EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK-PART X. 64L 



is inexhaustible, and the longer its resources are drawn upon without 

 compensation the greater will be the difficulty of restoring it when it 

 finally refuses to yield an adequate return for its cultivation. 



To be sure, we have valleys that are annually enriched by the wash 

 from higher land, and will never grow poorer so long as the higher land 

 has fertility to supply it. But what of this higher land? It is being 

 robbed both by nature and by the short-sighted farmer and the time has 

 already arrived at some of it, here in Woodbury county, must be fed and 

 nursed back to a more productive state or it will not pay for the labor of 

 farming. 



The fact that alfalfa will produce twice as many tons of hay per acre 

 as any other forage plant we can grow here and that it has a greater 

 value per ton, thus enabling us to keep more stock on a given amount 

 of land to help sustain its fertility, added to its power to build up the 

 soil while growing, proves its great value for this purpose. When we 

 further consider that at the same time our live stock return us a greater 

 net profit because of the cheapness and excellence of alfalfa as a feed, the 

 conclusion is that when its .value is appreciated and its cultivation under- 

 stood it must become one of our staple crops. 



Well cured alfalfa contains more feeding value per ton, especially pro- 

 tein (which so many of our other feeds lack) than any other hay. All 

 kinds of live stock relish it and do well on it, including hogs and poultry. 

 It is especially valuable to the dairyman and the cattle feeder, as with it 

 a balanced ration can be made without buying high-priced oil meal or 

 other concentrates. 



Any well drained land in Woodbury county that will grow fair corn 

 will grow good alfalfa. The thin soil of our ridges will yield big crops of 

 it if well manured before sowing, but if the ground is poor it will be a slow 

 process getting it started. We have always practiced sowing alfalfa in 

 the spring. The land intended for alfalfa is planted to corn the previous 

 year and kept as clean from weeds as possible. In the spring all stalks 

 and trash are removed and the ground leveled, stirring the soil no more 

 than is necessary to do this, or to cover the small grain which we usually 

 sow for a nurse crop. The disc drill is an ideal tool for putting in alfalfa. 

 When this tool is used 15 to 18 pounds of seed to the acre is enough. If 

 sowed broadcast and harrowed in I would advise 20 pounds and if the 

 seed does not all sprout when tested add enough to make up for the poor 

 seed, but it is more satisfactory to have good seed. We use either oats 

 or barley for a nurse crop. When oats is used we sow one and one-half 

 to two bushels per acre and cut it for hay as soon as it is headed. Last 

 year we sowed five pecks of barley per acre on rich ground and allowed 

 it to ripen, but as a rule it is dangerous to the young alfalfa to let the 

 nurse crop ripen. 



After the nurse crop is removed we leave all after growth for winter 

 protection. As early as possible in the spring, some day when the stubble 

 is dry and the ground moist, we burn it off to get rid of the trash. Alfalfa 

 will yield three and sometimes four crops a year here. It should be cut as 

 soon as it fairly begins to blossom. When you find by looking at the 

 crown of the plant, at the ground, that the next growth is starting, it is 

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