The Question Box. 73 



as fine as for an onion bed; then sow 30 pounds of seed on an acre, 

 about the time you sow oats. Do not sow any other crop with it. 

 We tried the soy beans and cow peas, but they did not succeed. 

 Last year we made four cuttings of the alfalfa. 



Question. — Do you put it into a silo? 



Mr. Dawley. — ISTo, sir; I believe that the one crop for the silo 

 is corn. 



Question. — Will alfalfa grow in this locality (Oswego county)? 

 If so, what kind of soil is needed? 



Mr. Smith. — I don't know what your soils are. Alfalfa can- 

 not be grown on too dry a soil, nor on one where water " backs 

 up " and stands during the winter and spring. We grow alfalfa 

 at the Geneva Station on a heavy clay soil, but it is well under- 

 drained. Alfalfa requires a deep rich soil, with sufficient moist- 

 ure, as it must have that as well as room for the roots to go down 

 and spread out. But alfalfa, to be just right, must be cut before 

 any of the seed develops, else the stalk becomes hard and woody 

 and the leaves drop off. We sow about 30 pounds of seed per 

 acre, without any other crop, and top dress the crop every two 

 years. 



A Farmer. — I sowed some alfalfa seed after peas and oats. It 

 came up well and grew nicely till about July, when it turned yel- 

 low' in color and died. Two or three farmers said their alfalfa 

 had failed. 



Mr. Smith. — ■ If there is an acid condition of the soil, alfalfa 

 will not grow. Test the soil with blue litmus paper. Every far- 

 mer ought to do it. It is an easy thing to do. Insert a small 

 piece of it in the soil and leave it an hour. If the color has 

 changed to a dull red, the soil is acid. A dressing with a ton of 

 good carbonated lime (air slaked) per acre will sweeten the soil. 

 Prof. Wheeler of Rhode Island, recommends an application of 

 2,500 pounds of such lime, once in four years, per acre. Red 

 clover will not grow in acid soils. 



Question. — Which variety of alfalfa is considered best? 



Mr. Smith. — " Turkestan " is said to be the best, but it is diffi- 

 cult to obtain the seed, as it is not grown to any extent in this 

 country, but is imported. As a rule, much of the imported seed 

 is badly adulterated with a small, white, wild, foreign clover. 

 " Turkestan " is said to be grown in some parts of the West, and 

 the seed is said to be kept on sale by some dealers. If you buy it, 

 patronize only first-class houses and insist on guarantee of purity. 



