154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



A Dozen Alfalfa Don'ts. 



1. Don't sow on weedy soil. 



2. Don't sow on jjoorly drained soil. 



3. Don't seed a large acreage to begin with. 



4. Don't say alfalfa can't be grown in New England. 



5. Don't sow on any but sweet, well-drained soil. Alfalfa is a desert 

 plant. 



6. Don't sow on any but a well-prepared, well-settled seed bed. 



7. Don't fail to give arajDle inoculation ; both seed and soil inoculation 

 are best. 



8. Don't pasture the first year, and don't pasture when wet. 



9. Don't feed alfalfa as you do hay, feed it as you do grain. 



10. Don't spend your hard-earned money for protein feeds; grow 

 alfalfa, clovers, Canada and cow peas and soy beans. 



11. Don't lose the leaves; they are the best part of the plant. Use 

 hay caps. 



12. Don't give up. Many prominent alfalfa growers succeeded after 

 some failures. 



Question. Could you tell us where we can get the calcium 

 limestone? 



Professor Cromwell. That will come out in the discussion. 

 I am very glad you folks have changed so that you can get 

 lime here. While your experiment station said a year ago that 

 it cost $6 a ton, it now costs S3. We get it from West Virginia 

 for $3.10 a ton. You certainly ought to get that lime for 

 around $3 a ton. 



Question. In a case I know of the cows didn't like the 

 alfalfa leaf. Why was that? 



Professor Cromwell. I suspect you must have had a wet 

 period about the time you mowed, and you had some leaf 

 spots. Generally, cows and hens like the leaves better, but 

 horses like the stems. 



Mr. Abner Towne. I would like to ask how much seed 

 you would recommend to be sowed to the acre. 



Professor Cromwell. The men in Chester County, Pennsyl- 

 vania, who have had 5| tons per acre have put on 30 pounds 

 of seed. Now, that is too much, — entirely too much. But 

 for some reason we can't get very big yields without it. Twenty 

 pounds ought to be enough if you have good enough seed. 



