TIMOTHY NOT A "SOIL ROBBER" 65 



together with a comparatively low amount of available mineral 

 elements in a soil invariably causes lodging of small grains. Too 

 much nitrogen produces rank growth, much leaves and weak straw. 

 It is not easy to overcome such conditions. It is good farm practice 

 to try to prevent such conditions by maintaining in the soil a good 

 supply of easily available mineral elements as well as a good nitro- 

 gen supply. 



Alfalfa a " Heavy Feeder." Much is said concerning alfalfa 

 as a great soil enricher. Many believe that it takes only a small 

 amount of the elements from the soil, and that somehow the more 

 alfalfa is raised the richer the soil becomes in every respect. The 

 fact is that in a year a five-ton alfalfa crop removes from the soil of 

 one acre five and one-half pounds more phosphorus, one hundred 

 thirty pounds more potassium and one hundred sixty-eight pounds 

 more calcium than a sixty-five-bushel corn crop. It is not sur- 

 prising, therefore, that alfalfa should require a rich soil, and that it 

 fails on a poor soil. 



It is believed by some that alfalfa draws most of the mineral 

 elements from the deep subsoil. In deep and porous soils con- 

 siderable phosphorus and potassium, no doubt, is brought up from 

 the deep subsoil; but in a soil having a heavy, silty clay or clay 

 subsoil beginning a few inches below the surface it is doubtful 

 that very much available mineral element is present to be ab- 

 sorbed by the deep alfalfa roots. The fact remains, however, 

 that when the seven or eight inches of surface soil is poor, 

 alfalfa cannot be grown successfully without heavy fertiliza- 

 tion. The reason for this is explained in the fact that most of 

 the fibrous, feeding roots are to be found in the surface soil. The 

 roots which penetrate the deep subsoil secure a good water supply 

 for the alfalfa. 



In one respect the growing and feeding of alfalfa on the farm 

 does enrich the soil, viz., in nitrogen. This can be said of 

 all legumes. 



Timothy Not a " Soil Robber." It is a common belief that 



timothy is "hard on the land." In studying the preceding table, 



we observe that this crop does not draw heavily upon the soil. 



No doubt timothy got its mean reputation in this manner : When 



a field no longer will grow profitable crops of grain or corn as a 



result of exhaustive cropping, it is seeded with timothy, because 



" it is usually a sure crop, not easily killed out, and it may be grown 



several years on such land without much attention being given to it. 



5 



