68 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Oct. 



Calcium % in ash. Magnesium % in ash. 



Com (kernel) 6.30 14.90 



Oat meal 3.00 7.00 



Alfalfa hay 40.00 5.00 



How to Grow Alfalfa. 



To grow alfalfa successfully there are six steps, each of 

 which must be very carefully taken. You may think as others 

 have thought that you can get paying crops of alfalfa by leaving 

 one or more of the six steps untaken, but experience will teach 

 you in time that each and every one of the six things must be 

 carefully attended to. We call these six steps the six alfalfa 

 secrets, as follows: — 



1. Good, well-drained soil. 

 2 A good, hard seed bed. 



3. Plenty of the right kind of lime. 



4. Good, acclimated, northern grown seed. 



5. Good, abundant soil or seed inoculation. 



6. Good harvesting and curing of the hay. 



Good Soil. 



You will notice that our first requirement is good soil. Al- 

 falfa must have liberal feeding. It is true that alfalfa when once 

 well established will come nearer making its own way, while giving 

 paying crops, than will any other farm crop; yet this fact must be 

 faced, namely, during the first year alfalfa plants are delicate 

 little plants which respond readily to liberal feeding. This means 

 that we get more from the money spent for available nitrogen, 

 potash and phosphorus to put on the ground, which we are to 

 seed to alfalfa, than we get from the money spent for plant food 

 for most other farm crops. 



But how is a man to know what to feed his alfalfa plant? 

 My answer is ask your farm bui'eau agent. He should have 

 gathered some valuable information from the experiences of the 

 farmers of your district, and he should have at hand what the 

 experiment stations know as to what alfalfa needs. The next 

 best source of information after your farm bureau, is your experi- 



