FIFTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI 425 



they were a few years ago, and when farmers over our state know 

 as much about raising alfalfa as they do about raising our great corn 

 crop, its success will be assured. It is not an uncommon thing for 

 alfalfa to yield five tons to the acre in three cuttings and being 

 nearly equal in nutritive food value to wheat bran, it is not unfair 

 to say that good alfalfa hay is worth from $10.00 to $15.00 per ton 

 to any feeder of farm animals. 



When starting an alfalfa field select a well drained tract with a 

 water level at least five feet from the surface. Alfalfa will not 

 grow on a water-logged, mucky or sour soil. To determine the 

 sourness or acidity of the soil, use the blue litmus paper test. Pro- 

 cure some blue litmus paper from your druggist, cut a slit in the 

 moist soil and insert the paper and press the soil closely around it. 

 Allow it to remain about a half hour and then examine the color 

 of the paper. If the paper is pink the soil shows acidity and should 

 be limed before sowing alfalfa, but if it remains blue no lime is 

 necessary. 



Alfalfa may be sown in either the fall or spring, but fall sowing 

 is to be advised as a grain crop can be raised on the land during the 

 early months of the season and if sown in the spring the field is 

 apt to become infested with weeds. The plant does not, as a rule, 

 do well with a nurse crop. 



The field to be used should be well fertilized with well rotted 

 barnyard manure, and inoculated with nitrogen gathering bacteria 

 which are so essential to the life of the alfalfa plant. Soil may be 

 inoculated in two ways; First, by taking wagon loads of dirt from 

 a neighboring alfalfa field, or sweet clover field, (which uses the 

 same kind of bacteria) or the pure culture. These nitrogen produc- 

 ing bacteria are seldom found in soil never before used for alfalfa. 

 Plow the soil deep, providing as much aeration as possible before 

 planting the seed. 



Sow about twenty pounds to the acre of the best alfalfa seed 

 procurable to obtain the best results. The time to cut the crop is 

 when the little shoots put out at the base of the plant. Never har- 

 vest the crop until these appear. 



Good alfalfa hay used in conjunction with corn silage and a small 

 grain ration is the ideal balanced ration feed for a dairy cow without 

 the addition of any high priced concentrate to reduce the profit 

 from the butterfat. "When the dairymen of the state are universally 

 equipped with silage and alfalfa their profits will be very materially 

 increased. 



