1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
441 
ALFALFA FOR EASTERN FARMERS . 
A CROP WELL WORTH STRIVING FOR. 
How To Work for It. 
PART III. 
Well-Prepared Soil.— Alfalfa frequent¬ 
ly dies in a few months when sown on 
soil that has not been firmed below the 
surface. A tenant and a neighbor who 
owned his own farm both decided to sow 
Alfalfa one Spring. The fields were alike, 
and were separated only by a wire fence. 
The land owner, a good farmer, plowed 
his ground deep, pulverized it thoroughly, 
and immediately sowed the Alfalfa. He 
said his soil was mellow enough for on¬ 
ions. The tenant did not think he could 
afford to put much work on another man’s 
land. His field had been in corn, and he 
burned the stalks, ran over the field with 
a disk harrow, made the surface fine with 
a drag and sowed the seed. Good stands 
were secured on both fields. In the Fall 
considerable of the Alfalfa on the land 
owner’s field had died, and the next 
Spring the stand was so poor that the 
field was plowed up. The tenant had a 
good stand in the Fall, and the next sea¬ 
son cut four heavy crops from his field. 
These cases are extremes, and usually 
such success could not be secured with so 
little work unless the corn had been given 
exceptionally good treatment the previous 
year, and the soil was in good tilth. A 
seed bed well settled and firm below the . 
surface is necessary. This does not mean 
a tramped, packed or puddled seed bed. 
but one firm and mellow. A western 
stockman has been successful with Alfalfa 
on sandy land so loose that it drifts under 
heavy winds. The*crop is usually a total 
failure on such soils. This man feeds 
his stock all Winter on a field intended for 
Alfalfa, scattering corn fodder, hay and 
straw so that the field becomes well 
tramped by Spring. The seed is sown on 
this tramped soil in the Spring and har¬ 
rowed lightly once. Then if the soil is 
very dry cattle are driven over it to 
pack the seed in. A roller would make 
the surface so smooth that the wind would 
blow the seed off the farm. More than 
100 acres of good Alfalfa have been se¬ 
cured in this way on this peculiar soil. In 
heavy soils the method would insure 
complete failure. 
When to Sow. —Where 36 inches of 
rain or more falls Alfalfa should be seed¬ 
ed in August or early in September in the 
Northern States south of a line drawn 
east and west through Chicago. This has 
been proven to be true for eastern Kansas, 
Iowa and Illinois, and is probably true all 
through the section named clear to the At¬ 
lantic Ocean. The rainfall is good, the 
land has been under cultivation for many 
years, and is well filled with weed seeds. 
Under these conditions Spring-seeded Al¬ 
falfa has a hard fight with weeds, crab- 
grass and foxtail, and in a majority of 
cases is either beaten or the stand is thin. 
With Fall seeding an early crop can be 
taken off, the Alfalfa seeded, and three or 
four crops of hay gathered the next year, 
no time being lost. It is not usually advis¬ 
able to sow Alfalfa with a nurse crop, 
and where it is sown alone in the Spring 
it must be mowed several times to keep 
the weeds down; no hay is obtained 
the first year, and a whole season’s use 
of the land is lost, with considerable ex¬ 
pense incurred. The loss from winter- 
killing and heaving out is much less where 
Alfalfa is sown in the late Summer. It 
should be sown early enough to make 8 
to 10 inches of growth before the ground 
freezes. In every instance known to the 
writer of a trial between Fall and Spring 
seeding the Fall seeding has given the 
thickest stand, the strongest plants and 
the heaviest yield of hay the next sea¬ 
son after the seeding. Where an early 
crop of potatoes or garden truck can be 
taken off in time the ground should not 
be plowed, but leveled, and the surface 
fined. This makes an ideal seed bed. 
Early oats or small grain can be cut for 
hay or harvested for grain if the}' ripe r> 
in time. The ground should be plowed 
at once, and well harrowed each day as 
fast as plowed. After the plowing has 
been finished fit the ground for Alfalfa 
and wait for a good rain. After this 
comes harrow again and then sow. Un¬ 
der these conditions Alfalfa will grow 
fast and the weeds will not bother, and 
no attention need be given the crop until 
time to cut hay next Summer. North of 
a line drawn east and west through Chi¬ 
cago Spring seeding is given the prefer¬ 
ence by most successful Alfalfa grow¬ 
ers. I would recommend, though, even 
for northern New York and New Eng¬ 
land, that when the ground cannot be 
put in good condition, and the right kind 
of seed bed be made early in the Spring 
it is plowed early and as good a seed bed 
as possible be prepared. Then work the 
ground every 10 days with a shallow culti¬ 
vator, spring-tooth or Acme harrow until 
the first of July. This will destroy sev¬ 
eral crops of weeds, put the land in good 
tilth, and Alfalfa sown then will make a 
better growth by Fall than it will if sown 
early in the Spring in a poorer seed bed 
having to fight weeds through a cold 
Spring and early Summer. 
Seeding. —Eastern farmers should sow 
25 pounds per acre of plump, clean, pure 
seed that has a germination of over 90 
per cent. Sow broadcast and cover lightly 
with a harrow, and get the seed on even. 
When sown in August Alfalfa is always 
sown alone. For Spring seeding success¬ 
ful growers are about equally divided, 
some insisting that a nurse crop is an 
advantage, and others that the best stands 
are always secured when the crop is 
sown alone. Both barley and oats are 
used for nurse crops, not over one to 1J4 
bushel of seed per acre being sown. 
They must be cut early and taken off 
the ground quickly. If the season is dry 
at harvest time the oats should be cut for 
hay, as oats require so much moisture in 
the process of ripening that if left to 
ripen they will leave the soil so dry that 
the young Alfalfa perishes. 
H. M. COTTRELL. 
My Pet Rose Is a little dear to me, being 
a gift from The R. N.-Y., and the object of 
much care and nursing. Dry as a chip when 
I received it, I put the leafless thing In a 
bath, then in pot of good soil, with a little 
medicine to feed on—if feed it could—then 
bathed the leafless stem daily to induce cir¬ 
culation, and for nine weeks this was done 
and no sign of life—hut it had been at work 
under—for a strong shoot came up. and now 
there are more shoots, and Philadelphia keeps 
on growing. There was much money ex¬ 
pended in sending those plants free, and It 
is likely that many died—from carelessness, 
ignorance and want of nursing. t. ii. 
Ontario, Canada. 
Mexican Rubber Culture. —On page 338 
I note a reference to Colorado rubber weed, 
and incidentally to Mexican rubber. Gtiay- 
ule rubber in northern Mexico is already mak¬ 
ing a considerable showing in the export 
statistics of this country, hut the Colorado 
rubber plant (so-called) appears to he mere¬ 
ly a promoter’s project, up to the present 
time. I myself have no interest in either one 
or the other, hut I do have large interests in 
the Castilioa rubber tree, the original rubber 
producer of tropical Mexico, and resent the 
implications of your paragraph in that con¬ 
nection. You refer to the large number of 
fake rubber companies that have been boomed 
in this industry here, and by silence imply 
that there were and are no legitimate com¬ 
panies. The United States Department of 
Agriculture at Washington issued on last No¬ 
vember 14 a report on rubber in tropical Mex¬ 
ico by U. S. Consul-General Tarsons, of 
Mexico City, the only American official who 
has ever taken the trouble to make a personal 
trip over the rubber country before report¬ 
ing on it. In that report he says: “The 
culture of rubber is already a commercial 
success to a limited but growing extent, as 
is proved absolutely by my inspection of 
Mexican plantations owned by natives who 
are now cropping rubber from cultivated 
trees. Rubber culture is profitable provided 
soil, climate and other conditions are favor¬ 
able, and plantations are managed honestly 
and well.” ITe then goes on to speak of the 
numerous fakes in tne business which you are 
evidently already familiar with, so I need 
not further quote his report. You say that 
none of the rubber companies that you refer 
to have prospered; but few companies were 
started before 1900 and none before 1898; 
and it takes six to eight, years to bring the 
trees to the point of even small production, 
so you see you are premature in jumping to 
the conclusion that the plantations are not 
doing well. On this property, planted in 
1S98, we are just beginning to get a little 
rubber. J. Herbert foster. 
Spray Y 
Potatoes 
The experience of practical potato growers proves 
conclusively that potatoes cannot be successfully grown 
without spraying, Bordeaux mixture prevents blight, promotes healthy growth, and 
with the addition of Paris green entirely abates the bug nuisance. The 
IRON AGE Sprayer 
will often save, and always increase the crop. It provides the most economical and effective method 
of application, and the Increased yield will pay for the solution and sprayer time and again. 
Has iron tank, heavily galvanized. Automatic pump and dasher. Convenient adjustment of 
pressure to regulate fineness of spray. Nozzles adjustable to height of plants, and different widths 
of rows. May be furnished with orchard attachment for spraying trees,or a middle row attachment 
for spraying tomatoes, cantaloupe and other vine crops. 
Our New Iron Age ltook gives detailed description of sprayers and other Potato Machinery, 
Planters, Cultivators and Diggers. Also Seeders, Wheel Hoes, Fertilizer Distributors, etc. Sent free 
on application. 
BATEMAN MFG. CO., 
Box 102-D Grenloch, N. J. 
THE BOSS POTATO DIGGER 
works well in 
stony ground and 
on side hill. Digs 
every row. WARRANTED. 
Thousands in use. Write for 
prices. Manufactured by 
E. R. ALLEN FOUNDRY CO., 
Corning, N. Y. 
A Never Failing Water Supply, 
with absolute safety, at small cost may be had by using the 
Improved Rider Hot Air Pumping Engine and 
Improved Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine. 
Built by us for more than 30 years and sold in every country in the world. Exclu¬ 
sively intended for pumping water. May be run by any ignorant boy or woman. 
So well built that their durability is yet to be determined, engines which were sold 
30 years ago being still in active service. 
Send stamp for ‘‘C4” Catalogue to nearest office. 
R1DER-ERICSSON ENGINE CO., 
35 Warren St., New York. 239 Franklin St^ Ronton. 
40 Dearborn St., Chicago. 234 Craig* St., West, .Montreal, P* O. 
40 North 7th SL, Philadelphia. 22 Pitt St., Sydney, N. S. W. 
Teuleute-Key 71, Havana, Cuba. 
—OF— 
CASOLINE ENGINES 
For farm, shop or mill use. Vertical 
or horizontal. Mounted or Stationary 
Sizes from 114 to 100 H. P. 
Pumping and Electric Lighting Outfits a Specialty. 
Sold under Our Guarantee. 
STODDARD MFG. CO., - Rutland, Vt. 
Positive Circulation and Minimum 
✓ ibration Can be Obtained Only With 
Abenaque Engines. 
2-25 H. P. 
Gas and 
Gasoline 
Portable 
and 
Statinnarv. 
Write for Free Cat. o. ABENAQUE MACHINE WORKS. Westminster Sta., Vt. 
Let Us Tell You How You 
AMERICAN MANURE SPREADER 
a Month FREE. On Your Own 
Farm. At Our Risk. 
Can Test This 
Here’s our offer— 
Send for our cata¬ 
logue. pick out the 
Spreader you think 
will be best suited to 
your needs, and tell us 
which it is. 
We will ship it to you 
freight prepaid. 
Take it home and 
use it in your own fields for a month. Give 
it every test you think a Manure Spreader 
ought to stand. Use it just as if you owned it. 
If you don’t find it all we say, take it back 
to the R. R. Station and tell the agent to ship 
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1638 Hastings St., 
HARROW CO. 
- - DETROIT, Mich. 
