I Hit!) 
THE RURAL 
NEW-YORKER. 
479 
THE WONDERS OF ALFALFA. 
AN EASY CROP TO GROW. 
A Great Success in Ohio. 
WITH ORDINARY PREPARATION.—I was much 
interested in the account of the New Jersey Experi¬ 
ment Station Alfalfa, and am glad that it succeeded 
so well in spite of the excessive amount of work given 
it. 1 think, however, that so far from inviting others 
to undertake growing Alfalfa, such an account of Its 
needs (supposed) would have quite a deterring effect. 
I would not undertake to say that Prof. Voorhees was 
wrong in his methods, but if he is right, then there is 
a woeful difference between the soils of New Jersey 
and those of central Ohio. Let me give our practice. 
Our soils, to begin with, are naturally of good fertil¬ 
ity, but are by no means rich or virgin. They will 
produce about BO bushels of shelled corn per acre. 
They are clays, sometimes white and sometimes yel¬ 
low, clays underlaid with sand and gravel, and black 
and brown loams. None of this soil seems to produce 
first-class Alfalfa without manure except the alluvials 
along the creeks. The clays need manure worst, but 
produce the best Alfalfa after they have been ma¬ 
nured. 
Weeds are a pest, as he says, yet by no means 
deadly. We never grow any special cleaning crop be¬ 
cause, in our experience, weed seeds have so much 
vitality that they live right along from year to year 
In the soil, and even though not one was allowed to 
seed last year, when fresh soil is turned up this year, 
weeds come. We put Alfalfa on corn stubble, but we 
do try to keep the corn clean the 
previous year. Deep plowing, I 
believe beneficial; we try to turn 
up an inch of new soil, and plow 
about 8 or 10 inches deep. This 
lessens the weeds somewhat.. 
HOW TO SOW. -We have had 
good success sowing either alone 
or with oats or barley. If with 
barley, we sow the usual amount, 
the crop comes off early; if with 
oats, we sow half the usual 
amount, and always cut the oats 
for hay when in bloom. This 
latter point 1 think essential. 
Taking off the oats at this stage 
relieves the Alfalfa of its com¬ 
petition for moisture and soil- 
fertility. We always sow the 
Alfalfa at the same time that 
we sow the grain, and prefer to 
sow the Alfalfa seed behind the 
drill. Then we cover with a 
heavy roller made of cement, 
six feet long and weighing 2,200 
pounds. Tills firming the soil we 
think very essential. We do not 
apply manure, usually, the year 
the Alfalfa is sown. Sometimes 
we have used artificial fertil¬ 
izers, once Thomas phosphate, 
with good results. 
The first year there is a strug¬ 
gle between weeds and Alfalfa, 
it is true, but we help the Al¬ 
falfa by using the mower, set to 
run as close to the ground as 
possible. The only weed that troubles us much is fox¬ 
tail, in small patches that has hurt the stand, but 
generally the second year, there is enough Alfalfa all 
over the field, even where it seemed thin at the be¬ 
ginning. 
We sow front 8 to 15 pounds of seed to the acre. The 
sowing of great amounts of seed is a waste, and does 
not result In better stands of Alfalfa, in our experi¬ 
ence. This year, we sowed but 8 pounds, yet. it is thick 
enough. The fact, is that, if you start four plants 
where one should remain, all four will reaclt Winter 
in a feeble condition, and more will kill than should; 
where one good stalk and thrifty root would have 
withstood the freezing and thawing, the four feeble 
ones will die. It is true that, some years, when Al¬ 
falfa is sown alone, we get. a fair cutting of hay the 
first year, but it is not often. Only in wet. years will 
this be true. Yet It must be cut three times, and cut 
close tin* first year, if it is to go into Winter with a 
strong, healthy root. 
ITS REMARKABLE VALUE. Alfalfa is not an ex¬ 
periment with us. We cut each year from 125 to 200 
tons of Alfalfa hay, and pasture a good deal besides. 
Every word that you say about its value as a soiling 
plant is true, and the half has not been told. There 
is no plant in existence that has the value to the 
stockman or the dairyman that Alfalfa has. I would 
rather have a 10-acre field of good Alfalfa than a 00- 
acre pasture of common grasses. Since 1880, it has 
grown continuously on Woodland Farm, and it is 
only a question of time when it will be made to grow 
over the whole of it. It takes manure, draining, prop¬ 
er farming, and that is all. The slowness with which 
eastern people take hold of Alfalfa is a commentary 
on the depth of the rut in which they are traveling. 
During the last week in May, we cut a 12-acre field 
of Alfalfa that made us 2!) large loads of hay. Last 
week we cut as much more that, although not yet all 
in the barn, will make a yet heavier yield. We have 
three more cuttings to hear from in these fields. The 
total yield, if rain come at opportune times, will sure¬ 
ly reach 5 tons per acre, and the value is tip-top. 
If all the exploiting that has been given rape, sor¬ 
ghum, Prick ley comfrey, Saghalin, etc., had been put 
on Alfalfa and Bromus inermis (which should be sown 
with it), the country would have been better off. Not 
that rape and sorghum are without value, but nothing 
equals Alfalfa in cheapness of production and value of 
product. I might also write a chapter on its value to 
the soil. It far exceeds Red clover as a soil-enrlcher. 
Ohio. JOSEPH E. WING. 
I MUSIC AND CATERPILLARS. 
A POOf,1811 NEWSPAPER STORY. 
The dally papers have been printing long articles about 
l tic destruction of caterpillars by music. It was said 
that a woman went out to the orchard to blow a dinner 
horn, and was surprised to hoc the Insects fall in showers 
ni each blast. A brass band then took It up, and brought 
down thousands of caterpillars! A trombone and a bass 
drum seemed to be the most effective Instruments. Prof. 
Slingcrland takes the music out of this story as follows - . 
I very much doubt whether there is even a grain of 
truth in the report which.is going the rounds of the 
dtiily press that the tent caterpillars are so affected by 
music that they drop to the ground, and, in case of 
certain music, are, apparently, dead. This is about 
the season when similar reports make the rounds of 
the papers, especially wherever some insect appears 
in great numbers. It happens every year when the 17- 
year Cicada appears. Then there are always several 
reports of people having been stung by these insects, 
and in some cases death is said to result. When the 
matter is sifted, it is found there is, in fact, no 
foundation for the story. 
While it is true that, these tent caterpillars are 
easily jarred from a tree during the day, yet when 
they drop to the ground, they are very lively cater¬ 
pillars. It is possible that, if a horn were blown very 
close to a colony o. these caterpillars resting on the 
bark of the tree, they might be sufficiently disturbed 
to drop to the ground; but there is no possible chance 
of the sound having any deadly effect upon the in¬ 
sects. If it were true that these caterpillars were 
affected, as described, by music, it would seem to me 
as a sure sign of the coming mlllenium, or the age of 
miracles, similar to the days when Jericho's wall was 
blown down. 
The entomological features of the daily press are 
usually very astonishing to those of us who happen to 
know something of the fads regarding the ways of 
insects. Entomologists, as a rule, take little stock in 
newspaper reports regarding insects. The average 
layman knows but very little about Insects, but often¬ 
times, he imagines a great deal. It is amusing, at this 
late day, to see the old humbug known as the “sul¬ 
phur-plug remedy” still bobbing up in the newspapers, 
even in religious papers. How any sensible person 
can believe that a little sulphur plugged into a tree 
can have any effect upon insects that feed upon the 
leaves, is beyond my comprehension, especially in 
view of the fact that it has been demonstrated over 
and over again that, 10 years after the sulphur is 
placed in the tree, there is just as much sulphur in 
the hole as there was at first,. 
SOME POINTS ABOUT BEES. 
Bees seem to dislike black or dark-colored clothing. 
Formerly I used to go about in shirt sleeves, wearing 
a dark vest; my vest would be covered with adhering 
bees, while my sleeves would be entirely free from 
them. I took the hint, and had a white coat made for 
the purpose of working among the bees, and now 
rarely is there one to be seen on my person. 
Tan-bark is a good thing to put in the apiary to 
keep the grass and weeds from growing up in front of 
the hives to bother the bees. I use it extensively in 
my homeyard of (!() colonies, which is as level as a 
lloor, and just as clean; one can sit down anywhere, 
with white clothing on, and not soil it. 
When bees are hanging out in front of the hive, it 
shows that they are uncomfortable in it; raise the 
hive and put an inch block under each corner. They 
need either more air, or more room, or more shade; 
supply their needs if you can. 
When working among boos, 
one should be very steady In 
moving about, and opening 
hives. Never open hives with a 
snap and a. crash; it makes the 
bees very irritable to be shaken. 
Never leave empty hives, in 
which you wish to put swarms, 
standing out in the hot sun. 
Keep them under a tree or in 
the cellar, so they will be cool 
when wanted. Swarms will 
readily desert an over-heated 
hive. 
Good ripe extracted honey 
should welgn three pounds to 
the quart. It is one-third heav¬ 
ier than water, because of its 
density. 
In painting hives, light colors 
should be selected; dark shades 
attract the heat much more than 
light shades. When the hives 
are standing in the rays of the 
sun, there is considerable differ¬ 
ence in the temperature between 
light and dark hives. 
Honey should be left on the 
hive until it is capped. Bees al¬ 
ways ripen the honey before 
capping. They can be seen after 
a hard day’s work fanning at 
the entrance, sending air into 
the hive, to evaporate the mois¬ 
ture that is in the nectar when 
gathered. 
Before opening a hive of bees, send in a few puffs 
of smoke to prevent the sentinels from rushing out. 
and stinging you. The smoke will alarm them, and 
they will run to the combs, and fill themselves with 
honey. Then, when the hive is opened, the bees will 
adhere better to the combs, and can be examined with 
ease. 
When hiving swarms on hot days, if they cluster 
on the front of the hive, and hesitate to go in, do not 
hurry them too much; they are excited and hot, and 
want plenty of air. Raise the front of the hive an 
inch or two, shade them with a board, and when they 
get cooled off, they will go in all right. Always make 
it comfortable for swarms; it is the only holiday they 
take in the whole year. k. g. Herman. 
A Frenchman has developed the automobile to a high 
state of perfection. These horseless carriages run up 
and down through Franco In all directions, and make 
great Sliced upon the excellent French roads. In France, 
wo understand most of these carriage’s are run by elec¬ 
tricity. In this country, Mr. Wlnton, a manufacturer of 
Cleveland, Ohio, has a gasoline carriage which recently 
made the trip between Cleveland and New York. Efforts 
are being made to bring about a race between the Amerl 
can and the French automobiles. Mi - . Wlnton is prepaicd 
to race from Chicago to New York, while tho Frenchman 
wants the race between Paris and Bordeaux, In France. 
We hope such a contest, will be made because It Is evi¬ 
dent Unit these horseless carriages are to on a coming 
power In transportation. Wo ought to be able to find out 
whether the electric carriage Is better than the gasoline 
engine. 
i 
