodder crops 126
Values, various 145
Feeding alfalfa alone 148
Before pasturing 110
Colorado 141
Cows economically 152
Economical western 142
Experiments for milk 184
Hogs, Nebraska 159
Tests 138
Tests, hog 156
Tests, Kansas 138, 142
Tests, Nebraska 139
Tests, various cuttings 81
Tests, Utah 138
Waste in 144
Value, Arizona 236
Value, California 241
Value, Colorado 247
Value, Idaho 253
Value, Kansas 259
Value, Utah 305, 306
Value, various cuttings 88
Value, various crops 132
Feedstuffs, analysis 126
Fertility, best means of improving 147
Increased by cowpeas 48
Robbed by nurse crops 58
Fertilization by bees 177
Fertilizers, Alabama 231, 232
Specially needed 65
Fertilizing, Georgia 250
Virginia 312
Long Island 288
Fescue, meadow yields 21
_Festuca elatior_ with alfalfa 111
Fiber in corn 22
Fields disked after cutting 24
Of alfalfa 200 years old 5
Old, in South Carolina 9
Old in West 9
Fire for weeds 69
Preventing 96
Fires caused by wet hay 97
Occur, when 98
Professor Cottrell discusses 98
Rare 96
Flesh forming 11
Flooding at critical time 73
Effects 44
For second crop 72
Floor, loose preferred for storing 95
Florida, alfalfa in 15
Fodder corn, feed value 145
Crops, feed value of 126
Fodders, values of various 145
Fort Collins lambs 173
Foster, Prof. L., cuttings 128
Foxtail, keeping down 112
France, alfalfa introduced 1, 2
Oldest fields in 5
Seed from 32
Fraser, W. J., feed for cows 152
Fraud in alfalfa seed 36
Freshet, disking after 44
Freshets, effect 44
Freezing effect on soil 195
Harm from 50
Soil for seeding 52
Fruit farms, alfalfa on 17
Raising, alfalfa in 223
Fullerton, H. B., report 288
Furnas County, Nebraska 273
Garman, Prof. H., report 264
Gaylord Farm Sanatorium 248
Georgia, experiments 250
Germ killed 27
Germany, seed from 32
Germinability, storing impairs 30
Germination, conditions influencing 57
Test seed for 28
Gila River irrigation 234, 283
Ginther, C. M., report 254
Gill, E. T., report 282
Gluten meal, feed composition 137
Replaced 151
Go-devil 87, 95
Gophers injure alfalfa 212
Grades and grading hay 105
Graham, Thomas C., experiments 235
Grain and alfalfa compared 161
Encourages weeds 59
Grange meeting at Mr. Worker’s 18
Grant County, New Mexico 283
Grasses and alfalfa compared 21
Grass, destroying by fire 69
Pin 227
Preceding alfalfa 50
Protein value 133
Grasses in pastures 116
With alfalfa 111, 113
Grasshoppers 216
Gravel, alfalfa on 15, 18
Greece, alfalfa taken to 1
Grinding, time and power required 184
Growth after cutting 21
Delayed by cold water 73
From imported seed 30
Gumbo, soil, alfalfa succeeds 17
Habitat of alfalfa 1
Influence 28
Habits altered by locality 28
Farm, changed by alfalfa 181
Handling hay 89
Little advisable 94
Hanna, S. C., bloat 111
Hansen, Prof. N. E. in Asia 7
Harrow, common not disk 70
Harrowing after cutting 24
To kill weeds 59
Harrows 70
Hartman and Weil, report 285
Harvest, dates Utah 78
Early for hogs 160
Harvester, Acme 262
Harvesting 79
By stock 107
Few and many 88
Humid climates 82
Like grain 88
Loss of leaves 80
Operations, time between 87
Seed 89
Time 80
Time to begin 82
Hawaii, hay for 104
Hay and silage compared 102
Association, National, grades 106
Association, Spillman’s address 9
Baling, California 240
Composition depends on water 75
Feed value 145
First season 65
Grades 105
In mow, watch 97
In windrows 84
Lying in swath 84
Making, Arizona 237
Making, losses in 82
Meal cheaper than baled 186
Measuring in stack 228
Money in 22, 23
Poorly cured, value 87
Preserved, color 94
Prairie and alfalfa compared 140, 141, 148, 150
Prairie, composition 136
Prairie, dimensions of ton 229
Prairie, feed value 145
Value of 91
Values, Arizona 235
Various, and alfalfa compared 148
Yield to acre, Utah 78
Hay-caps advantages 85
Described 86
Favor baling 103
Humid regions 84
Size of 86
Use of 85, 86, 89
Haying, time between operations 84
Hay-loader, belt 88
Headden, Prof. W. P., stubble value 191
Long roots 6
Curing 82
Seed storing 31
Heating, prevent in transit 105
Seed 31
Seed stack 90
Stack 90
Heaving, danger of 50
Height, normal 6
Highmore forage testing station 300
Hill, Prof. J. L., report 309
Hillman, Prof. F. H., dodder 42
Hitchcock, A. S., baled alfalfa 104
Feeding alfalfa alone 148
Quoted on irrigation 77
Hoard, Gov., brood sows 155
Yield 23
Rotation 194
_Hoard’s Dairyman_, economical butter 144
Hogs, alfalfa or blue grass for 158
Balanced ration for 136
Cut early for 160
Food for fattening 46
Kansas 155
Like alfalfa 23, 154, 237
Over stocking with 161
Pastured on surplus acres 87
Pasture for 48, 108
Hollingsworth, J. H. 255
Honey from alfalfa 12, 178
Hoove, See Bloat.
Hopper dozer 216
Kansas 218
Prof. S. J. Hunter 217
Hopkins, Prof. C. G., pot cultures 202
Report 253
Hog raising, Kansas 161
Horse raising, Ohio 166
Raising 165, 166
Horses, alfalfa for work 166
Alfalfa for driving 167
Cheap feed for 188
Injure pasture 109
On pasture 170
Overfed 166
Thrive on pasture 109
Humus favors bacteria 61
Hunter, Prof. S. J., hopper dozer 217
Bees 176
Idaho, experiments 251
Italy, alfalfa introduced 1
Illinois, alfalfa in 16
Experiments 253
Feeding cows in 152
Pot culture experiments 202
Seed for 29
Imported seed 30, 31
Impurities in seed 32, 33
Income, alfalfa 22, 23, 25, 26
Indiana, experiments 254
Yield in 23
Infected soil 60
Injuries from lime 66
Inoculation, Alabama 232
Any method helpful 199
Dangers of 62
Seed not needed 64
Failures expected 201
Illinois 254
Long Island 288
Massachusetts 266
Methods various 63
Necessary 200
Not like magic 202
Old theory 197
Soil, not needed 64
Soil, Sweet clover 202
Unnecessary 200
Virginia 311
With diseased soil 62
Insects carried by soil 63
In seeds 31
Introducing on farm 28
Iowa, experiments 257
Leaf spot in 211
Pig raising 158
Seed for 29
Spring sowing 54, 55
Irish, C. W., depth of root growth 6
Irrigation after cutting 73
Alfalfa under 72
Before cutting 73
California 238
Colorado 244
Co-operative experiments 76
Effect on hay 76
Excessive 72
Gila River 234
Harrow 24
Idaho 253
Influence on composition 74
Influence on seed 28
Increases protein 75
Necessary to saturate soil 78
New Mexico 283
Oregon 295
Salt River 236
Spring 73
Utah bulletin 74
Water to acre, Utah 77
_Irrigation Farming_ quoted 73
Irrigated land, yield 10, 23
Irrigations, number of 77
Italy, seed from 32
Jefferson, book dedicated to 3
Jenkins, Dr. E. H., report 247
Jones, John, report 306
Jones, O. S., report 301
Jordan, Dr. W. H., opinion of feed 141
Kafir corn preceding alfalfa 49
Fed with alfalfa 125
Feed composition 136
Kansas, alfalfa flowers 176
Alfalfa for dairyman 149
Alfilaria for 228
Annual top dressing 70
Bees 175, 176
Bulletin, balanced ration 135
Broadcasting at experiment station 56
Cows on small area 144
Curing in 87
Early cut hay for hogs 160
Ensiling 151
Crab grass 68
Eighty feet to water 45
Experiments 259
Fall sowing 53
Feeding cows 144
Feeding tests 138, 142
Grass in alfalfa fields 112
Gopher injuries 213
Hay, composition of 76
Hog raising 155, 161, 163
Hopper dozer 218
Horses raised 165
Lands, values increased 204
Low cost ration 150
Prairie dogs 212
Profit from hogs 162
Profit in 22, 23, 25
Preventing bloat 111
Protein in cuttings 81
Seed 29
Seed raising 90
Self-binder for harvesting 88
Sheep fattened 171, 287
Siloing 102
Soiling and pasturing 123
Sowing 57
Spring sowing 55
Station disfavors salt 100
Station on baling 103
Stock feeding 103
Storing in 96
Time to sow 47
Third cutting for seed 91
Wheat after alfalfa 193
Wintering horses 167
Work with scrub cows 143
Kenilworth Farms, Arizona 235
Kent County, Delaware 249
Kentucky experiments 264
Kiefer, H. W., report 251
Kilgore, Dr. B. W., report 289
Kirk, F. S., pasturing 113
Yield 24
Labor prices 204
Saved 25
Lake County, South Dakota 301
Lamb-feeding, Nebraska 172
Lambs, fattening 46
Fort Collins 173
On pasture 114
Never bloat 172
Pasturage for 48
Quarter in seed 35
Land, alfalfa on bottom 24
Foul, unfit for alfalfa 59
Values improved 204
Worthless made valuable 25
Langston, Alva, yield 24
Lantz, Prof. D. E., gopher injuries 213
Large alfalfa roots 18
Latitude influence on seed 28
Leaching, winter prevented 48
Leaf spot 63, 211
Legumes, bacteria on 60
Prepare soil 49
Leaves and stems, feed value compared 82
Broken by tedder 84
Lost in curing 80, 82, 183
Help in curing 83
Proportion to stems 128
Saved by slings 94
Pay for floor 99
Value 79
Lewis, D. C., report 281
Light discolors seed 31
Liggett, Prof. W. M., report 269
Lime, air slaked 66
Injuries 66
Must be applied 64
Needed 45, 201
Prevents mold 100
Small dressings advisable 66
Soil for 231
Liming 249
Connecticut 248
Massachusetts 266
Ohio 290
Lincoln County, Nebraska 275
Linseed meal and alfalfa compared 127
Feed composition 137
Replaced by alfalfa 151
Listing waxy ground 52
Litmus for testing soil 45
Loader, disadvantages 95
Loading, slings 94
Localities influence seed 28
Logan County, Idaho 252
Long Island, experiments 288
Loss from impure seed 32
Losses due to wetting 81
In curing 82
Louisiana, alfalfa in 14
Cutting in 89
Experiments 265
Lowden, F. M., report 314
Lucerne, book dedicated to Jefferson 3
Intermediate 76
Origin of name 4
Yellow 7
Lumps, soil, bad 50
Mangels, feed value 126, 145
Protein value 133
Manitoba, alfalfa in 14, 15
Mammoth clover yields 21
Manure before seeding 64
Manuring 46, 70
Wheat land for alfalfa 48
Mare, ration for brood 165, 169
Marketing 137
Markham, L. W., experiments 245
Maryland, alfalfa in 16
Seed for 29
Massachusetts, analyses, clover 20
Experiments 266
Matthies, John 248
Maximum yield, irrigation 77
Maury County, Tennessee 303
Mayo, Prof. N. S., bloat 116
McEathron, George E., report 301
McNeil, E. W., succeeds in West Virginia 317
Meadow fescue and alfalfa compared 21
Fescue and alfalfa yields 21
Meal, Prof. Cottrell’s opinion 183
Superior to hay 184
Sown with seed 56
Meat production in South 14
_Medicago denticulata_, bacteria 60
„ _foliata_, 7
„ _media_, 76
„ _sativa_, 4
Medicine Hat, yield 14
Medick, black, an adulterant 35
Medicks, fifty species 36
Meeting at Mr. Worker’s 18
Melilotus, bacteria on 60
Merrill, Prof. L. A., fed horses 168
On cuttings 128
Mexican fields, old 5
Mexico, alfalfa introduced in 2
Alfilaria for 228
Growing 244
Michigan, experiments 268
Middlesex County, New Jersey 281
Middlings, food value 132
Milk, alfalfa in making 143
Balanced ration 135
Cost of gallon 150
Flow increased 152
Tests 143
The marketable product 147
Value an acre 144
Yield increased 146
Yield, pasture and soiling 123
Miller, Henry, experiments 238
Miller, Prof. M. F., report 270
Millet, alfalfa sown with 51
And alfalfa compared 146, 148
As preparatory crop 52
Before reseeding 72
Best to precede alfalfa 49
Between potatoes and alfalfa 48
Fed with alfalfa 125
Feed value 132, 145
Good to precede 50
Protein value 133
Minimum water to apply 77
Minnesota, experiments 260
Field, old 9
Seed for 29
Spring sowing 55
Time to sow 47
Yield in 14
Missouri, alfalfa in 16
Experiments 270
Fall sowing 53
Moisture absorbed by straw 97
Conserve before seeding 47
Robbed by nurse crop 58
Molasses, adulterated with 265
With alfalfa 185
Mold, prevent in stacks 90
Moldy seed 27
Monmouth County, New Jersey 282
Montana, experiments 271
Pasturing sheep 114
Seed 29
Sheep fattening 205
Moore, Dr. G. T., breeds bacteria 108
Moore, Prof. R. A., report 311
Morgan, Prof. H. A., report 302
Mortgage lifter 11
Mow, fires 95
Storing 95
Mower not favored for seed harvest 90
Mowing, early 21
For yellow leaf 67
Improves stand 67
In wet season 68
May be wrong 68
Mulch not needed 68
“Musts” 225
National Hay Association grades 106
Neale, Dr. Arthur F., report 248
Nebraska, alfamo 185
Alfilaria for 228
Comparative yields 21
Curing 87
Experiments 273
Fall sowing 53
Feed tests 139
Hog feeding test 159
Hopper dozer 216
Lamb feeding 172
Lands, values increased 204
Profit 22, 23, 25
Sand hills 15, 17
Seed 29
Sheep fattened 171, 205
Soiling 123
Spring sowing 54
Stock feeding 103
Work horses fed 166
_Nebraska Farmer_, on cutting 69
_Nebraska Farmer_, various fields 148
Nelson, J. P., report 282
Nematodes in soil 62
Nevada, alfalfa in 14
Alfalfa, on sagebrush land 15
Deserts, alfalfa succeeds in 17
New Brunswick, alfalfa unknown in 15
New England, cutting 89
Seed for 29
Soiling 124
Success 311
New Hampshire, experiments 279
New Jersey, experiments 280
Hay composition 76
Milk test 143
Feed values 132
Plant food to acre 192
Seed for 29
Yields of clover 20
New Mexico, alfilaria for 228
Experiments 283
New Milford, Connecticut 248
Seed, new preferred 30
New York, alfalfa introduced 3
Alfalfa success 17
Dairymen claim profits 144
Experiments 287
Lands improved 26
Old field 9
Seed for 29
Soiling advisable 124
New York Station fodder crops 126
Newman, Prof. C. L., report 299
Nitro-cultures 249
Nitrogen from roots 10
From soil 52
Gathered 190, 192
Gathered by cowpeas 49
Not needed 10
Old plants need none 60
Robbed by nurse crop 58
Specially needed 65
Sustains bacteria 60
Nobbe, discovery of bacteria 197
Nodules formed 59
North Carolina, experiments 289
North Dakota, experiments 286
Turkestan alfalfa 8
Nova Scotia, alfalfa unknown 15
Nurse crop, effects of cutting alfalfa 59
Iowa 257
Or not? 58
Nutrient values, various 145
Oat grass yields 21
Oat hay, analysis 127
And alfalfa compared 148
Feed value 145
Oat straw feed value 145
Protein value 133
Oats, sown with alfalfa 51
And peas, feed value 126, 132
As nurse crop 58
Before reseeding 72
Following alfalfa 193
Feed value 132
Foster weeds 59
Ohio bulletin, seed 33, 34
Experiments 290
Fall sowing 53
Farmer sows thickly 58
Horse raising 166
Pasturing lambs 114
Preliminary seeding 51
Requisites in growing 225
Seed for 29
Oil meal and alfalfa compared 140
Oklahoma, cutting 89
Experiments 292
Pasturing 113
Seed 29
Yield 24
Olmstead and Olmstead, report 273
Ontario, lamb feeding 173
Yield 14
Orchard, alfalfa in 223
Orchard-grass, yields 21
Feed value 145
Protein value 133
With alfalfa 111
Oregon, experiments 295
Osborne County, Kansas 260
Otterson, James, report 252
Otis, Prof. D. H., feeding cows 144
Pasture for hogs 163
Overfeeding horses 166
Over stocking with hogs 161
_Panicum capillare_, a weed 69
_Panicum sanguinale_, a weed 68
Destroying 303
Parasites in purchased soil 62
Pasture, alfalfa in grass 51
And soiling compared 123
Cattle 263
Grasses, feed value 145
Horses 263
Lamb 48
Only when established 108
Pig 48
Poultry 180
Sheep 263
Stock 24
Uplands 116
Pasturing 107
Cattle 113
Horses 170
Previous to seeding 47
Rules for 116
When to stop 108
Pennsylvania, alfalfa introduced 3
Bulletin, curing 83
Experiments 297
Seed for 29
Soiling advisable 124
Perry, C. D., report 259
Physical effects, root growth 6
Effects on soil 21
Phosphoric acid needed 65
Pig, See Hog.
Pigs, death rate reduced 155
Pigweed in seed 35
Pinal County, Arizona 235
Pin-clover 227
Pittuck, Prof. B. C., report 297
Plantain in seed 41
Plants smother in wet land 44
Smothered under windrows 84
Weak with nurse crops 58
Pliny praised alfalfa 1
Plow, character of tool 195
Plowing, deep, necessary 46
Difficult 195
For other crops 193
Importance of careful 195
Proper 221
Recent not good 50
Sod, rate of 195
Stand renewed by 72
Plowings saved 21
Pods poorly filled 89
Pork, producing cheap 158
Potash specially needed 65
Potatoes following alfalfa 193
Precede alfalfa 48, 50
Poultry thrive on 180
Prairie dogs, destroying 215
Injure alfalfa 212
Preparation, proper 220
Soil 46
Preparatory crops 49, 50
Presses for baling 104
Press drills favored 56
Prices received 22, 23
Profit reduced in feeding cows 146
Profits 22, 23, 25, 144, 147
Protection, winter 108
From sun not needed 58
Protein, abundance in alfalfa 125
And carbohydrates not interchangeable 136
Digestible 126
Excess in ration 137
Function of 134
Highest in first cutting 129
In clover 20, 21
Increased by irrigation 75
In early cuttings 81
In hay 76
Percentage in leaves 79
Values, various feeds 145
Provence, seed from 32
Prowers County, Colorado 245
Purgatives for bloat 122
Quebec, alfalfa in 15
Quicklime very caustic 66
Rain, cutting after 82
Hay-caps 89
Rain-fall effect on hay 75
Influence on seed 28
Raiscot, Alfred, report 271
Rake, Monarch 262
Side delivery 87
Time to start 84
Range of soils 16, 17
Rape, analysis 127
And alfalfa for hogs compared 162
Ration, balanced 134
Balanced, explained 135
Cost of 150, 151
Money value 138
Unbalanced 134
Receipts 22, 23, 25
Recleaning seed, importance 32
Recleaning to remove dodder 42
Redding, Prof. R. J., report 250
Red-top and alfalfa compared 148
Yields 21
Renewing growth 71
Rentals of land 26
Reseeding 65, 66, 71, 72
Rhode Island, experiments 298
Rib grass in alfalfa seed 41
Rice meal, food value 132
Richmond, Indiana 255
Rick, measuring for tonnage 229
Preferred 100
Roberts, Prof. H. F., adulterants 35
Robinson, J. W., raises horses 165
Rome, alfalfa taken to 1
Roofing for hay sheds 99
Root growth 190
Growth, physical effect 6
System 6
Roots, deep 6
Nitrogen in soil from 10
Spindling, with nurse crop 58
Thumb-sized 18
Value of 21, 191
Rot, root 212
Rotation necessary 194
Roughness supplied by alfalfa 18
Various kinds to feed 145
_Rural New-Yorker_, article quoted 17
Rutabagas, fodder value 126
Rye bran, food value 132
Grass yields 21
Winter cover 48, 49
Sacramento River, growth 241
Sagebrush land for 252
Land, new alfalfa on 15
Sales 22, 23
Salt River, irrigation 236
Salt in storing hay 100
San Mateo County, California 238
San Miguel County, New Mexico 285
Sand hills, Nebraska, alfalfa succeeds 15, 17
Scott Bros., yield 22, 23
Screened alfalfa seed recommended 36
Scrub-oak land for 288
Seed, adulterated 33
Analysis 33
Bed, securing a fine 48
Bees insure fertile 175
Best costly 41
Best from Provence 32
Buck-horn in 41
Bur clover in 39
Bushel weight 31
Characteristics 37
Cheap 27, 41
Conditions influencing germination 57
Cutting time 89
Damp 27
Dodder described 41
Dodder in 32
Exports and imports 31
Failures, imported 30
Farmer to blame for poor bought 41
First cutting not for 89
For Illinois 29
For Iowa 29
For Ohio 29
For Pennsylvania 29
Formation, bees help in 176
Good costly 29
Good, essential 27
Harvesting 89
Importance of pure 35
Impurities 32
Imported, Department of Agriculture 7
Increased by bees 175
Influences affecting 28
Injuries by storing 30
Inoculation not needed 64
Insects in 31
Introduced from Europe 3
Kansas 29
Kept several years 30
Kind to buy 29
Large and small 38
Losses in stored 30
Moldy 27
Nebraska 29
Necessity of drying 90
New preferred 30
Northern grown 28
Noxious 34
Oklahoma 29
Old 27
Plantain in 41
Pods, poorly filled 89
Poor, cause failures 221
Precautions in buying 29
Pure 28
Purest in third cutting 91
Quality of 27
Quantity sowed 24, 56
Raising, dry climate 28
Raising, humid climates 28, 92
Raising, Kansas 90
Removing infertile 91
Removing weed 91
Returns 22, 23
Rib grass in 41
Roberts on pure 35
Selection 27, 28
Sifting to remove dodder 42
Size of Bur clover 39
Size of 38
Storing 31
Substitution of trefoil 39
Test before buying 29
Third crop self sown 72
Third cutting for 91
Types of 37
Utah vs. imported 30
Value in Arizona 235
Vitality injured in stack 90
Weed in alfalfa 34
Yield 91
Yield, Arizona 237
Seeding 44
After disking unnecessary 71
Alabama 231
Arizona 233
California 238
Colorado 244
Drill or broadcast 55
Fall 49
Importance of 79
July 66
Kansas 258
Manure before 64
Pennsylvania 297
Preliminary 51
Soaking soil before 73
Seeder, Cahoon 234
Gem 242
Seeders, various 56
Seeds dead 27
Fertile few 89
Seedsmen to blame for bad seed 41
Selection of seed 27, 28
Self sowing third crop 72
Self-binder, harvesting with 88
In seed harvest 90
Selling inoculated soil 61
Separator, J. I. Case 237
Separators in threshing seed 91
Shed, hay 99
Sheep, dangers to, from pasturing 109, 113
Eat bindweed 219
Fort Collins 174
Losses from bloat 113
Old, kept off pasture 114
Shepperd, Prof. J. H., report 289
Sifting out dodder 42
Silage for cows 152
Storing as 101
Superior to hay 151
Silo, advantages of using 151
Cost of 152
For alfalfa 101
Siloing suggestions 102
Slings in stacking 94
Smead, Dr. D. C., horse feeding 168
Smith, Prof. C. D., report 268
Smith, Prof. H. R., feed test 139
Smothering under windrows 84
In wet land 44
Snake River irrigation 251
Soaking soil before seeding 73
Sod, breaking, for alfalfa 50
Hard to plow 195
Soil acid, unfavorable 44
Acidity determined 45
Adobe 239
And seeding 44
Baked, avoid 46
Bur clover for inoculating 60
Buying inoculated 60, 61
Buying not necessary 61
Buying infected 60
Buying, objections to 61
Character affects irrigation 77
Conditions demanded 52
Conditions essential 46
Depleted, improved 16
Diseased, for inoculation 62
For alfalfa 15
Gumbo 261
Hardpan 16, 18
Improved by alfalfa 16, 190
Improvement due to alfalfa 16
Inoculated for sale 61
Inoculated, quantity to acre 61
Inoculation 59, 197
Inoculation, dangers of 62
Inoculation, meal or hay for 63
Inoculation, not necessary 63, 64
Listed 52
Never work wet 46
Not exhausted by alfalfa 10
Preparation 46, 297
Preparing, Arizona 233, 236
Preparing, Colorado 243
Preparation, Washington 314
Restrictions, obsolete 44
Robbed of lime 44
Rocky 19
Sugar tree land 255
Waxy 52
Wet makes failures 44
Soiling 107, 122
Advised in East 124
And pasturing compared 123
Nebraska 123
Pigs 124
Sorghum analysis 127
Bad to precede alfalfa 49
Consumes moisture 49
Fails to increase milk flow 148
Fed with alfalfa 125
Feed value 145
Hay, feed composition 136
Protein value 133
Soule, Prof. Andrew M., report 311
South Africa, alfalfa in 15
South Carolina, experiments in 299
Old field 9
South Dakota, experiments 300
South favors spring sowing 52
Land values increased 205
Sowing time 47
Southern farms, self supplied 14
Southern seed 28
Sowing dates 47
Fall 49, 53
Foul land 59
Spring disadvantages 53
Spring or fall? 52
Spring, on wheat ground 48
Points to remember 47
Time, South 47
Time, Central States 47
Sows, brood, Mississippi 155
Like alfalfa 154
Soy beans, feed value 145
Feed composition 137
Spain, alfalfa introduced 1, 2
Takes alfalfa to America 2
Spillman, Prof. W. J., opinion 9
Spontaneous combustion, See Fire.
Spot, leaf 211
Spots, bare, in lodged nurse crop 59
Restoring bare 71
Spotted leaf, mowing for 67
Spring or fall sowing? 52
Spring sowing, disadvantages 53
Sowing favored 53
Sowing, importance of early 58
Spurrier on alfalfa 3
Favors drills 67
Stack, curing in 90
Elevate bottom of 100
Fires in 95
Protect top 100
Sweating in 90
Stacks, condemned 99
Covering seed 90
Preventing mold in 90
Stacker, Landen 235
Stacking, conditions 100
Dry 93
In ricks 259
Losses from 98
Operations in 87
Precautions 90
Seed crop 89
Slings recommended 94
Stadmueller, F. H. 248
Stand, ideal 57
Improving 67
Increasing 51
Plowing to renew 72
Poor 27, 30, 54
Securing good 220
Thickening 72
With nurse crop 58
Starch in corn 22
Needed by bacteria 60
Steers pick up on alfalfa 125
_Stellaria media_, destroying 297
Stems and leaves, food value compared 82
Stewart, Prof. J. H., report 310
Stock, best way to market alfalfa 137
Fed, Utah 25
Injure alfalfa 107
Keep off field 221
Stodder, J. F., bloat 112
Storer, Prof. F. H., hay-caps 85, 86
Storing 93
As silage 101
In barn 95
In evening 97
Seed 31
Stover and alfalfa compared 140, 148
Fed with alfalfa 125, 144
Protein value 133
Straw, feed value 145
Feeding value, Colorado 245
For stack feed 91
Money in 22, 23
On damp hay 97
Protein value 133
Value of 91, 240
Stubble, value of 21, 191
Stubbs, Dr. W. C., experiments 265
Subsoil, tough, roots in 18
Subsoiling effects of alfalfa 16, 194
Substitute for alfalfa 36
Substitutes, recognising 40
Substitution of trefoil for alfalfa 39
Success depends on cultivation 44
Typical in New York 17
Sugar and alfalfa 185
Sugar beet dependent on alfalfa 173
Sugar beets, feed value 126, 145
Protein value 133
Sugar, losses in hay 81
Sun not greatest curing agent 83
Swath, alfalfa lying in 84
Sweating before baling 103
In stack 90
Sweet clover in alfalfa seed 32
Clover soil for inoculation 60, 202
Swine, See Hogs.
Swing seeder 56
Synoground, N. O. P., report 302
Syracuse, alfalfa near 17
Sysonby eats alfalfa 167
Taliaferro, Prof. W. T. L., opinion 16
Tapping for bloat 119
Taproot 6
Taylor, Prof. Frederick W., report 279
Tedder, loss from using 84
Starting 84
Ten Eyck, Prof. A. M., burning weeds 69
Dimensions of ton 229
Hay 76
Hay composition 75
Silo 102
Tennessee, experiments 302
Testing soil for acidity 45
Texas, alfalfa cut nine times 10
Alfilaria for 228
Bulletin, feed stuffs 127
Curing 87
Cutting 89
Experiments 303
Yields 9
Thawing, harm from 50
Thickening stand 72
Thompson, W. O., report 275
Thorne, Prof. Charles E., report 290
Threshing made easy 90
Time between cuttings 24
To cut 89
To sow 47
Timothy and alfalfa compared 21, 79, 127, 148, 222
Alfalfa sown with 51
Before alfalfa 50
Fodder value 126, 132, 145
Protein value 133
Ton, cubic feet in 229
Top-dressing annual 70
Benefit of 74
Trampling, effects of 59
Transportation, solving problems 186
Trefoil seed in alfalfa 32
Yellow, adulterant 33
Yellow, in alfalfa 36
Yellow, beak on seed 39
Yellow, chief adulterant 35
Yellow, distinguished 39
Yellow, size of seed 33
Yellow, to distinguish seed 37
Yellow, recognizing seed 39
Trocar for bloat 119
Tubercles formed 59
Office of 197
Turkestan, alfalfa 7, 29
Alfalfa, North Dakota 8
Alfalfa, South Dakota 300
Turnips, feed value 145
Utah bulletin, nutrients 131
Bulletin, various cuttings 128
Bulletin, irrigation 74
Bulletin, Utah county, Utah 306
Co-operative work 76
Dates of cutting 78
Experiments 304
Experiments, early cutting 81
Fall sowing 53
Feeding test 138
Hardy seed 92
Hay, composition 76
Horsefeeding 168
Reports profits 25
Seed 29
Seed not favored 92
Seed sown by Cottrell 30
Shoat raising 156
Water applied in 77
Value, leaves 79
Straw 91
Poorly cured hay 87
Values received 25
Feed, various 145
Varieties 6
Alleged 28
Ventilation in hay shed 99
Vermont, experiments 15, 309
Virginia, experiment 311
Vitality, injured in stack 90
Voorhees, Dr. E. B., report 280
Wallace, Henry, spring sowing 54
_Wallaces’ Farmer_, spring sowing 54
Walla Walla County, Washington 307, 314, 315
Wallingford, Connecticut 248
Washing, soil, prevented 48
Washington, yield 10, 23
Experiments 314
Waste, feeding cows 144, 146, 152
Water, effect on hay composition 76
Cold, delays growth 73
Too much irrigation 72
Effects on composition of hay 74, 75
Quantity to acre, Utah 77
Eighty feet below surface 44
Amount required, Arizona 234
Watrous, Prof. F. L., alfalfa in orchards 223
Watson, Prof. George C., report 297
Watson ranch, horses fed alfalfa 166
Wayne County, Indiana 254
Weed seeds in alfalfa 32, 27, 34, 41
Seeds, removing 91
Weeds, burning 69
Carried by soil 63
Chief enemies 206
Failures due to 48
Fewer in third cutting 91
In horse pasture 110
Keeping down 47
Kill, before seeding 206
Not prevented by nurse crop 59
Poor farming causes 206
Preventing 47
Repressed 46
Retarded by clipping 68
Subduing in July 66
Weevils in seed 31
Weight of bushel 31
West Virginia, experiments 317
Wet feet, alfalfa can’t stand 18, 44, 212
Wetting delays curing 81
Wheat and alfalfa compared 19, 25
Following alfalfa 193
Increasing yield 194
Straw, protein value 133
With alfalfa 51
Wheelbarrow seeder 56
Wheeler, Dr. H. J., report 208
Widtsoe, Prof. J. A., nutrients 131
Wilcox, Lute, quoted 73
Williams, C. H., pasturing sheep 114
Wilson, Prof. James W., report 300
Wing, Joseph E. 290
Curing 83
Horse raising 166
Pasturing lambs 114
Preliminary seeding 51
Windrows, curing in 87
Leaving hay in 84
Smothering under 84
Wisconsin, brood sows 155
Report 317
Time to sow 47
Wintering sows 156
Yield 9, 23
Witch-grass less bad than crab grass 69
Woodford, J. E., hog raising 163
Work animals, alfalfa for 14
Worker’s, grange meeting at Mr. 18
Worm, army 219
Worn-out soils restored 16
Wyoming, fertilizing value of alfalfa 192
Experiments 322
Seed 29
Xerxes carried alfalfa to Greece 1
Yield, acre 126
Affected by irrigation 77
Alfalfa and grass compared 21
Arabian alfalfa 8
Arizona 234
Below sea level 15
Best when no nurse crop 59
Butter, pasture and soiling 123
Compared with clover 20
Corn and alfalfa 22
District of Columbia 14
1815 3
Fodders, various 148
Increased by irrigation 74
Indiana 24
Irrigations affect 77
Irrigated land 10, 23
Largest annual 128
Louisiana 14
Manitoba 14
Maximum under irrigation 78
Medicine Hat 14
Milk increased 146
Minnesota 14
New Jersey 20
Not impaired by hogs 108
Oklahoma 24
Ontario 14
Reduced by wrong cutting 80
Seed 91
South Africa 15
Turkestan, North Dakota 8
Twelve tons under irrigation 72
Washington 10
Wisconsin 23
Yields, big, poor land 65
Irrigation, Utah 78
Profitable 22, 23
Texas 9
Wisconsin 9, 23
Zoller, Isaac, report 287
Transcriber’s Notes
The language used is that of the source document, including unusual,
inconsistent and archaic spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation, etc.,
unless listed under Changes below.
Depending on the hard- and software used to read this text and their
settings, not all elements may display as intended.
Page 187, chart: the lengths of the bars are approximations of those
given in the source document.
Page ix-xi, List of Illustrations: Full-page illustrations were
(usually) printed on unnumbered pages, and the page numbers given in
the list are therefore often the page numbers opposite which the
illustrations were printed. Figure numbers 44 and 45 are listed in
reverse order. In the text, references to illustrations are
hyperlinked to the illustrations. Descriptions such as "Actual size"
in illustration captions are not necessarily applicable to this text.
Page 69, In many parts of the country ... that most persistently: In
the source document the first two lines of this paragraph are repeated
from the previous paragraph. In the first edition (1906) of the book,
this paragraph starts: “It is sometimes the case that a field of
alfalfa is left infested in the fall with such a growth of grass and
weeds as to make burning in the spring ....”
Page 77, table: not all irrigation data add up to the totals given.
Page 165 and 338, J. W. Robison/Robinson: it is not clear whether the
name is Robison or Robinson.
Page 166, “There is no one thing so good ...: there is no closing
quote mark.
Page 207, ... and printed with illustrations ...: the illustrations
are not included explicitly in the source document, but figures 21-23
may act as such.
Pages 271 and 338, Alfred Rasicot and Alfred Raiscot probably refer to
the same person.
Index: the (not consistently alphabetical) order of entries as printed
in the source document has been retained.
Changes:
Illustrations and tables have been moved out of text paragraphs;
footnotes have been moved to directly under the paragraph or table to
which they belong. Fractions (forms 1/2 and 1-2 both occur in the
source document) have been standardised to ¹⁄₂.
Some (minor) obvious punctuation and typographical errors have been
corrected silently.
Texts in a dashed box have for legibility’s sake been transcribed from
the accompanying illustration, and do not occur as texts in the source
document.
Page viii: entry Index added to Table of Contents.
Page ix-xi: Illustration numbers have been added to the List of
Illustrations. The smaller illustrations have been added to the list,
with a descriptive caption added where that was not present in the
book.
Page 2: ... it was not introduced into those counties ... changed to
... it was not introduced into those countries ....
Page 34: ... to snow the result ... changed to ... to show the result
....
Page 62: Numerous animal and plant parasite ... changed to Numerous
animal and plant parasites ....
Page 98: ... four year prior to writing ... changed to ... four years
prior to writing ....
Page 132, last table row: buckweat changed to buckwheat.
Page 153: closing quote mark added after ... corn silage and alfalfa.
and after ... have never before looked quite so well.
Page 164: closing quote mark added after ... that in value approaches
alfalfa.
Page 202: ... facing page 231 ... changed to ... facing page 230 ....
Page 257: Paragraph break inserted before _Farmers Guide_ says: ....
Page 292: 1904-1.23 tons hay ... changed to 1903-1.23 tons hay ....
Page 292, 293: short dashes between year and yield changed to long
dashes for clarity.
Page 300: ... at Highmore Forge testing station ... changed to ... at
Highmore Forage testing station ....
Page 301: _George E. McEathron_ of Beadle county writes: ... changed
to _George E. McEathron of Beadle county_ writes: ....
Pages 325, 336: Alfalmo and alfalmo changed to Alfamo and alfamo.
Page 326, 339: Buckhorn changed to Buck-horn.
Page 327: Colusca County changed to Colusa County.
Page 329: Dextrine changed to Dextrin.
Page 334: Lumps, soll, bad, ... changed to Lumps, soil, bad, ....
Page 338: Redtop changed to Red-top.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits : Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer" ***
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