264 
'ri-IK; RURAL IM EW-YORKER 
March 6 
SOME SUCCESS WITH ALFALFA. 
In spite of the fact that a great many 
of our neighbors are sowing their Al¬ 
falfa in August, we cannot help being 
very well satisfied ourselves to go on 
as we have been doing, sowing the 
first week in April. Our Winters are 
so hard on Alfalfa, with so much freez¬ 
ing and thawing weather, that is in¬ 
clined to lift it out by the roots, and 
Poultry in the Asparagus Field. 
I have about one acre of asparagus, a 
two-year-old bed. I am thinking about 
using the same piece of land for poultry 
yard for 150 chickens. Would I ruin the 
asparagus bed using it for that purpose? 
Wisconsin. d. e. b. 
With certain breeds, and well fed, I 
would not hesitate doing what the inquirer 
suggests, while with some other breeds, 
or either half starved, I would hesitate. 
If a flock of poultry of this number had 
SO little snow to protect it, that we feel free range, visiting the asparagus bed at 
that we simply must give the plants a wil1, witb plenty of grass or other green 
i t-, forage crops to feed on, my belief is they 
good start before Winter comes. Then, would do mtle harmi but to conflne 150 
with us, the rains usually come just head of full grown poultry on an acre 
about right to favor the Alfalfa when where there is nothing green for the fowls 
it is sown the first week in April. We to P ick at otber tl,an thc asparagus I am 
. . , , . r . afraid they would soon learn to enjoy as- 
get a fair amount of hay from cut- „„„„ „ ‘ „ „ • , „ . . 
° J . paragus as well as most of us humans do. 
ting the barley, and frequently, as this But jf the inquirer means young chickens 
year, get from half a ton to a ton per with only an occasional old mother hen 
acre of beautiful Alfalfa hay in Au- with thom to teach them to look for in - 
Wriie a 
Postal 
For 
Free 
Bpokj 
jr 
jsm 
•M 
0^. 
[mi 
w 
mm 
gust, and after that the Alfalfa has 
plenty of time to grow a foot or so be¬ 
fore Winter. The standing stalks hold 
what snow comes, not allowing any 
portion of the field to be swept bare, 
and in the Spring the meadow will 
be in splendid condition. I very much 
regret that there should have been so 
much mystery made of the sowing of 
Alfalfa. I think the whole thing can 
be resolved into four words: Lime, 
drainage, humus and inoculation; pos¬ 
sibly, the importance of each being in 
the order named. Readers of The 
R. N.-Y. already know what I believe 
in respect to lime. I think it very cer¬ 
tain that there have been more failures 
in the Eastern States through lack of 
sufficient lime than through any other 
cause. I feel more positive that I am 
right in my statements about this plant 
since watching the experience of a 
friend who has succeeded with Al¬ 
falfa in a splendid manner, under con¬ 
ditions as unfavorable, we believe, as 
can be found in the United States. I 
refer to J. F. Jack, whose home is in 
California. Mr. Jack thought that he 
saw a lot of money ready to be made 
from growing Alfalfa in the Eastern 
States, on some of the worn-out cheap 
lands, where labor was comparatively 
low-priced, and where he had unlimited 
markets eager to use any quantity of 
his products. He purchased 1,500 acres 
near Fredericksburg, Va. This soil con¬ 
tained little or no lime, and was badly 
impoverished. Mr. Jack secured 400 
tons of lime, which he applied to 150 
acres of the land which he considered 
best adapted to growing Alfalfa. He 
supplied the necessary humus by grow¬ 
ing' Crimson clover and plowing lit 
under. He sowed 30 pounds per acre 
of the best Alfalfa seed which he could 
find, and at the same time, he applied 
400 pounds bone meal per acre. He 
intentionally left some strips from 
which either the bone meal or the lime 
was omitted. He advised me last Fall 
that he had a splendid meadow for the 
entire 150 acres with the exception of 
these test strips. The strips on which 
he sowed no lime absolutely failed. 
Those that had lime and no bone meal 
were partial successes. He harvested 
last year on this old, impoverished soil, 
nearly four tons of Alfalfa hay per 
acre. Incidentally, he sowed 150 acres 
more and he expects to continue until 
he has the entire 1,500 acres seeded to 
Alfalfa. Is this not inspiring, to see 
both the courage which this man had, 
and the magnificent results which he 
accomplished, by simply making condi¬ 
tions right whe'e they were naturally 
very unfavorable? I think that it is, 
and that Mr. Jack’s experience will 
encourage thousands of other farmers 
throughout the country in the belief 
that they may succeed as he has done. 
Ohio. __ C. B. WING. 
Hobse Witii Indigestion.—O n page 122 
J. L. asks for information for liis horse 
which has severe attacks of indigestion. I 
have a horse afflicted similarly to his. 1 
give my remedy, I bored two one-inch holes 
in the bottom of feed trough about one-half 
inch deep, and filled with asafeetida. He 
has had only one attack since, almost 18 
months. F. B. w. 
sects and worms, then I would not hesitate. 
Some breeds of fowls are so peaceful and 
quiet when well fed that they might do 
very little if any damage, while other 
breeds are so very active with both beak 
and toes I imagine a considerable damage 
would be done, both to the row and the 
young shoots as they appear above ground. 
After the cutting season is over and the 
shoots are allowed to grow, poultry in the 
asparagus bed can do no harm, on the con¬ 
trary, they can and will do a great deal of 
good. They will feed on all (he asparagus 
beetles in their reach, pick up large quan¬ 
tities of weed seeds, scratch the ground all 
over after every cultivation, and by that 
scratching kill numerous weeds that are 
about to grow. c. c. hulsakt. 
In regard to keeping hens and chickens 
on asparagus fields, two or three hens with 
their chickens are placed in coops on each 
acre of asparagus; the hens are kept con¬ 
fined and the chickens allowed free range. 
If placed on the land early, the chickens 
will exterminate all asparagus beetles and 
cutworms and do no damage to the crop. 
If enough chickens and not too many weeds 
the land will be kept clean and of course 
will be partially fertilized. 
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