The  Rural  New-Yorker 
The  Business  Farmer’s  Paper 
Yot..  I  XXV.  NKW  YORK.  MAY  ‘JO,  11)1(5.  No.  41)78. 
Published  by 
The  Rural  Publishing  Co. 
333  W.  30th  Street 
New  York 
Weekly.  One  Dollar  Per  Year 
Postpaid 
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ules.  r  set  them  in  a  larger  plot  and  the  root  nod¬ 
ules  spread  and  inoculated  the  land.  But  it  pays 
to  get  as  many  nodules  as  possible  right  away. 
Now,  I  apply  soil  from  an  old  Alfalfa  lot  when 
seeding  a  new  piece,  using  a  liberal  amount  with 
the  manure,  and  in  addition  i  treat  the  seed  with 
a  commercial  germ  preparation  according  to  di¬ 
rections.  Most  leading  growers,  here,  are  treating 
the  seed  this  way,  anti  are  convinced  it  is  worth 
while.  The  result  is,  the  plants  begin  storing  ni¬ 
trogen  from  the  air  at  the  start,  and  are  ready  to 
give  a  big  yield  the  first  year  of  cutting.  We  use 
the  spring-tooth  harrow  in  the  drilled  fields  to  kill 
out  any  foul  growth.  Witch  grass,  the  great  pest  of 
Alfalfa,  cannot  he  killed  this  way.  If  there  was  any 
in  the  land,  I  would  try  to  kill  it  out  in  cultivating 
the  preceding  crops.  Still,  my  oldest  fields  are  be¬ 
ing  choked  out  with  it.  duckweed  aud  June  grass 
are  also  troublesome. 
"August  seeding  is  now  the  practice  of  the  best 
growers.  We  get  a  crop  of  oats  first,  and  the  weeds 
are  most  easily  killed  in  late  Summer,  leaving  the 
land  clean  for  Alfalfa.  It  is  not  cut  the  first  sea¬ 
son.  The  second  season,  it  will  he  ready  to  cut  in 
May.  Out  when  the  shoots  begiu  to  start  from  the 
A  Field  of  Alfalfa  in  Norfolk  County,  Mass.  Fig.  279 
Expert  Alfalfa  Growing 
The  Crop  for  New  England 
NT.  of  the  best  known  authorities  on  the  Alfalfa 
crop  is  I  .  E.  Mayo  of  Medfield,  Norfolk  Coun¬ 
ty.  Mass.,  president  of  the  New  England  Alfalfa 
(trowers’  Association,  which  numbers  125  members, 
representing  (j00  to  1.000  acres.  II is  success  is 
founded  on  12  years'  experience,  fortified  by  dose 
study  of  the  methods  of  other  experts  in  New  Eng¬ 
land  and  elsewhere  throughout  the  country.  While 
liis  acreage  is  far  surpassed  by  such  growers  as 
Ames  of  Bristol  County.  Mass.,  with  150  acres,  and 
by  several  large  Worcester  County  growers,  his  rec¬ 
ord  for  long  continued  and  progressive  success  with 
the  crop  is  perhaps  without  an  equal  in  New  Eng¬ 
land.  1 1  is  fields  of  six  to  eight  acres  show  up  beau¬ 
tifully  this  Spring,  with  a  vigorous,  thrifty,  even 
stand  and  few  or  none  of  the  gaps  or  grassy  spots 
so  common  in  many  Alfalfa  lots.  His  confidence  is 
inspiring. 
"I  would  raise  Alfalfa,”  he  declares,  "if  I  had  to 
reseed  every  two  years.  It  costs  not  much  more 
than  to  seed  to  clover  properly,  and  the  three  cut¬ 
tings  of  one  season  would  he  ample  return.  I  have 
the  soil  rich  and  fairly  free  of  weeds.  If  early 
potatoes  are  grown,  it  is  possible  to  dig  them  in 
August  and  seed  at  once  to  Alfalfa,  after  liming. 
But  late  potatoes  are  mostly  grown.  After  digging 
them  I  would  apply  two  tons  of  ground  limestone. 
Heading  growers  are  using  this  form  of  lime,  as  the 
most,  practicable  kind.  Caustic  lime  is  hard  on  the 
men  and  team.  When  the  men  come  in  choked  and 
with  necks  raw,  they  don't  feel  very  good.  Ground 
limestone  is  easy  to  handle.  It  costs  $.'5.10  per  ton 
delivered  here.  It  will  pay  to  use  it  on  almost  any 
land  for  general  crops.  Apply  anytime,  but  not  just 
before  a  potato  crop.  Then  plow  in  Fall  or  Spring. 
Add  a  good  dressing  of  manure  as  if  seeding  to 
grass.  Harrow  thoroughly.  Sow  oats  in  the  Spring. 
After  the  oafs  have  been  cut,  do  not  plow,  hut  disk 
the  surface  thoroughly.  It  is  best  not  to  plow  them 
because  that  breaks  up  the  compact  surface  below 
and  tends  to  heaving  and  winter-killing  of  the  young 
Alfalfa  plants. 
“The  seed  Question  is  a  hard  one.  I  am  using 
Griipm  and  Montana  Alfalfa.  These  two  kinds  are 
so  much  alike  that  some  authorities  consider  them 
identical.  My  earlier  seedings  were  of  the  so-called 
‘common'  or  Western  Alfalfa  which  seems  to  have 
cut  38  tons  green  Alfalfa  from  two  measured  acres 
in  one  year,  leaving  the  late  growth  for  Winter  pro¬ 
tection,  which  is  important.  That  is  equal  to  10  or 
11  tons  dry  from  two  acres.  The  next  year  the  yield 
should  be  about  P>  tons  per  acre,  green,  in  three 
cuttings.  Even  an  old  seven-year  lot  that  needs  re¬ 
seeding  will  give  at  least  one  cutting  to  yield  as 
much  ns,  or  more,  than  clover.” 
"What  is  the  secret  of  success  with  Alfalfa?" 
'Tile  two  most  important  points,"  replied  Mr. 
Mayo,  "are  lime  and  inoculation.  But  there  is  no 
secret.  Almost  anything  you  do  for  Alfalfa  really 
ought  to  be  done  for  clover,  or  for  any  hay  crop  for 
complete  success." 
"Will  you  start  at  the  beginning  and  tell  just  how 
it  should  he  done?” 
"Alfalfa  will  gnnv  almost  anywhere,  except  that 
it  does  not  like  wet  feet.  But  to  start  with  the 
crop.  I  will  use  my  best  piece  of  land.  I  prefer  a 
sloping  surface  as  a  safeguard  against  water  col¬ 
lecting  and  forming  an  icy  surface  in  Spring  in 
unfavorable  seasons,  which  is  especially  injurious 
to  the  common  or  Turkestan  Alfalfa.  Never  use 
sod  land. 
"The  ideal  rotation  is  potatoes;  oats  and  Alfalfa. 
Potato  land  is  usually  well  fertilized,  and  leaves 
been  originally  the  Turkestan  Alfalfa.  The  Grimm 
or  Montana  is  much  to  he  preferred,  because  it  is 
more  hardy.  The  root  system  of  the  Grimm  is  side¬ 
ways  or  lateral  rather  than  tap-rooted.  It  is  the 
Grimm  Alfalfa  that  has  turned  failure  into  success 
with  several  leading  growers.  The  difficulty  is  to 
get  pure  seed.  Much  of  it  is  adulterated  with  life 
cheaper  common  or  Western  variety,  and  I  should 
try  to  buy  direct  from  a  reputable  grower  of  the 
Grimm  seed. 
"I  sow  15  pounds  to  the  acre  with  a  drill.  It 
would  take  20  pounds,  sowing  broadcast,  and  it  will 
pay  to  own  or  hire  a  drill  for  t*he  saving  in  seed 
alone.  The  drilled  planting  is  likely  to  give  a  more 
even  stand,  and  it  permits  the  use  of  a  spring-tooth 
harrow  to  kill  weeds  ami  June  grass  among  the 
young  plants.  The  drill  is  desirable  also  for.  sow¬ 
ing  clover  and  grain,  and  should  bo  used  much  more 
commonly  than  if  is  at  present. 
"Inoculation  is  important.  I  started  without  it, 
and  progress  was  slow.  My  first  Alfalfa  12  years 
ago  was  a  little  patch  of  the  common  variety  sown 
where  a  large  manure  pile  had  been.  It  was  rich 
enough  to  carry  the  plants  without  nodules  on  the 
roots  to  get  nitrogen  from  the  air.  When  I  took 
lip  these  plants  some  of  them  had  developed  nod- 
roots  for  the  second  cutting,  this  will  usually  he 
about  the  time  of  the  first  blossoming,  but  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  new  shoots  from  the  root  is  the 
only  reliable  guide.  The  next  cutting  comes  about 
.'!<)  days  later,  and  the  third  comes  in  August.  I 
top-dress  with  manure  as  on  grassland,  after  the 
second  or  third  cutting  of  Alfalfa,  each  year.  The 
fourth  cutting,  or  growth,  should  be  let  alone,  to 
serve  as  Winter  protection.  Many  consider  this 
point  a  secret  of  success,  and  I  regard  it  as  very 
important.  The  top-dressing  also  helps  protect  the 
plants.  Some  cover  heavily  with  manure  for  this 
purpose. 
“The  main  risk  is  that  of  an  occasional  bad  sea¬ 
son;  the  kind  that  kills  out  clover.  We  are  not  yet 
sure  how  much  of  had  conditions  the  resistant 
Grimm  Alfalfa  will  stand.  It  is  very  hardy.  I 
am  experimenting  with  the  Cossack,  and  the  Can¬ 
adian  Variegated,  and  other  very  hardy  kinds,  in  a 
small  way.  but  cannot  say  yet  what  they  amount 
to.  There  is  a  new  kind  with  creeping  habit  of 
growth,  that  is  being  tested.  Probably  we  shall  hie 
upon  some  variety  that  is  better  for  the  Northeast 
than  anything  yet  grown.  But  meanwhile  there  is 
no  reason  why  every  dairyman  should  not  at  least 
try  the  crop.  None  of  our  fodder  crops  is  sure 
