382 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SPRING SEEDING OF ALFALFA. 



W. S. Kelly in Tiventieth Century Farmer. 



As spring approaches many questions of interest to the farmer press 

 forward and demand attention. Not the least among them is the ques- 

 tion of spring seeding of alfalfa. Should it be pastured the first season? 



Any advice on this pro or con I am sure will meet with opposition, 

 as soil conditions are so various, climate, too, has its influence, and last 

 but not least, the farmer's conception is so varied that dangerous ground 

 is reached in whatever direction one goes. Hence I shall stick very 

 closely to my own experience and observations. 



First, let me state that my experience along this line has been al- 

 most wholly confined to the Missouri river bottom in Harrison county, 

 Iowa, and my observations along the same stream from Sioux City to 

 Kansas City, as well as in the arid regions of several states farther 

 west where they do not pasture to any extent at any age. 



On the river bottom above referred to both soil and climate seem 

 peculiarly adapted to the growth of this plant. It grows and thrives here 

 better than in any section with which I am familiar. In this section 

 I am quite sure more failures occur by not pasturing when sown with 

 a nurse-crop than from any, yes, all other causes. 



When alfalfa is sown with a nurse-crop most people make the mis- 

 lake of permitting the nurse-crop to ripen. Then along about the 10th 

 •jf July come with the reaper and remove the crop and turn the little 

 alfalfa plants, pale and sick unto death from, strangulation, out to the 

 merciless rays of a scorching July sun, and then wonder why his fieki 

 doesn't prosper like his neighbor's. The great trouble here is the crop 

 is removed twenty days too late to save the very plant it was intended 

 to nurse. 



Now at this point two courses are open, either of which will prove 

 and a sufficient number of stock turned on about the 20th of May to eat 

 the field down fairly bare by June 20th, the alfalfa will come out at a rapid 

 pace. 



Now, if oats, wheat or barley is sown as a nurse crop with alfalfa 

 very successful. Some of the stock may be taken out and continue the 

 grazing with the remainder or all may be removed and a good crop of 

 hay secured later on. 



I have seen both of these methods pursued with complete success. 

 Some of the very best fields I have ever seen were sown with wheat and 

 rrazed until well along in July, and then the stock removed and a very 

 good crop of hay secured in September. 



I once secured a nice stand of alfalfa by sowing with barley and 

 pasturing all summer. However, in this case it was necessary to use 

 the mowing machine a couple of times to help keep weeds and foxtail 

 grass down. I expect to treat the same piece of ground in exactly the 

 same way this season, as an extraordinary overflow, which continued for 

 twenty days last summer, killed it out completely. 



