EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 491 



weeds. Anticipating that more might be found in the neighborhood of the plot 

 which ripened seed during 1903, a small plot was planted early in May and along- 

 side of wire netting which gave the plants an opportunity for climbing at will 

 and a better chance for ripening seed. A few plants appeared among field peas 

 and Sand Lucerne which had been planted upon and adjoining the plot which 

 had ripened the sand vetch the year before. These plants, at the time the two 

 plots were harvested, had set numerous pods, but even in the most advanced, the 

 seed was less than half developed. The plants which were allowed to climb were 

 not seriously damaged by fall frosts. They were still partly in blossom at the 

 beginning of November and had reached a height of 12 feet, but the seed in the 

 most advanced pods was not more than half developed. This and former tests 

 would seem to show that the plants will not ripen seed unless planted during 

 early fall, hence the danger of becoming a weed in this region is very remote, 

 while as a weed destroyer, the plants are more effective than any other except 

 field peas, judging at least from observations made during the past two seasons 

 while trying to discover the most economical method for destroying Canada 

 thistles and quack grass. 



The yield of the Alfalfa plots has increased each year, and the large yield 

 of the past season shows that the plants are now fully established and that 

 this valuable crop is well adapted to Upper Peninsula conditions. The success 

 obtained at this Station and the agitation of the public press have awakened a 

 deep and increasing interest in this crop in nearly every part of the Upper 

 Peninsula. Numerous letters of inquiry have been received during the past two 

 years, and the number is increasing recently owing to a misconstruction placed 

 by certain newspaper writers upon the proper value of "the fertilizer which, is 

 distributed free in the shape of yeast cakes." Many, in fact most, of these letters 

 come from parts of the Upper Peninsula where alfalfa may or may not succeed. 

 They show that failures have not been rare, and that alfalfa refused to grow 

 upon rich soil in spite of inoculation with artificial cultures and with soil which 

 had been imported at a great expense. A short discussion at this time may 

 therefore prove to be worth many times more than the cost of maintaining 

 the Station. In the limestone region of the southern and eastern slope of the 

 Upper Peninsula, quite a number of people, upon the Station's advice, have 

 planted alfalfa within the past three years. No failure has been reported except 

 in one instance, when contrary to advice given, alfalfa had been planted with 

 rye as a nurse crop. The other failures have invariably been reported from the 

 northern slope, and while several demands for a personal investigation had to 

 be refused, it became accidentally possible to personally investigate two such 

 failures during the past season. In both cases the land was producing heavy crops 

 of common clover, but was underlaid with a hardpan at a depth varying from 

 about 6 inches to 3 feet. The deeper the hardpan was found the more alfalfa 

 plants were still growing. Such hardpan is likely to be found in the neighbor- 

 hood and for quite a number of miles distant from the iron ranges. Apparently 

 it is largely composed of swamp iron, is usually brittle and often no more than 

 an inch in thickness. Wherever this hardpan is close enough to the surface 

 to be broken up with a plow or subsoil plow, the land may possibly be well 

 adapted to alfalfa, and trials on a limited scale are highly advisable. Other 

 failures may be due to the acid condition of the soil. The litmus paper test 

 is a simple operation, and it is always advisable to apply the test when de- 

 ciding to plant alfalfa. A slightly alkaline reaction is preferable and where 

 it shows merely neutral, it will pay to give an application of lime before plant- 

 ing. Nurse crops are to be condemned rather than encouraged. They may do 

 for grasses or common clovers, but it is poor practice to attempt to "smother 

 in kindness" plants which even without a nurse crop, require two to three years 

 before they are fully established. The claim that young alfalfa plants need 

 shading, is not intelligently fulfilled by means of nurse crops, for it means 

 robbing as well as shading. That the plants are not killed in every instance, 

 is no argument in support of the practice, but rather speaks for the vitality 

 of the remaining plants which have been able to survive the ordeal. Without 

 nurse crops, with good seed and with soil conditions as favorable, alfalfa, elsewhere 

 as well as here, will yield .a ton or more per acre during the first season when 

 planted early in spring. One crop at a time ought to be enough. Soil fertility 

 should need but little discussion in a region where nearly 95 per cent of the total 

 area is still virgin soil, and where the remaining 5 per cent have probably been 



