314 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 20, 
LATE ALFALFA PROBABLY DEAD. 
Plow and Seed Again. 
TF. E. II., Hew Albany, Ind .—On page 
137 I notice Charles B. Wing gives his ex¬ 
perience with Alfalfa. I would like to 
know the best way to get a good set of 
Alfalfa. T prepared about three acres last 
year where I had oats sowed, broke the 
ground deep and worked it several times, 
and would have sown the Alfalfa about 
August 1, but it was so dry I did not sow 
until last of September when it was still 
dry. Some of the seed came up. Will the 
seed come this Spring, or what is the best 
way to get a good stand on that piece of 
ground? The land is good strong lime¬ 
stone soil, deep, and slopes lightly to the 
north. 
Ans.—W ithout wishing to croak at 
all, I do feel a little like saying, “I 
told you so,” because for many years 
we have cautioned farmers against Fall 
seeding unless the weather conditions 
were favorable at seeding time, so that 
they were able to sow during July; even 
then, it frequently happens that the 
weather is unfavorable, and disappoint¬ 
ment results. The experiment stations 
have urged the farmers to use Fall seed¬ 
ing in preference to Spring seeding, 
and the trouble is, on account of the 
way the crops have to be handled, farm¬ 
ers postpone this seeding until it is 
dangerously close to Winter. If the 
seed can he sown during July, the prob¬ 
abilities are that it will be all right, but 
more generous treatment, and the farm¬ 
ers who arc making their first consid¬ 
eration a stand of Alfalfa, and other 
things of secondary importance, are suc¬ 
ceeding well where the others failed. I 
am proud of the success that we have 
had with this plant on our own farm, 
but there we make everything of sec¬ 
ondary importance to obtaining the 
stand. We let all our other work go 
in the Spring until the Alfalfa is prop¬ 
erly seeded. We sow a nurse crop just 
because it keeps the weeds down, and 
is a benefit to the Alfalfa when prop¬ 
erly used. We cut this nurse crop for 
hay because we find that this benefits 
the Alfalfa, and we use beardless Spring 
barley for a nurse crop in preference 
to any other because we find that it is 
the best nurse crop that we have. 
The- methods by which one may suc¬ 
ceed with Alfalfa are all simple, and 
no mystery need surround them. First 
you must choose land that contains suf¬ 
ficient lime; then it must be properly 
drained; then it will usually pav to in¬ 
oculate; and, finally, it is much better 
if it contains a sufficient amount of 
humus. Then, as we have already stated; 
we like to sow at oat-seeding time, us¬ 
ing 1 y 2 bushel beardless Spring harlev 
per acre, and 20 pounds of Alfalfa seed, 
the ground being plowed and carefully 
fitted, and the Alfalfa seed covered 
about one inch. About the first of July 
we cut the nurse crop for hay; prob¬ 
ably during August or September we 
clip the Alfalfa, sometimes getting a 
fairly good cutting of hay from it; then 
we let it go into Winter with from eight 
inches to one foot of growth to protect 
OHIO ALFALFA; W. I. CHAMBERLAIN HOLDING A BUNCH. 
later than that we have serious doubts 
about it. Our own practice for the past 
15 years has been to sow at oat-seed- 
ing time, and in all this time we have 
had only one failure, and that was when 
we used some Turkestan seed. For 
years we have recommended this method, 
and have recommended using beardless 
Spring barley for a nurse crop. Many 
farmers have taken half our advice, 
seeding at oat-seeding time, but using 
oats as a nurse crop, and either the oats 
lodged and choked the Alfalfa, or they 
stooled out and shaded it too much, or 
perhaps they were allowed to ripen, and 
the Alfalfa did poorly on account of 
being shaded by the nurse crop for so 
many months. On this account some¬ 
thing of a prejudice against the Spring 
seeding has grown up—a prejudice 
which I believe to be without founda¬ 
tion. I think that the proper time 
to seed Alfalfa in all the States north 
of the Ohio River and east of the Mis¬ 
souri, with the exception probably of 
the New England States, is in the 
Spring at oat-seeding time, using beard¬ 
less barley as a nurse crop. The New 
England States are better to seed in the 
Fall, and many of the Southern States, 
possibly all of them, succeed better with 
the Fad seeding. 
I wish to scold just a little more while 
on this line. So many farmers wish to 
get as much use of their land as possi¬ 
ble, and feel so skeptical about their suc¬ 
cess with Alfalfa, that they think they 
will grow another crop, and if the Al¬ 
falfa fails they will have the other crpp 
anyway. So they sow oats thick enough 
to yield 50 or 75 bushels per acre, and 
of course, the Alfalfa is choked out. Or 
else, they sow Alfalfa in the cornfield 
at the last cultivation of the corn, and 
the probabilities are that they will get 
their corn crop, hut they will get a poor 
stand of Alfalfa. Or^ else, they will 
take off a crop of oats, plowing the land 
and sowing the Alfalfa any time be¬ 
tween the first of August and the last 
of September, and they may almost 
count upon being unsuccessful, as they 
really expect to be. This plant is worth 
it throughout the Winter. That is the 
whole thing in a nutshell. If we were 
sowing in the Summer, we would take 
off a crop of peas or very early pota¬ 
toes, or possibly wheat, and would be 
sure to plow the land and sow during 
July, using no nurse crop. If we used 
commercial fertilizer, we would apply 
either bone meal or acid phosphate. 
Now, as to what W. E. FI. should do 
with the field that he has; I think it 
probable that he will have to plow it 
up. The chances are against his having 
a good stand when Spring comes, and 
I question whether much of the seed 
would* go through the Winter and come 
up in the Spring and thrive. I think 
it more probable that all of it sprouted 
late during the Fall and perished with 
the early freezes. It is possib’e that 
if he plowed it this Spring, and plowed 
deep, he would not kill nearly all the 
old plants, and by immediately reseed¬ 
ing he would get some benefit from 
last year’s seed. 
Ohio. CHAS. B. WING. 
Hog Raising in Maryland. 
I have seven or eight acres of woodland 
that is well suited to hogs; raise two 
litters per year, selling in May and Oc¬ 
tober. putting hogs up and feeding corn 
for about six weeks before selling. I wish 
to add a rotation of pasture in field join¬ 
ing woodland, and would like to run hogs 
in it from as early Spring to as late Fall 
as possible, say April 15 to December 15. 
I would run 50 hogs in each lot, fence'each 
lot off; rye in one lot, barley and oats in 
another, rape in a third and sorghum and 
cow peas mixed in the fourth, putting rape 
in second lot after barley and oats are 
eaten off. Is six acres sufficient for 50 
hogs as indicated? I have very little skim- 
milk. What can I use as a substitute? 
IIow soon in Fall can mangels be used? 
Can they he sliced and fed instead of cook¬ 
ing? What quantity should be fed per 100 
pounds of hog per diem? Can rutabagas 
be fed to hogs in the same manner as man¬ 
gels? What variety of cows peas are best 
to sow with sorghum? Can Crimson clover 
be sown for green manure with rape to 
come on after rape is fed off, and turned 
under succeeeding Spring? What fertilizer 
will be needed on pasture lots to keep up 
fertility? For cross-breeding for pork, 
which is better, Poland China on Berkshire 
or Poland China on Du roc-Jersey, or Berk¬ 
shire on Duroc-.Tersey ? I like large lit¬ 
ters and good hams. m. j. h. 
Carroll Co., Maryland. 
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