The Question Box. 301 



^Ir. Litchard. — Years ago I tried it. Won't say anything about 

 it now. 



A Farmer. — Over on the river flats, a man has three or four 

 acres. He reports satisfactory results. 



Mr. Hardy. — I have a small piece of it. It is satisfactory, but 

 we found when plowing the ground roots five feet long, and the 

 plow might as well have run against a stump. 



Mr, Dawley. — That came from not sowing the seed thickly 

 enough. When 30 pounds of seed are sown, the spears are much 

 finer, but the cutting should be done before the seed is formed, 

 else the plant will become hard, woody and entirely worthless. 

 Sow it at the time the spring grains are put in, and when the 

 plants and weeds are a foot high, run the mower over, and cut 

 everything down to within four to six inches of the ground, and 

 leave it for a mulch, unless there is too much of it. In that case 

 rake it up and draw it off. The next season, if it withstands the 

 first winter, there may be two or three more cuttings made. We 

 have cut ours three times, but as a rule we make but two. We 

 have a field of it that has been growing 10 years, and the stand 

 seems to be as good as ever. 



If you are to grow it, either have the soil well underdrained, 

 or else put it in good soil, naturally dry. Alfalfa will not grow 

 on wet land, although it requires moisture. It is a very deep 

 rooter. The roots go down, if they have the opportunity, several 

 feet. Last summer, about all the green thing on our farm was 

 the alfalfa. Professor Voorhees, of New Jersey, says he grew on 

 the station farm there an equivalent of $125 per acre of protein 

 in an alfalfa crop. It has about the same power, possibly a little 

 more, of taking nitrogen from the atmosphere and giving it up to 

 the soil as have the red clovers. 



Would yon advise seeding to grass or clover with the corn? 



Mr. Litchard. — I have never tried the experiment, but I know 

 of its being done in Chautauqua county and it is said, quite satis- 

 factorily. We have, sometimes, sown clover with our corn. 1 

 have ten acres that have never had a load of barn manure or a 

 spoonful of phosphates on them, that are now producing good 

 crops. They have been kept fertile by the use of clover and culti- 

 vation. We take off, first, a crop of clover, and follow that with 



