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THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



ALFALFA INOCULATION TESTS. 



By C. W. Pugsley. 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, Nebraska. 



During the winter of 1909-10 an effort was made 

 to secure co-operators among the farmers of Nebraska 

 to test the value of inoculating newly seeded alfalfa 

 fields. This investigation was suggested by 

 reports received from correspondents dur- 

 ing 1909. The names of farmers willing to 

 co-operate were secured by correspondence 

 and by conferences at the various Short 

 Courses held during that year. 



In the spring of 1910 about thirty-five 

 farmers, located largely near Broken Bow, 

 Cambridge, Franklin, and Blair, agreed to 

 test the effect of cultures sent by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, soil from 

 well-established alfalfa fields, and farm 

 manure in securing stands of alfalfa and 

 on the subsequent growth. 



The weather conditions were very un- 

 favorable and it was thought advisable to 

 repeat the tests in the spring of 1911. If 

 anything the conditions were more severe 

 the second year. The difficulty experienced 

 was because of extremely dry weather and a large 

 number of grasshoppers. Many of the farmers ap- 

 plied the soil and used the culture but reported in July 

 and August of each year that the crop was entirely 

 dead. 



From the thirty-five co-operators we have only 

 twelve reports to indicate the effect of these treat- 

 ments. The tests should by all means be continued 

 for a number of years, and should cover all sections of 

 the state. The reports in this bulletin cover seedings 



measurement of the ground, application of culture, soil 

 and manure, and such other details as were necessary. 

 Wherever it was thought advisable, a man was sent 

 from the Experiment Station to assist in locating the 

 plots and in applying the various treatments. The 

 plots were located in such a manner that there would 

 be no wash from inoculated to uninoculated plots and 

 in such a position that the soil would be as uniform 



Fig. 2. Inoculated portion of the field to the left. Uninoculated j 

 Farm of C. S. Martin, Custer County, Nebraska. 



of 1910 and 1911 and observations during the year 

 1912. 



The method of conducting the tests was as fol- 

 lows : The co-operators were asked to sign a state- 

 ment promising to carry out the instructions given by 

 the station and to keep a record of all the field opera- 

 tions. Instructions were sent them as to seeding, 



Fig. ]'. Alfalfa Roots. 



as possible. 



To assist in the proper interpretation of the re- 

 sults, the following were asked each co-operator: 



How was ground prepared on which the alfalfa 

 was seeded ? 



What crops were grown on the ground for the 

 five years preceding? 



Was it ever seeded to alfalfa before? If so, when? 

 Ordinarily is there trouble getting a stand in the 

 neighborhood? 



Was culture used ? On how large 

 an area? 



Was soil from an old alfalfa field 

 used? On how large an area? How 

 much ? 



Was soil from a sweet clover 

 patch used? On how large an area? 

 How much? 



Was barnyard manure used? On 

 how large an area? How much? 



How was alfalfa seeded? How 

 much seed per acre? When was it 

 seeded? 



The answers to these questions 

 were received about the first of August 

 of each year. Many of them read : 

 "Grasshoppers killed the alfalfa," "Dry 

 weather killed the alfalfa," "So poor a 

 onion to the right, stand that I plowed up the patch, due 

 to the dry weather." 



The co-operators were visited in 

 the summer of 1910 and the late summer of 1911, by 

 representatives of the station. Each field man carried 

 a notebook in which he collected data concerning the 

 soil, preparation of plots, and seeding. 



The following table shows results secured by 

 twelve co-operators, as recorded in letters from the 

 co-operators and in notes taken in the field : 



