No. 7. DEiPARTMENT OF AGRICUL,TUKE. 621 



a nurse crop of barley. It grows quickly and does not leave any 

 stubble. Well, we sow a bushel to the acre, and a peck of alfalfa — 

 15 pounds of alfalfa to a bushel of barley. When we harvest the 

 barley we will cut the alfalfa down as far as it will go, and then 

 we let it grow again. Now as long as the alfalfa will grow the first 

 summer we let it grow. There will come a time when it will look 

 thrifty, and then get down on your knees right there on that alfalfa 

 ground, and see if there are any new buds just starting out, and 

 don't cut it until you see the new buds starting. It does not take 

 long for a man to get down on his knees; it is a good thing for him, 

 now and then. Then, when you see the buds starting, you cut it. It 

 will soon grow up again. We never cut it down close to the ground; 

 we always leave about one-half of it, and we do not allow a wagon 

 to pass over it, nor a horse. 



Now, I have told you everything I know about alfalfa, except one 

 thing, and that is, it will not grow without bacteria. Cream 

 will not sour without bacteria. When I was out on 

 the ranch, we used a great deal of clabber, and it made the 

 men feel like fighting cocks most of the time. I have no doubt that 

 it was those fighting microbes that did it. But to grow alfalfa the 

 ground must be innoculated. If your ground is innoculated, you 

 will get a crop the first year; if it is not innoculated you will not get 

 your crop until the second year. 



And while you are waiting for your ground to become innoculated 

 the weeds come, so send to Washington and got some of the bacteria. 

 Some of these bacteria will be all right, and some of them will have 

 been living on their wife's relatives. Then I would take some of 

 the soil of the old alfalfa field, and some new soil, and I would sow 

 these bacteria, and harrow the ground in the evening, after sunset, 

 and all the rest is just faith. 



Don't start in on a large scale. Try it with one acre, and when 

 you have found which is the best land, you can try it with two acres, 

 and then you can gradually increase your alfalfa crop. It is the 

 best thing in the world for chickens, and for cows, for sheep and 

 for colts. It is the best thing I have yet found to grow on the farm. 



A PROFITABLE METHOD OF MARKETING MILK. 



By J. H. REICHERT. 



There are many farmers and dairymen keeping cows at little or 

 no profit because the price they receive for their milk is entirely too 

 low when compared with the present trust prices for grain and labor 

 difficulties. The key to the situation then is, of course, a better mar- 

 ket, or better prices for our milk. In most cases, before this market 

 and price can be secured we must arrange for more modern methods 

 on the farm for the production of clean wholesome milk from 

 healthy cows. Some of the things necessary are: Your barn must 

 have some method of ventilation; no matter how old the barn, the 



