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.