THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



999 



POINTS ON ALFALFA GROWING IN COLORADO. 



1. Moisture in the subsoil is as essential as the moisture 

 for germination, to insure a stand of alfalfa. If the subsoil 

 is dry, there must be irrigation soon after seeding. 



2. Sow only on a well prepared, settled seed bed; loose, 

 newly plowed soil is a hazardous risk, unless the soil is 

 immediately settled by heavy rains or irrigation. 



3. Sow alfalfa seed early if moisture is available; if 

 not, sow at the season when there is the greatest prospect 

 for moisture from rains or irrigation. 



4. Sow alfalfa seed shallow, not more than one inch 

 deep. Broadcast and then harrowing is usually a succesful 

 method, if moisture is present; but a press-shoe-drill seeding, 

 about an inch in depth, would be an ideal method of seeding 

 broadcast fields for hay production. 



5. Sow northern, acclimated strains of alfalfa. The 

 Arabian and any of the tropical strains of alfalfa are not 

 hardy in southern Colorado. 



6. Ten to twelve pounds of first-grade seed is plenty 

 to sow per acre ; that will be at least fifty seeds per square 

 foot, which will be ample if conditions are right. Thorough 

 preparation is cheaper than twenty to thirty pounds sown 

 where the conditions are uncertain. 



7. Sow with a nurse crop ONLY when there is plenty 

 of water for irrigation. Oats, barley and wheat are good 

 nurse crops, but should be sown at least two-thirds of a usual 

 seeding for grain. 



8. Spring seeded nurse crops should be cut for hay, 

 rather than left to ripen for grain, as the young alfalfa will 

 usually suffer for water before the grain is ripe and the 

 field cleared and irrigated. 



9. On land inclined to blow, sow alfalfa in grain or 

 cane stubbble without plowing. The stubble checks the wind 

 and does not rob the plant for moisture. 



10. Irrigate often, and do not fail to irrigate in late 

 summer and fall, if you want the best results from your 

 stand of young alfalfa. 



11. Keep down the weeds. Better seed alfalfa on clean 

 land, but cut off with a mower if the weeds get started. 

 DO NOT CLIP ALFALFA UNTIL THE CROWN BUDS 

 HAVE DEVELOPED. Grasshoppers often injure a stand 

 of alfalfa by eating off the leaves and top before the buds 

 have started at the surface of the ground. Early seeding 

 is preferred on this account. 



1. Irrigate frequently rather than by long continued 

 soakings ; over watering excludes air and compacts the soil. 



2. An irrigation in the fall, to insure soil moisture over 

 winter, is worth two irrigations in the spring after the soil 

 has been dry all winter. If moisture is present over winter, 

 the alfalfa plant makes root and bud growth preparatory for 

 next season's crop. If the soil is dry, the plant becomes 

 so dormant that it will take weeks of time to develop new 

 buds and root hairs. Winter moisture in the soil, with frost 

 action, also breaks up compacted soil conditions that will help 

 to conserve the subsoil moisture and increase the hay yield. 



3. Avoid pasturing alfalfa fields, especially when wet. 



4. Cultivate alfalfa fields early in the spring, with the 

 alfalfa renovator, disk, spring-tooth harrow, or any special 

 alfalfa cultivator, for the following reasons: 



(1) To break up compact soil conditions. 



(2) To get air into the soil, which is very essential. 



(3) To work leaves and other organic matter into the soil. 



(4) To break up capillary action, thus conserving moisture. 



(5) To destroy foxtail sod, grasshopper eggs, and other 

 pests. 



5. Do not let ice form over alfalfa fields by winter 

 irrigation for any length of time. 



6. Rowing out the alfalfa hay field affords a better sys- 

 tem of irrigation than the ordinary flooding method often 

 practiced that so often oversoaks the field, to the detriment 

 of the yield of hay. 



7. Cut alfalfa for hay when the growth checks and the 

 plant puts out new shoots from the crown ; this is usually 

 about the time the plant is well started to bloom. 



8. In curing alfalfa hay it should be done in the 

 windrow and cock rather than in the swath, as the leaves 

 will shatter if suddenly dried up in the sun. The undried 

 green leaf is an important factor in reducing the sap in 

 the stems in the curing process. PHILO K. BLINN, 



Alfalfa Specialist. 

 Colorado Agricultural College, Fort Collins. 



In the system of irrigation under construction by the 

 Canadian F'acific Railway, 1,586 miles of canals and ditches 

 have been completed, the contemplated project to- 

 taling 4,500 miles. The total expenditure will be about 

 $16,000,000, irrigating a tract of 3,000,000 acres. 



Five big cars belonging to the Bitter Root Irrigation 

 Company arrived in Hamilton, Mont., recently, loaded 

 with a party of land lookers. The entire party was taken 

 for an inspection of Lake Como and Lake Como dam. 



At the annual meeting of the Brownsville Irrigation 

 Company of Brownsville, Texas, the following officers 

 were elected: A. W. Gardiner of Houston, president; 

 Lon C. Hill of Harlingen, vice-president; A. W. Wood, 

 Brownsville, secretary and treasurer. 



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practically destroy the flow of water in irrigation canals 

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