The Question Box. 77 



Question. — Would it be good to grow alfalfa for hay in Dela- 

 ware county ? 



Prof. F. H. Hall. — Yes ; it certainly would be good, if it can 

 be grown there. This is a question you can decide only by testing 

 it, but I believe it is worthy of a trial. There is a wide range of 

 choice in soils, on which it can be successfully grown. The es- 

 sential thing is to get a good seed bed, and this you can afford to 

 do, for unlike most other fodder crops, instead of being sown for 

 a short period of one, two, or three years at the most, it is sown 

 for ten years, or more, if it does succeed. Prepare the soil care- 

 fully, then sow from 18 to 30 pounds of seed to the acre. The 

 stronger the soil on which it is sown, the more seed is required. 



Question. — How do you feed alfalfa, green or dry ? 



Mr. Smith. — Both ways. We begin cutting it when it is a foot 

 high to feed green, and continue until the first blossoms appear; 

 then we cut the remainder and cure it for hay: when it reaches 

 'the same height again, we repeat the process, making in some sea- 

 sons, four cuttings, depending on the season. 



Question. — Can the land be plowed after being seeded two or 

 three years to alfalfa? 



Mr. Smith. — Yes ; but when one gets a good catch of alfalfa 

 he will not want to plow it up. We have plowed it, however, using 

 three horses. The roots were very long and as large as my finger 

 in diameter. 



POTATOES. 



Question. — We have cut down a number of our apple trees 

 owing to the work of the canker worm. A part of the land 

 was planted in corn. The crop was good. Another part was 

 planted in potatoes, but the crop was small and scabby. What 

 was the cause? 



Mr. Van Alstvne. — It may be that there is too much nitrogen 

 present. The large crop of corn would indicate it, also the small 

 tubers ; but it would not cause scab. Either there was scab pres- 

 ent in the soil or in the seed potatoes you planted. 



Question. — Would you plow early or late for potatoes? 



Mr. Fenner. — For early potatoes, early; for late ones, not 

 until about the time to plant them. We often plant late varieties 

 as late as July 10th. From June 10th to July 10th is our time 

 for planting those varieties. We plow the land just before the 

 time to plant, roll it down hard, then make it very fine — as fine 

 almost as for onions. The cultivation is done with the weeder 



