1905 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
423 
WHICH FIELD FOR ALFALFA ? 
One of our readers in Vermont asks us the following ques¬ 
tion concerning the best location for Alfalfa. Which field 
would you select, and why? “I would like your opinion as 
to which of three pieces of ground would probably prove 
most satisfactory for Alfalfa. The first is sandy and grav¬ 
elly, and next to the river. The second is a light soil on 
high ground. It could be irrigated by means of a hydraulic 
ram from the river. The third is a swamp, which I intend 
to drain." 
The swamp land could hardly be considered until it 
was drained and had been cultivated for a time. I do 
not believe anyone can tell which of the other pieces 
would be the best adapted without making a trial. If 
the subsoil is not filled from the river I think it would 
he much more fertile than the high ground, and if so 
the best place; otherwise I should make the high land 
rich and use that. h. e. cook. 
Lewis Co., N. Y. 
By all means take the second field. Alfalfa is very 
impatient of water in the subsoil. I infer that the 
level of the first field is not much above the level of 
the water in the river. This being the case, standing 
water will be found in that field too near the surface. 
The swamp will not answer at all, as it is impracticable 
to drain it sufficiently deep to suit Alfalfa, for which the 
water table in the sqU should be from eight to 12 feet 
below the surface. wm. p. brooks. 
Mass. Experiment Station. 
I should select, first, the sandy or gravelly soil next 
to the river, provided it is well drained, and second, 
the light soil on high ground. I should be rather in¬ 
clined to suspect that the swamp land would not be 
well adapted for the plant, though if well drained and 
limed heavily, the conditions might be made favorable. 
The reports on Alfalfa this Spring are uniformly good. 
I have seen quite a large number of very excellent 
stands in different sections of the State. I think it 
is largely a question of learning how to handle the 
plant, D. C. Lewis, of Cranbury, is very enthusiastic 
over his seeding of last year. Our own crops arc very 
fine this Spring, with the exception of weeds, which 
bother the first cut particularly, and I am discouraged 
in my attempts to get rid of them. e. b. voorhees. 
New Jersey Exp. Station. 
Our Bulletin 114, put out in April (which discusses 
Alfalfa in Vermont) says on page 128, concerning 
choice of soils, that “open loams over deep, loose, allu¬ 
vial subsoil” are suitable soils for Alfalfa; “if of lime¬ 
stone origin so much the better. A fertile soil is de¬ 
sirable, but a permeable one is yet more to be desired.” 
It further says that the following soils are unsuitable: 
“Ill-drained soils, those on which water stands at any 
time; those which become water-logged or saturated 
for more than a day or two at a time; soils underlaid 
with hardpan or with subsoil of dense texture, unless 
it is situated well below the surface; soils that heave in 
Winter.” I should imagine that the swamp soil would 
be undesirable. Whether or not the first one would 
be worth while would depend upon the distance of the 
water table from the surface. The second-named soil, 
if not acid, would, I should say, be likely to be rather 
better than the first. Joseph l. hills. 
Vermont Exp. Station. 
R. N.-Y.—The bulletin referred to states that out 
of 56 trials with Alfalfa in Vermont 21 were failures, 
or practically so; 12 were permanently successful, and 
23 partly successful. The best results were obtained in 
the Champlain Valley. The soil there seems best 
adapted to Alfalfa, and many who tried it were good 
sheep farmers, who realized the great value of the plant, 
and worked hard to meet its needs. 
In case the first-mentioned plot of sandy, gravelly 
soil next the river is not too low it would be best for 
Alfalfa. The second, if not too light, and treated with 
a good coat of stable manure, well worked in, might 
be satisfactory. The third, however, is entirely unfit 
for Alfalfa. In relation to methods of preparation, 
would say if the land is dry and somewhat cloddy roll 
it hard after seeding. If it is moist so that rolling 
would pack it unduly, drag with a plank drag. Leave 
it smooth. If you can get earth from an old Alfalfa 
field in good health sow some of this soil on the field. 
There are three principal causes of failure in Alfalfa 
growing. The first and most prevalent one is lack of 
proper bacteria in the soil. This can easily be remedied 
by securing soil from a field where Alfalfa grows lux¬ 
uriantly, and where it has grown for years. The older 
the field the better. The soil acts much as yeast does. 
When the conditions are made right the bacteria spread 
rapidly, and soon the whole field is impregnated and the 
crop will grow. Such soil may be spread on fields where 
Alfalfa is already feeble, and if this is the difficulty the 
result will be beneficial. The second cause is lack of 
potash in the soil. If properly inoculated and drained 
the strong clay soils are the best. On any other, and 
even on these, an application of sulphate of potash or 
a mixed fertilizer rich in potash will be of decided ad¬ 
vantage. If the so.il is in the least acid, an application 
of 20 bushels of lime per acre is absolutely necessary. 
The third difficulty is lack of drainage. Alfalfa 
likes plenty of water, but there .must not be so much in 
the soil That air cannot get to the roots. If the soil is 
water soaked for any length of time the crop will not 
thrive. F. e. dawley. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
FLOUR AND KEROSENE FOR SPRAYING. 
At the Canadian Experiment Farm, Ottawa, Canada, 
experiments have been made with lime and kerosene. 
The mixture gave excellent results, and is considered 
well worthy of trial. Prof. Shutt used freshly slaked 
lime, as he says it makes a smoother mixture than 
ordinary air-slaked lime. We do not understand that 
he used limoid at all. He makes what he calls a perfect 
emulsion by selecting a half pound of good quicklime, 
adding one quart of kerosene and then two gallons of 
water, the whole to be thoroughly churned until it is 
mixed. He has also used what he calls a flour emulsion. 
In this, flour was substituted for lime. One quart of 
kerosene is placed in a pail or barrel, and eight ounces 
of flour added. This is thoroughly stirred and mixed 
up, and two gallons of water for each quart of kerosene 
added. The whole thing is vigorously churned or 
mixed, as is done with limoid, from two to four min¬ 
utes. If the emulsion is required for immediate use, 
less flour can be used. In one case, two ounces of 
flour with one quart of kerosene was used, but when 
this was left standing for a few hours, the kerosene 
separated too much. It is also found that by scalding 
flour before adding the kerosene less weight is re¬ 
quired. This flour mixture is smooth, easier sprayed 
and does not clog the nozzle. It is just as effective as 
the lime or limoid and kerosene, and does not whiten 
the trees or foliage. In most cases, however, limoid 
would be cheaper than the flour. Still, where good lime 
cannot be obtained it is possible to use the flour, es- 
THE WEEPING ROSEBUD CHERRY. Fig. 178. 
See Ruralisms, Page 426. 
pecially where a small amount of spraying is to be done. 
This flour emulsion can also be added to Bordeaux 
Mixture or Paris-green if desired. 
DAY FARM LABOR IN DELAWARE. 
Referring to page 396, in regard to farm wages, we 
pay here 85 cents per day. Men board themselves and 
work from sunrise to sunset with one and one-half 
hour at noon. They live in town and walk a mile to 
work. We have men who''live in houses on the farm 
to whom we pay 75 cents a day, find house, firewood 
and let them have horse to cultivate truck patch. They 
also keep chickens and raise a hog or two. They 
board themselves, of course. This is for the entire 
year, any kind of work. For any extra heavy work, 
like harvesting hay or wheat, fodder, etc., we pay 
$1, and for picking peaches usually 10 cents an hour. 
T am at a loss to see how a farmer can do 10 hours’ 
work at ordinary farm work. With men at work in 
factories, they can work 10 hours every day, but on 
a farm rain or bad weather may delay certain kinds of 
work, making it necessary to work longer. Besides, 
teams must be fed early, milking, etc., done, so that 
with the crops grown here I cannot see how ten-hour 
work can be done. Ten hours usually means to begin 
at seven A. M. Our first berry train leaves about nine 
A. M., and if we began at seven how much could we 
accomplish? Suppose a man has a field of hay in prime 
condition for housing? Pie must quit at six P. M., 
when he could probably complete the job by night. 
It would be interesting to know what crops your 
Maine correspondent grows so he can afford to pay 
$1.35 to $1.50 for 10 hours’ work. Up to two years ago 
we paid 75 cents a day to town men who boarded 
themselves. If wages advance any more we cannot 
grow crops at a profit unless the price increases. The 
crops grown and prices received for same make a great 
difference in farm wages. Plere our leading farm crops 
are small fruits, potatoes both sweet and white, vege¬ 
tables like peas, tomatoes, corn, etc., cantaloupes, water¬ 
melons, peaches, pears, some apples and plums. All 
these are money crops; wheat and corn are largely 
grown more as secondary crops, the latter for 
feed; also hay. Some little dairying is done; not much 
stock; quite a lot of poultry. Berry picking is paid 
for by the quart, lj/2 cent being the price for straw¬ 
berries and blackberries, and two cents for raspberries. 
A good picker will make $1 to $1.50 in five to six hours, 
and many $2.50 and up to $3 on long days. Let us 
hear prices for farm help from other localities and 
the crops they grow. Of course we use all the farm 
machinery we can, but there are not so many labor- 
saving machines for fruit as there are for hay and 
grain crops. chas. wright. 
Delaware. _ 
CROP FOR PLOWING UNDER. 
What Is the best thing for me to plant this Spring for the 
purpose of plowing under and enriching a light sandy soil, 
and without much expense in first fertilizing? The books 
say that Red clover needs a deep rich soil, so I am afraid it 
would not be well. I see in the catalogues different 
“vetches” advertised for poor soils. Would they be good? 
And could I make any use of them for food for a horse, or 
chickens, besides plowing under? Also, is such land good 
for field corn or oats, and would it pay me to try and raise 
these for a horse and chickens—-hiring all the work done? 
I wish some one could tell me how to get a good cow for $30 
to $40; or how much one ought to pay for one with 
enough Jersey blood in her to make good, rich milk for gen¬ 
eral purposes. h. m. w. 
There seems to be no leguminous plant adapted to our 
northern latitude that will thrive on sandy soil. It 
is very difficult indeed and a slow process to build up 
this kind of soil without some added fertility and I 
doubt about the wisdom of trying it. I know of no 
plant that would do better than buckwheat. Sow early 
and if you should, through favorable weather, get a 
crop of grain, you could put back the straw and have 
the grain to feed; if not, plow under the whole crop; 
work for a couple of weeks and sow Winter rye, to 
plow under early next Spring, about the 20th of May. 
You could then perhaps get something of a crop of 
corn. I should, however much prefer to buy and 
apply 300 to 500 pounds high grade commercial fer¬ 
tilizer and be quite sure of having a crop to* harvest 
this season, I consider it very unfortunate that people 
generally think land cannot be improved in available 
plant food without the use of legumes. I know bet¬ 
ter, and have previously given the history of a piece of 
land that grew a crop of grain each year, chiefly with 
250 pounds acid phosphate per acre, and gained yearly 
in productive power. The decaying roots and stubble 
surely increased the available nitrogen of the soil. Of 
course, the clovers, etc., are better, but they have to 
have new milk to feed upon, while buckwhheat and 
oats will make something of a growth upon whey. 
It is doubtful about much profit arising from hiring 
all the work done upon this kind of soil, unless you 
can sell the produce in some way to city boarders at 
two prices. 
No one can tell you how to get a valuable cow for 
$30 to $40, but you could find them here and probably 
in your neighboring county, Washington, that under 
good full feed for a year or more would develop into 
$50 to $65 cows. I am surprised to know that the 
country is full of most valuable cows. If they only had 
enough to eat of a balanced ration every day in the 
year, feeding 10 pounds of grain daily when in full flow 
in Winter and five pounds in Summer; in fact, never 
less than four pounds daily when dry and all the 
roughage they can eat, this kind of feed and care 
would revolutionize the cow business in this country. 
Buy a $30 to $40 cow and educate her into a $50 cow— 
that’s a good business practice. h. e. cook. 
The farm horse which is driven to town and made to 
eat “post, meat” two or three nights a week after a hard 
day’s work, can hardly be blamed for not laying much fat 
on his ribs. 
