1909. 
(566 
ALFALFA IN CENTRAL NEW YORK. 
I have a three-acre field now in oafs. This field is 
in good condition; a year ago I plowed under a good 
coat of manure and planted to corn, having a very large 
crop of stover but only medium corn of the yellow dent 
variety. I wish to plow the oat stubble after harvest, 
thoroughly lime it and harrow in, then seed to Alfalfa. 
Would this plan work out all right? The location is at 
a high altitude, and exposed to severe cold; soil is of 
a sandy loam mixed with shale, so it is in fact very 
stony, is uneven but quite well drained. It has raised 
excellent crops of -potatoes. Land is inclined to be a 
little sour. Would it be advisable to sow lime just before 
sowing Alfalfa seed, and would a good brand of fer¬ 
tilizer be a wise application to insure a catch? Use 
say a 2-8-10 brand, and 300 pounds per acre. Would it 
also be advisable to get inoculated soil ? ii. f. s. 
Livingston Co., N. Y. 
The v oat crop matures in a short period, and plant 
food in 'arge quantities is used readily. By some it 
is considered an exhaustive crop; however, for best 
results in this and latitudes north, especially high 
altitudes, Alfalfa should not follow oats the same 
year. Oat stubble might be promptly plowed, well 
prepared and with a grain and fertilizer drill ( twice 
over perhaps) apply 1,000 to 1,600 pounds per acre 
of good ground fresh lime. Latter amount would 
give 10 pounds lime per square rod; 
2,000 pounds fresh burned lime is equal 
to 2,640 pounds of hydrated lime (an 
addition of 32 per cent of moisture) or 
3,370 pounds carbonate of lime—air- 
slaked lime less 44 per cent for mois¬ 
ture. To grow one ton Timothy hay 10 
pounds of lime is required; 25 bushels 
of wheat require about nine pounds, and 
one ton of clover hay requires 40 
pounds of lime; therefore the import¬ 
ance of lime should be considered, par¬ 
ticularly so if soil is acid, and further, 
Alfalfa probably requires considerably 
more lime than Red clover, especially 
the first year or so. 
About the first week of September 
seed to rye 2J4 to three bushels per 
acre. Humus now is the aim. Next 
Spring during last of April or first 
week of May, when rye is 12 to 13 
inches high, plow it under, using a 
chain to hold down rye so it will turn un¬ 
der properly. Roll and harrow, and har¬ 
row once a week to preserve moisture, un¬ 
lock plant-food and destroy hordes of 
weeds, also getting this soil into a high 
state of tilth, preparatory to sowing the 
Alfalfa the first w'eek in June. Immedi¬ 
ately preceding the sowing, apply 400 
to 500 pounds of good fertilizer per 
acre, analysis 4—8—10, then 300 to 600 
pounds per acre of screened inoculated 
soil from an Alfalfa field, or Sweet 
clover (Melilotus) patch, free from 
noxious weeds. Care should be taken 
also that this soil does not get too 
dry, which will endanger life of bac- 
toria. Geneva Experiment Station can 
furnish soil or state where it can be 
obtained. Prior to sowing Alfalfa the 
ground should be very fine and smooth, 
from either drill or spike-tooth. 
A broadcaster or wheel-barrow seed¬ 
er are good machines for sowing Al¬ 
falfa, which should be applied at the 
rate of from 20 to 30 pounds of best 
and cleanest seed obtainable, purchasing from first 
hands and not from some cross-roads grocery. One 
pound of Alfalfa contains 209,500 seeds; 30 gives 
6,285,000 seeds per acre. Divided by 43,560 square feet 
per acre gives 144 seeds per square foot or one seed 
for every square inch. Don’t be alarmed about this 
thick seeding. It is none too much. Even, heavy, 
lodged crops of -Alfalfa is the end in view, therefore 
leave no stone unturned. “A chain is no stronger 
than its weakest link.” After seed is sown run 
weeder over the field both ways and roll down lightly. 
Dansville and vicinity has an elevation ranging from 
600 to 2,000 feet above sea level, and early June is 
undoubtedly the best time for seeding. The ex¬ 
tremely dry- period of 1908 forced many acres of late- 
sown Alfalfa baby plants into Winter quarters in a 
nude and enfeebled condition, only to be later frozen 
to death, or life entirely destroyed by exposure and 
tierce winds. Early seeding avoids such a crisis; 
also Alfalfa is well established and properly clothed 
and prepared to withstand the oncoming elements. 
M harvest time the husbandman will have on “The 
smile that won’t come off.” t. e. martin. 
Monroe County, N. Y. 
Small fruits and dairying do not make a strong com- 
Mnation. The cows must be milked and the milk han¬ 
dled every day, and no one can pick berries at the same 
time. 
THE RURAL NEW-VORKER 
BALING HAY FROM THE FIELD. 
How It Is Done In Tennessee. 
On page 608 f notice a communciation from G. G. 
W., Muncy, Pa., asking if Timothy hay can be baled 
from the field. I have been baling hay of all kinds, 
that is clover, both Red and Alsike, Alfalfa, Timothy, 
Herd's grass, Johnson grass. Orchard grass and 
mixed hay, direct from the field, or rather in the 
field, for about 10 years, and in that time the loss 
from molded bales has been almost nothing. In that 
time I have had more hay damaged loose in shed or 
stack than in bales, although T put up very little 
hay either in shed or stack. I, of course, can only 
tell what [ have done here, but it seems that what 
I can do here could be done elsewhere. I use balers 
of my own make, so arranged that they travel over the 
field, with hay loader attached, and bale the hay as 
they move over the field, dropping bales as they 
go. I cut the hay, soon follow mower with 
tedder and then start balers as soon as hay is ready. 
I generally, if weather is favorable, cut one day and 
bale the next, but often cut in the morning and bale 
before night. The loader takes up the hay and de¬ 
livers it to baler, without raking. You will see how 
A PATCH OF LOGANBERRIES IN OREGON. F 
385. 
YOUNG JERSEY STOCK ON A CONNECTICUT FARM. Fig. 586. 
much labor is saved in this way over the old way of 
handling hay, and l am sure that the quality of hay 
is better. Last season I baled about 8,000 bales in 
this way and sold a large part of it for several dol¬ 
lars a ton more than market price, so the quality 
must have suited buyers. 
I find that the hay keeps better in a tight, dark 
place after baling. The best hay barn I use is a large 
square silo which I have quit using as a silo, since 
building a circular silo. It is not necessary for the 
hay to be dead ripe; if it is ripe enough to cut and 
put in barn it is ripe enough to bale. It can go through 
the sweat after it is baled just as well as before. 
I use two balers; one puts up a small 50-pound bale 
for retail trade, the other a bale weighing from 60 
to 90 pounds. Before making my balers I used a 
steel horse baler and put up a much heavier bale, but 
as my hay is not shipped, but all used near this 
place, I find the lighter bales sell better. Labor is 
getting so scarce that farmers will have to do more 
with machinery and less with labor and horses. I 
hope by another season to build a baler that one man, 
or two at the most, can take into the hay field, with¬ 
out horses, and take up and bale as much hay as a 
baler now does with five or six hands and horses. It 
has always seemed strange to me that some of the 
large implement factories, with all their facilities for 
such work, have not yet put up such a machine, the 
saving in labor and stock would be so great. I have 
built one baler, a traction gasoline baler, which I 
used without horses. j. l. morrow. 
Tennessee. 
THE VALUE OF LIQUID MANURE. 
How to Use It to Advantage. 
In looking over the fields one cannot help being struck 
with the appearance of the spots where the liquids have 
fallen, also the difference between places where manure 
with the liquid saved has been used as compared with 
that thrown out in the weather to leach. What could 
one put on the land to have the same effect as this 
water and how much to the acre would it require to 
do what this will on the small spot covered? w. k. s. 
Franklin Forks, Fa’. 
You must first know what the liquid contains. In 
the “Fertility of The Land,” Prof. Roberts gives an 
analysis of pure cow urine as 1.32 per cent nitrogen 
and one per cent potash. There was little or no phos¬ 
phoric acid. The green appearance of the grass where 
these liquids fall is due both to the nitrogen and the 
potash. You will notice that the stock will not eat this 
grass readily. Though it is rank and green there 
is little or no taste to it. Cut it with a mowing 
machine and let it wilt and the stock will eat it, or 
throw bone or acid phosphate on these 
places. The phosphoric acid applied in 
this way will give the grass a higher fla¬ 
vor. In order to make a liquid equal in 
plant-food value to the urine you can 
add nitrate of soda to furnish nitrogen 
and muriate of potash to give potash. A 
barrel of water containing 40 gallons will 
weigh about 320 pounds. That much urine 
of the strength given above would con¬ 
tain 4JJ pounds of nitrogen and three 
pounds of potash. Nitrate of soda con¬ 
tains on the average 16 per cent of ni¬ 
trogen and muriate, 50 per cent of 
potash. I he barrel of water, then, 
should contain in solution 2614 pounds 
of nitrate and six pounds of muriate 
of potash. While this would about 
equal the urine in strength, it would 
not be the best application. It is too 
strong and does not contain any phos¬ 
phoric acid. You would do better to 
use four barrels of water and add 40 
pounds of acid phosphate to the other 
chemicals. About 30 barrels of this 
diluted mixture sprinkled over an acre 
would make a showing on the grass 
You must see the value of saving these 
liquids when you realize that the nitro¬ 
gen and potash in the barrel of urine 
will cost about 90 cents in the' form of 
chemicals. You will also see why some 
of these old pastures when plowed up 
and planted to corn often give a great 
yield of stalk and poor ears unless 
phosphoric acid in some form is used. 
HIGH-GRADE FERTILIZERS. 
A farmer complains because he says 
a brand of potato fertilizer varies some¬ 
what in composition. There may be the 
same quantities of nitrogen, potash and 
phosphoric acid, but they seem to be 
obtained from different sources. There 
is probably little difference except in the 
nitrogen, and that difference helps the 
farmer. As we go north we encounter 
a shorter growing season. The Springs are late 
and the soil is cold. If we are to have any crop 
at all it must be grown speedily and started well. 
It is evident that any form of organic nitrogen 
which decays slowly would not be of much service 
in a cold damp soil. Here is a plan where the 
nitrates or soluble nitrogen are absolutely necessary 
to give the potato crop an early start. Go 200 miles 
or more South and you will find a longer season 
and a warmer soil. The ground has not been full 
of ice all Winter, and warms out rapidly. Here 
the organic forms of nitrogen decay more rapidly 
and become available. Thus, the farther north we 
go the larger proportion of nitrates we should find 
in our mixed fertilizers. A potato fertilizer with 
75 per cent of its nitrogen as “organic” might give 
good results in South Jersey, and prove a partial 
failure in Maine or Vermont. By changing the 
mixture so as to give half or more of the nitrogen 
as nitrates the fertilizer would be just what the 
northern farmers needed. We find some farmers in 
the North who are using fertilizer with about one 
per cent of nitrogen. These low-grade mixtures 
usually contain organic nitrogen, often from dried 
peat or coarse tankage, which are of very little use 
for most crops. Such farmers would be better off 
to buy potash and phosphoric acid separately and 
use stable manure, a clover sod, nitrate or dried 
blood for nitrogen. We wish we could make our 
readers see the folly of buying nitrogen in a low- 
grade fertilizer. 
