THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



95 



seed is to be sown in the spring the fall 

 plowing will cover the former crop and re- 

 tain moisture for a long period and the 

 surface will be made mellow by the winter 

 rains and freezes. Barley should be sown 

 at the rate of about one and one-half 

 bushels per acre. Some prefer to plant 

 with press drills, others sow broadcast. 

 For winter pasture that sown in the fall 

 is probably better put in broadcast 

 Where irrigation is practiced the seed 

 should be drilled and the water applied by 

 furrows. Barley may be killed by too 

 much water, but it will withstand drouth 

 more than most cereals. Statistics show 

 that the production has decreased in the 

 past few years, which is a sure indication 

 that it may now be made profitable by 

 proper growth and marketing. 



ALFALFA IN NEW YORK. 

 I have raised alfalfa on a small scale 

 for about eight years past, and consider it 

 a valuable grass for all kinds of stock, 

 when cut green for horses, cattle, sheep, 

 and even hogs and hens. I wintered 40 

 hens last winter; gave them a small fork- 

 ing of green cured alfalfa, with the leaves 

 on, which they dispatched easily, and I 

 think was a help to them with their grain 

 rations. I have fed it in small quantities 

 to my three cows for a number of years, 

 and find there is no better hay for cows 

 giving milk than alfalfa, for quantity and 

 quality. It needs more curing than most 

 any other hay and should be cured mostly 

 in the cock to preserve the leaves, and 

 should be cut greener than common clover; 

 as soo n as it first begins to blossom it 

 should be cut. before the stalks get 

 hard and tough; usually three times in 

 each summer in Central New York. All 

 kinds of soils and farms are not suitable 

 for the raising of alfalfa. I would not 

 sow it on rough stone land, nor on poor 

 land with a hard pan bottom. "When 

 young it is a tender plant, more so than 

 our common clover for the first year or so. 



The rich bottom lands along our brooks 

 and rivers where not too low and wet, and 

 the water does not stand on the ground for 

 days in the spring and no hard pan bottom, 

 seems well adapted for its growth. I 

 have made a success in raising it on such 

 bottom land ; black muck, much like the 

 prairie soil I have seen in the Western 

 states. The roots grow longer and 

 stronger every year for a few years, when 

 in good soil, branching out more after be- 

 ing cut off. I have seen more than 50 

 branches from one root. It also does well 

 on our gravelly and loamy soils when put 

 in condition. It will kill out in a .low 

 spot or a sink hole where snow water or 

 ice settles and freezes up in the spring of 

 the year, and stands on the land for a few 

 days. I consider it excellent for a per- 

 manent meadow, but would not sow it in 

 my regular rotation where I plowed up 

 once in three or four years, as the roots 

 get so strong and large as to make hard 

 plowing, requiring a plow point sharpened 

 on an emory wheel to cut off the roots. 

 The ground should be nearly level, but 

 may do if a little rolling, if no sink holes 

 for standing water. I made a mistake, 

 for years, in sowing too little seed to the 

 acre and'sometimes'by sowing too many 

 other kinds of seeds with it, especially or- 

 chard grass for one, which would choke 

 out the alfalfa; and by sowing three 

 bushels of oats to the acre with it ; that 

 shaded it too much. My best seeding has 

 eebn 30 pounds of alfalfa seed per acre 

 and not more than one bushel of oats with 

 it. That has furnished a small crop of 

 good heavy oats, and shaded the alfalfa 

 just about right to get a splendid start 

 the first year. It requires rich and well 

 cultivated land to produce a good crop of 

 alfalfa. The land should be well manured, 

 hoed, cultivated and dragged,, with crops 

 for two years, and brought into as fine 

 tilth as for a garden; then sow in the 

 spring, when we sow spring grain; roll 

 the land down smooth, after going ove 



