THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ALFALFA CULTURE IN SOUTHERN SAS- 

 KATCHEWAN. 



Marking an Advance in Agricultural Development 

 and Irrigation. 



(Paper by Dr. Allison Smith of the Cypress 

 Hills Water Users' Association, Maple Creek, Sas- 

 katchewan, read before the Seventh Western Can- 

 ada Irrigation Convention at Lethbridge, August 

 7, 1913.) 



Irrigation is a subject which has interested in- 

 dividuals in every nation where food and forage is 

 produced. The Nile Delta might be cited as an 

 irrigation classic, the records of whch extend to 

 remotest antiquity. Its fruitful soil saved the lives 

 of the starving Israelites and was for years the gran- 

 ary from which Rome at the height of her power 

 drew her supplies which were distributed free to 

 her people. 



Gibbon in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman 

 Empire" mentions the fact that alfalfa was exten- 

 sively grown on the plains of Greece and when that 

 part of the Empire was overrun by barbarians, the 

 latter brought with them their flocks and herds, and 

 their prolonged stay was made possible by the al- 

 falfa growing in that favored clime. 



In order that we may have a prosperous and 

 contented people we must have a generous supply 

 of food. It must be of good quality and cheap 

 enough to be within the reach of everyone in order 

 to bring about the highest development of the race. 



Foodstuffs are divided into three classes, pro- 

 teids, carbo-hydrates and fats. Proteids are food- 

 stuffs which contain from 15 per cent to 18 per 

 cent of nitrogen and they enter largely into the de- 

 velopment of the muscular, nerve and glandular 

 tissues of the body as well as being present in force 

 in the blood. Proteids also contain the same ele- 

 ments which enter into the formation of carbo- 

 hydrates and fats but in different chemical combi- 

 nation. 



As you are aware, it is impossible for an ani- 

 mal to take into itself substances such as nitrogen 

 and lime salts in their inorganic state and digest 

 and assimilate them. We must then of necessity look 

 for some plant which has in its composition the ele- 

 ments necessary for the production of food that can 

 be easily and cheaply grown and when fed to an 

 animal be readily assimilated and digested. Al- 

 falfa has proved to be such a plant and this plant 

 is of vital importance to every man, woman and 

 child in Canada today. 



It has the power through bacteria attached to 

 its roots to take into itself nitrogen from the air 

 and also store it in the soil. But it can do more 

 than that. Under the influence of solar light and 

 heat it has the power to extract from the earth cer- 

 tain lime salts which enter into the formation of 

 bone, so that we have a plant which when fed to 

 an animal furnishes us with a bony framework be- 

 sides giving us the necessary tissues wherewith to 

 clothe it, and from which we derive our steak, chop, 

 or cutlet, as the case may be. But before v we can 

 enjoy that steak we must have grown the alfalfa 

 and feed it, and in order to do that your land must 

 undergo certain preparation. 



We assume that your land is of a quality which 

 when sown to grain will, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, produce a crop, that it has been surveyed 

 and leveled, and of sufficient slope that when water 

 is applied the water will not lie on it and become 

 stagnant and that any underlying water is not closer 

 than five feet to the surface of the soil. 



To get a good stand of alfalfa our method has 

 been to summer-fallow, making sure that all grass 

 and weeds have been disposed of and by frequent 

 harrowing retain all the moisture possible. The 

 following spring, when all danger of frost is over, 

 we drill in one bushel of oats per acre as a nurse 

 crop, inserting it about three inches deep, and on 

 top of that we broadcast our alfalfa seed at the 

 rate of twelve pounds per acre and harrow lightly. 

 If conditions are favorable, the alfalfa should be six 

 inches high ; before overtaken by the alfalfa is a 

 heavy clay loam, and a nurse crop does not hurt 

 the alfalfa. The nurse crop, besides furnishing a 

 quantity of green feed, can be cut with a binder, 

 leaving a stiff stubble to act as a barrier to retain 

 any snow that may fall and so prevent winter 

 killing. 



We have sown the seed with and without a 

 nurse crop and both methods appeared to be success- 

 ful until this year, that without a nurse crop winter 

 killing very badly. The seed without a nurse crop 

 was sow,n at the same time and under the same 

 conditions as that with a nurse crop. We cut the 

 crop when the weeds came strong, using a mower. 

 After cutting twice a dry spell followed, and the 

 growth of alfalfa was retarded. On this piece win- 

 ter killing was much in evidence, the snow having 

 blown off, leaving the alfalfa exposed to the ele- 

 ments. 



The seed used came from four different places, 

 namely : Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, and some 

 Turkistan seed from the seed house. They all ap- 

 peared to do equally well. 



If you have any foxtail near your alfalfa field 

 get rid of it if possible, for once it gains a foot- 

 hold it is almost impossible to get rid of, and 

 eventually it will take possession of your field. 



The question is often asked, "Is it necessary 

 to inoculate alfalfa?" By all means, if alfalfa has 

 not been grown in your neighborhood send to your 

 department of agriculture for nitro-culture or your 

 experimental farm for earth from an alfalfa field. 



Our alfalfa existed for two years without in- 

 oculation. Each spring it would make a brave 

 stand for a month or more, and after it has at- 

 tained a height of six or eight inches it seemed to 

 receive a setback. It lost its fresh, healthy green 

 color and turned sickly and drooped. The following 

 year we sent to Edmonton for nitro-culture and 

 received sufficient for one acre. That nitro-culture 

 worked a miracle. On the part that was treated 

 the plants stood three feet high, strong and robust ; 

 the line of demarcation between it and the re- 

 mainder of the field being as sharply defined as if 

 cut out with a knife. The rest of the field we 

 treated with earth taken from that acre, and the 

 results were equally satisfactory. 



By sowing twelve pounds per acre the output 



(Continued on page po) 



