THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



195 



four in August and three in September. 

 In 108 cases a nurse crop was used, 

 while in 393 cases the alfalfa seed was 

 sown without that of any other crop. The 

 use of the nurse crop was largely confined 

 to extreme eastern Nebraska and tTie irri- 

 gated land of the west. Many persons who 

 used a nurse crop say that they would not 

 do so again. It has been -recommended to 

 use a light seeding of small grain, sown 

 earlier or with the alfalfa, to prevent dam- 

 age by severe^winds. When sown in this 

 way the nurse crop is mown when eight 

 or ten inches^ high, to prevent it smother- 

 ing the alfalfa. 



In 55 cases the seed was put in with a 

 drill and in 447 cases it was sown broad- 

 cast. This is at least an indication that if 

 a drill is not available a satisfactory stand 

 can be obtained^by broadcasting and har- 

 rowing in, provided the other conditions 

 are favorable. 



There were 138 reports of less than twen- 

 ty pounds of seed per acre being used, and 

 336 reports of twenty pounds or more be- 

 ing sown. The evidence seems to be in 

 favor of the use of at least twenty pounds 

 of seed per acre. 



Of the persons replying to the inquiries, 

 221 have stands of alfalfa that yield more 

 than four tons of cured hay per acre each 

 season, while 15^ do not get as much as 

 four tons of hay per acre. 



Of persons having practiced disking al- 

 falfa in the spring or at other times, 138 

 report that beneficial results have been ob- 

 tained, while 7 report that disking has 

 been ineffective or injurious. By disking 

 alfalfa is meant going over it in the spring 

 with a disk harrow before growth starts or 

 during summer immediately after cutting 

 for hay. It is customary to set the disks 

 at a slight angle. This cuts the cro.vn 

 root and stirs the soil. Some of the cor- 

 respondents prefer harrowing to disking. 

 Where positive objection is made to disk- 

 ing it was based on the claim that it caused 

 the crowns to become diseased. The great 



bulk of the evidence was, however, in fa- 

 vor of disking. 



Of the persons who have manured alfal- 

 fa, either by plowing in the manure imme- 

 diately before seeding or by spreading it 

 on the field aftera stand had been obtained 

 110 obtained beneficial results, and 13 

 found it to be ineffective or injurious. Ob- 

 jections are based on the claim that plow- 

 ing in manure causes the soil to dry out, 

 but the objections to spreading manure on 

 alfalfa are rather indefinite in their nature 

 except that on low land it makes the 

 growth too rank and the alfalfa falls down. 

 Many of those who advocate its use speci- 

 fy that the manure should be rotted and 

 fine. One man suggests harrowing after 

 spreading, to fine it. The reports of bene- 

 ficial results from plowing under manure 

 come largely from the eastern portion of 

 the state, but the use of fine manure ap- 

 plied as a top dressing has ^roven benefi- 

 cial in all parts. T. L. LYON in Bulletin 

 16 University of 



THE CRANBERRY. 



Strangely enough the habits of the pop 

 ular cranberry are almost unknown to its 

 admiring friends. 



The berries are grown in bogs that cost 

 from three hundred to five hundred dollars 

 an acre. The soil in which they flourish 

 is composed of peat and clean, sharp sand, 

 the latter being absolutely essential to 

 healthy growth. 



The bush on which the berries appear 

 grows about six inches high, and every 

 year it puts out "runners" that, in turn, 

 take root and form new bushes; so that, 

 when a bog first becomes productive, five 

 years from the time of its beginning, it is 

 thickly covered with bushes. 



This growth is accentuated by a system 

 of irrigation that keeps the bog water- 

 soaked, though not to such a degree as to 

 cause anything like a liquid state. The 

 irrigating plan is most useful as a protec- 

 tion against frost, for, when the grower 



