Vol. LXIV. No. 2873. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 18, 1905. 
SI PER YEAR. 
Must Inoculate for Sweet Clover. 
I hat Sweet clover is a good preparation for 
Alfalfa there can be no question, as it is be¬ 
lieve;' that the bacteria on the roots of these 
two plants are the same species, but there is 
the same difficulty in introducing the Sweet 
clover into a new locality as there is with the 
Alfalfa. Until inoculation has been secured it 
will not make any satisfactory growth. Sev¬ 
eral years ago I undertook experiments with 
Sweet clover for the purpose of soil renova¬ 
tion. This was before we came to understand 
very much about the matter of soil inoculation, 
and T was at great loss to know why my ex¬ 
periments were so successful in some places 
and such absolute failures in others. Now 
that the Alfalfa inoculation problem has come 
to be well understood I can see why in some 
localities T had no success with Sweet clover, 
it had not been previously grown in those 
localities, and I made no provision for inocula¬ 
tion, and the result was as stated. The chief 
advantage I can see in using Sweet clover as 
a preparation for Alfalfa is that it will start on 
some hard, unfriable lands where Alfalfa 
would necessarily be a failure at the first, and 'I' 
having improved the land by means of Sweet 
clover it then is in better condition to grow 
the Alfalfa, but if the physical character of the soil is 
such that we may reasonably expect to get the Alfalfa 
started I should prefer to sow Alfalfa and inoculate 
by means of soil from an old Alfalfa field rather than 
spend a year giving the Sweet clover treatment. 
Cornell University. j, L stone. 
Sweet Clover Soil for Inoculation. 
Prof. Hopkins, of Illinois, has shown that the Sweet 
clover bacteria will inoculate Alfalfa. I hardly think 
that it would be necessary, in order that the soil may be 
inoculated with the bacteria, to seed a crop of Sweet 
clover first. I should rather recommend that soil from 
the areas growing the Sweet clover be used to inocu¬ 
late the fields upon which the Alfalfa is to be grown. 
I am quite sure that in neighborhoods where the Sweet 
clover grows luxuriantly, as it does in many parts of 
TUFTED PANSIES OR HYBRID VIOLETS. Fig. 47. 
See Ruralisms, Page 124. 
the Sweet clover inoculation, and so far as I can see 
they are the same thing, excepting that the inoculation 
is not so thorough as it is where the Alfalfa soil is 
used. However, 10 years ago in my lectures about the 
State, where I recommended Alfalfa, I made the state¬ 
ment that I believed it would grow in any locality where 
Sweet clover grew naturally, and my observation now 
is that that statement was practically correct. In the 
experiments which I have carried on I have found that 
the principal difficulty in using Sweet clover inoculation 
comes from the fact that the ground where Sweet clover 
grows is usually filled with its seed, and in using it 
we are introducing into the fields more or less 
weed seed, and as the Sweet clover seed lives 
in the soil for some little time, it is more or 
less troublesome. However, my advice to any man is 
that if he cannot get Alfalfa without getting Sweet 
the State, the soils in the immediate vicinity would be 
already inoculated, and the necessity for reinoculation 
for Alfalfa would not be apparent, though it might be 
well, even in these cases, to add some of the soil to 
fields upon which Alfalfa is to be grown. 
New Jersey Exp. Station. e. b. voorhees. 
Success With Soil Inoculation. 
I have made some very careful studies in this matter 
of using soil from ground where Sweet clover is grow¬ 
ing for Alfalfa inoculation, and have made comparisons 
of this side by side with soil taken from an old Alfalfa 
field. While I should not want to be put on record as 
saying that the nodules on Sweet clover roots are the 
same as those on Alfalfa roots, there is no denying the 
fact that the nodules are increased on Alfalfa by using 
SWEET* CLOVER AND ALFALFA. 
Each One Thrives Where the Other Does. 
clover to take them both. The Alfalfa is so very valua¬ 
ble that we can afford to put up with much inconven¬ 
ience to get it. You may be interested in knowing that 
out of something like 500 lots of inoculated soil which 
I shipped out last year to various parts of the country, 
over 90 per cent report success in using it, and some 
people who have been working for years to get a stand 
of Alfalfa, and who were not successful, have a good 
field growing now as the result of inoculation. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. f. e. dawley. 
ALFALFA CULTURE IN OKLAHOMA. 
I have taken some interest in the efforts recorded in 
The R. N.-Y. to grow Alfalfa. Alfalfa is not a success 
on a hard, tough clay subsoil here in the West. It will 
have a weak existence three or four years, then 
die out. The ideal land for Alfalfa is what we 
call made land in river valleys, a loamy or sandy 
subsoil extending down five to 15 feet to water, 
and well drained on the surface. Alfalfa re¬ 
quires very wet feet, but a dry head. Any land 
with gravelly, sandy or loamy subsoil is suited 
to its requirements. An overflow of running 
water for a day or two will not injure it. 
Standing* water the same length of time will 
kill it dead. Judging from what the Hope Farm 
man says of his land in Florida, I would think 
he has a good place for Alfalfa. I have no 
doubt of it if the sand extends down to the 
level of the lake. The only difficulty will be to 
start the seed in the sandy surface. If he 
chances to sow his seed just previous to a pro¬ 
tracted rain he will have no trouble; on the 
other hand, if he sows seeds in sand, if the 
ground is in good condition and a dry time fol¬ 
lows, he will be likely to lose most of the seed. 
That is my experience on sandy knolls on my 
farm in the South Canadian Valley. There is 
no mystery about growing Alfalfa if it is 
planted on the right kind of land. In that re¬ 
spect it is as stubborn as a mule. A. d. h. 
Oklahoma. 
Poor Seeding of Alfalfa. 
I wo years ago I sowed Alfalfa, and it was 
a complete failure. Last Spring I got some of 
the inoculating material from the Agricultural 
Department at Washington, and after liming 
and fertilizing the same piece I had the seed 
prepared according to directions, and sown by 
my hired man, as I had just got my hand 
crushed in a cornstalk cutter. He did a very 
poor job, getting the seed much too thick in 
some places and thin in others. The Alfalfa 
bids fair to make a good stand, only for the 
poor job of seeding, and I have a notion to 
plow it up this Spring and reseed. Would it 
be advisable? If so, would I need to use the 
inoculating material again? w. n. 
Ripley, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—If we had that field we would not plow it 
up. 1 he stand will be better than you think. There 
will probably be enough of the Alfalfa to pay for the 
cutting, and after a year of growth the soil will probably 
be fit to use for inoculating other fields. If you do plow 
and reseed we do not think you will need the second 
inoculation. We have one field where the first crop of 
Alfalfa failed, while the second succeeded. This experi¬ 
ence has taught us to keep at the same field year after 
year in case the crop is killed out. Look at the roots 
of your Alfalfa and see if the little knots or nodules 
are found on them. If they are by all means let the crop 
stand, for after a year’s growth you will be far more 
likely to obtain a new “catch” than if you plowed and 
reseeded this Spring. 
I have a strip of hard clay, hardpan Erie Canal dump, 
that had boon growing Sweet clover for some time. I plowed 
it and sowed to Alfalfa, and you never saw better Alfalfa 
than is growing there now. The clover does not bother at 
all. although on both edges where I could not plow the Sweet 
clover is rank. Sheep like Sweet clover, and will keep it 
down, and I do not see why hogs will not do the same, but I 
have never tried them. clark alius. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. 
Sweet Clover Indicates Lime. 
The account of your correspondent’s success in get¬ 
ting Alfalfa started after sowing Sweet clover is in¬ 
teresting and doubtless the Sweet clover helped him 
to get a stand. It has been a matter of common ob¬ 
servation that wherever Sweet clover is grow¬ 
ing wild, the chances of starting Alfalfa 
are very good. The growth of Sweet clover 
indicates that the soil is rich in lime, a neces¬ 
sity in growing Alfalfa, and there is evidence 
also that the bacteria adapted to infect Sweet 
clover will perform the same service for Al¬ 
falfa. We still believe, however, that in¬ 
oculation by pure culture will give just as sat¬ 
isfactory results, and save the loss of a season 
or more in sowing a preliminary crop, such as 
Sweet clover, to prepare the land for seeding 
Alfalfa. GEORGE D. MOORE. 
Dcp’t of Agriculture. 
