SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VHI. 803 



GROWING ALFALFA IN NORTHERN IOWA. 



Twentieth Century Farmer. 



Question often comes to this office asking whether alfalfa can be grown 

 to advantage in the northern part of Iowa. Many farmers have an idea 

 that alfalfa cannot be profitably grown in sections east of the Missouri 

 river because the climate is too moist. By the time the first alfalfa crop 

 is ready to be cut for hay considerable rain usually falls in nothern Iowa, 

 and consequently it is difficult to cure the first crop and make good hay 

 of it. But we do not believe that to be a sufficient argument against the 

 use of that crop. We do not better at this time than to refer to the 

 experience of S. A. Roeder, whose farm is located some three miles north 

 of Sioux City. Mr. Roeder has been growing alfalfa in that locality for 

 a number of years. Last year he puchased more land and part of this he 

 put into alfalfa. The farm had been rented for several years, and as is 

 often the case in instances of that kind, had not been properly cared for. 

 It was very weedy. On a fifteen-acre field, which had grown a large crop 

 of weeds for ttree or four years in succession he planted corn, but after 

 the corn was well up he concluded that it would be impracticable to keep 

 the weeds down, and consequently he plowed up the whole field, disced it 

 thoroughly and harrowed it several times. In other words, he prepared 

 w^hat he calls an ideal seed bed for alfalfa and what he terms an ideal 

 seed bed is nothing short of what a market gardener would consider a per- 

 fect garden loam. 



He seeded twenty pounds of alfalfa seed per acre about the first of 

 April and during the first season, that is, last summer he cut three 

 tons of hay per acre off from these fifteen acres. This was secured in two 

 cuttings and shows in a very striking manner that there is certainly no 

 reason why alfalfa should not be grown in Iowa wherever the soil is adap- 

 ted for this legume. True this alfalfa has not gone through cold weather 

 yet, but Mr. Roeder has several fields that have been seeded for a number 

 of years and he has never had any trouble from its freezing out. 



Whenever thin spots occur in his alfalfa fields he goes over them in 

 the spring of the year and scatters a little seed. In case the patches are 

 large, he sometimes uses the disc first, then puts on the seed and finally 

 uses a light harrow. It should be stated in this connection that the alfal- 

 fa referred to was seeded without a nurse crop. Ordinarily when 

 alfalfa is seeded in that manner and in the spring of the year it does not 

 produce enough to make it worth while cutting the crop for hay. This is 

 no doubt partially due to improper seed bed preparation. The fact cannot 

 be too strongly emphasized, that the soil should be thoroughly prepared 

 for alfalfa, that the plants are very slow growers at first, and that con- 

 sequently there is danger of their being crowded ost by weeds. In order 

 to prevent this, the custom of clipping the crop at intervals during the 

 summer season with the mower is practiced with satisfactory results. 



