FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES, 
by all kinds of stock, it is as a forage | 
plant for soiling, which is available for 
at least pine months in the year, that I 
esteem it so highly. The hay is easily 
cured, if that which is cut in the fore- 
noon is thrown into small cocks at 
noon, then s}iread out after the dew is 
off next morning sunned for an hour, 
and at once hauled into.the barn. By 
this method the leaves do not fall off, 
which is sure to be the case, if the Al- 
falfa is exposed to a day or two of hot 
sunshine. 
It has been my habit to precede the 
Alfalfa with a clean crop— usually Ruta- 
bagas, after which I sow clay peas, to 
be turned in about the last of July. 
About the middle of September or later 
I have the land plowed, the turn-plow 
being followed by a deep sub-soil-plow 
or scooter. After this the land is fer- 
tilized and harrowed until it is thor- 
oughly pulverized and all lumps broken 
up. The fertilizers einployed by meare 
500 Ibs. fine bone-dust (phosphate of 
_ lime) and 1000 lbs. cotton seed hull |. 
‘ashes per acre. These ashes are very 
rich in potash and phosphates, con- 
taining nearly 45 per cent of the phos- 
phate of lime — the two articles best 
adapted to the wants of this plant. I 
‘sow all my Alfalfa with the Matthews’ 
Seed Drill, 
Broad-east would be preferable, if the 
land was perfectly free from grass and 
weeds; but it takes several years of | 
- glean culture to put the land in this 
condition, sowing in drills is practically 
the best. Noseed sower known to me 
can be compared with the Matthews’ 
Seed Drill. Its work is evenly 
in rows 10 inches apart. 
and | 
regularly done, and with a rapidity that | 
is astonishing; for it opens the drill to 
any desired depth, drops the seed, covers | 
and rolls them, and marks the line for 
the next drill at one operation. It is 
simple and durable in its structure, and 
is the greatest labor-saving machine of 
its kind ever devised for hand-work. 
When my Alfalfa is about three in- 
ches high, I work it with the Matthews’ | 
Hand Cultivator. First, the front tooth 
of the cultivator is taken out, by which 
means the row is straddled and all the 
125 
grass cutout close to the plant; then the 
front tooth being replaced, the cultiva-. 
tor is passed between the rows, com- 
pletely cleaning the middles of all foul 
growth. As often as required to keep 
down grass, until the Alfalfa is large 
enough to cut, the Matthews’ Hand 
Cultivator is passed between the rows. 
Alfalfa requires three years to reach 
perfection, but even the first year the 
yield is larger than most forage plants, 
and after the second it is enormous. 
The land must, however, be made rich 
at first; a top-dressing every three years 
is all that will thereafter be required. 
The seed must be very lightly covered, 
and should be rolled, or brushed in, if 
not sowed with a Matthews’ Seed Sower. 
Whenever the plant is in bloom it 
must be cut; for, if the seed be left to 
mature, the stems become hard and 
woody. Also, whenever it turns yellow, 
no matter at what age, it must be cut 
or mowed; for the yellow: color shows 
the presence of some disease, or the work 
of some small insect, both of which 
seems to be remedied by mowing 
promptly. My experience leads me to 
the conclusion that fully five tons of 
cured hay per acre may be counted on 
if proper attention be given to deep 
plowing, subsoiling, fertilizing and 
cleanliness of the soil. These things 
are indispensable, and without them no 
one need attempt to cultivate Alfalfa. 
In conclusion, I will remark that I 
have tried the Lucerne seed imported 
by you from France, side by side with 
the Alfalfa seed sent me by Trumbull 
& Co., of San Francisco, and I cannot 
see the slightest difference in appear- 
anee, character, quantity or quality of 
yield, or hardiness. They are identical ; 
both have germinated equally well, that 
is to say, perfectly. 
In closing, I cannot do better than re- 
fer you to the little treatise of Mr. GC. W. 
Howard, entitled: ‘‘A Manual of the 
Grasses and Forage Plants at the 
South.” Mr. Howard, among the very 
first to cultivate Lucerne in the South, 
gives it the preference over all other 
forage plants whatever. My experience 
confirms all that Mr. Howard claims for 
