1908. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
861 
AN EXPERIENCE WITH ALFALFA. 
Starting an Old Field Anew. 
Last Spring found an eight-year-old field of Alfalfa 
on the farm so thinned out that it was necessary to 
plow it. This it was desired to put back to Alfalfa, 
as soon as possible, and in the most practicable way 
that could be worked out. It was not my notion to 
sow with nurse crop. Without, if sown early, the 
weeds and grasses were almost sure to choke it out. 
In a neighboring town, a new canning factory was 
making a start, and the owners were making a strong 
effort to secure the desired acreage of peas. My plan 
was to put the whole of the 11 acres to peas, and fol¬ 
low with Alfalfa. Two teams are used on the farm; 
but I was assured that they were not sufficient to 
move the crop as quickly as it would have to be 
moved; consequently only about five acres were sown 
to peas. After this was done the remainder of the 
field was put in the best possible condi¬ 
tion and sown to Alfalfa May 26, using 
something more than 15 pounds seed per 
acre. The 20th of June the last of the 
peas were taken off. After repeated 
workings, this pea ground was sown to 
Alfalfa July 24. The pea crop left the 
land clean of weeds and grass. 
In sowing the Alfalfa the grain drill 
was used, strewing the seed in front of 
the hoes. In a few days after the sow¬ 
ing there came a very hard rain. Not 
expecting such a deluge, the care was 
not taken to drive the drill crossways 
of the steeper parts of the field instead 
of up and down. As a consequence 
there were great numbers of gullies as 
deep as the soil had been worked, the 
land having been put in order with Cut¬ 
away, drag harrows and roller. In two 
low places where the water collects to 
leave the field the gullies were washed 
one to three feet wide and as deep as 
the land had been plowed last Spring. 
Since sowing there has been two or 
three of these hard rains, and twice or 
three times an effort made to stop these 
washes, the larges ones by staking 
bunches of straw in the larger gullies 
and handfuls in many of the smaller ones. 
The stand from this sowing was excel¬ 
lent, excepting on a red clay point or 
two, the ridges between the small gullies 
being covered with the Alfalfa plants. 
Three different times the drill was taken 
to the field to sow the spots covered 
over with the soil washed from the 
gullies. There is a fair stand on these 
spots, but it is very small and the 
drought has been, severe for the last 
month. This morning, October 8, it is 
raining; if in good quantity it will help 
this small Alfalfa. 
The part of the field not sown to peas 
was put in order and seeded to Alfalfa 
May 26. In this five or six acres of land 
there are almost as many kinds of soil; 
about one acre of black soil of excellent 
land. A part of the plot is a steep bank 
recently cleared of trees and brush, too 
steep to cultivate to corn, and never be¬ 
fore turned with a plow. The seed in 
sowing this plot was allowed to fall 
behind the drill hoes. Excepting on the 
one acre of black soil, the stand was so 
unsatisfactory that it was all plowed ex¬ 
cepting this one acre. This land was 
gone over 13 times with the different 
tools; roller, drag harrow and Cutaway 
harrow, also the grain drill. This was 
sown to Alfalfa July 30, the seed falling in front of 
the drill hoes. The drill was driven around the hill 
and as much as possible across the slope. Where this 
could not be done the drag harrow was drawn across 
the drill marks. In spite of the best precautions in this 
way, a heavy rain washed many gullies. However, 
we got an excellent stand that now, at a distance of 
nearly 100 rods, by its growth, almost entirely hides 
the land. Strange to say, the parts that look bare will 
doubtless produce some of the best Alfalfa that will 
grow on the field; being red clay, they start the Al¬ 
falfa slowly, but when once started they always pro¬ 
duce splendid crops. 
Now to return to the one acre that was not plowed. 
By the last of July there was a good stand in the 
main of Alfalfa, and a fine crop of foxtail and weeds, 
the former 2 l / 2 feet high; hogweed as high as a 
horse’s back, and lamb’s quarters a good second. 
These were mown and raked off. Then the Alfalfa 
began to show up, and showed a fine stand, excepting 
two or three spots, possibly in all two rods square. 
Had I allowed the weeds and grasses to mature 
doubtless about all the Alfalfa would have been killed 
out. The prospects of this field are very promising 
for large yields next year. It was well manured last 
Spring before and after plowing, and much of it 
manured again since sowing the Alfalfa, partly to 
help the poorer spots that were starting the Alfalfa 
slowly, and as an aid to check the washing in the 
small gullies. Had the whole field been sown to peas 
the crop could have been handled easily; a fair return 
secured, the Alfalfa seed sown on the part sown to 
Alfalfa saved, about one-half the labor expended 
saved, and a stronger growth of Alfalfa secured 
against Winter. john m. jamison. 
Ross Co., O. 
R. N. G.—Mr. Jamison’s experience is certainly sug¬ 
gestive, and should be helpful under like conditions. 
BOILING LIME AND SULPHUR WASH. 
Can you tell me where to buy something better than the 
ordinary iron kettle, for boiling the lime-sulpliur wash? I 
shall make about 50 gallons at a time, and want the best 
and most durable outfit I can get. I do not need the ex¬ 
tensive appliances, of course, that are used by the large 
commercial fruit growers. w. d. 
Madisonville, O. 
We believe most people who make small quantities 
of cooked lime and sulphur use an iron kettle or a 
wooden vat with iron bottom. Where steam is avail¬ 
able stout barrels are sometimes used. Prof. T. B. 
Symonds, of the Maryland Experiment Station, tells 
in Bulletin 112 of a homemade vat or scalder whiclf 
answers the purpose well. The picture at Fig. 398 
shows how it is made, with dimensions. Good lumber 
lp 2 inch thick and 20 inches wide is used. The sheet- 
iron bottom is bent so as to extend six inches up the 
ends and sides. Be sure to have it at least this much 
up the end where the fuel is put in. The sheet-iron 
bottom is nailed up around the vat. It is not neces¬ 
sary to use cement if the iron is securely nailed to 
the box. White pine is good material for it. This 
vat is set over a hole in the ground with a stove pipe 
at one end, or on a raised place of either sheet iron 
or brick, the fire being built beneath it. We have 
heard of a simpler vat used in the West, where the 
sheet iron is simply nailed to the bottom of the box 
with the joints cemented. 
VALUE OF APPLE POMACE. 
I never have used apple pomace to any great extent 
as a fertilizer, because in the absence of any chemical 
test I was of the opinion that its value would be 
principally for its mechanical effect, and a little ex¬ 
perience, when applied late in the season, seemed to 
show that it made plowed ground work heavy and 
salvy. Applied early in such a hot, dry time as we had 
last month, I do not think it would have that effect 
if only a light application was made, or if applied 
lightly on meadow or pasture. I am 
applying some this season to the apple 
trees, bearing trees, putting a few 
shovelfuls around each tree, near to, 
but not touching, the trunk, the idea 
being to keep down weeds and possibly 
to return to the soil some of the essen¬ 
tials that the apples took away. 
I have no silo and have never put up 
any pomace in that way, but a little ex¬ 
perience in another way leads me to 
think it should be entirely practical. A 
number of years ago I had a lot of pom¬ 
ace piled up in a mound late in the Fall. 
It remained in the same place all Win¬ 
ter and one day early in the Spring, or 
late in the Winter, I was out by thjs 
mound, which was probably six feet 
high, and noticed just around from 
where I was, the hind quarters of a 
sheep. On investigating I found that 
the sheep had burrowed into the pile so 
far that this one was nearly hidden. The 
snow and frost had compacted the out¬ 
side and the sun had thawed it on the 
south side so that they could more eas¬ 
ily work their way to the inside. If it 
would keep under these circumstances 
and be palatable, why not in a silo? Our 
stock of all kinds are very fond of pom¬ 
ace, and will eat it after ft has heated 
and soured, if allowed access to it. I do 
not think that pomace in a silo would 
anywhere near approach corn silage in 
feeding value as feeds are valued or 
compared. I should say its value was 
as a change or as a relish, the same as 
a man takes his apple sauce along with 
heartier food. Pomace will heat and 
ferment very quickly, and I would think 
should be put into the silo as fast as 
made. Repressed pomace that has been 
run through a picker, or reground, will 
handle much better and pack closer than 
the first pressing, which is in thin layers 
or cakes. To sum up, I should like to 
have pomace to feed all through the 
Winter, as an appetizer, and as a ma¬ 
nure would prefer to compost it with 
strawy manure or leaves or pile it up 
and let it rot a year before applying it 
to the land in any considerable quanti¬ 
ties. L. R. BRYANT. 
Illinois. 
Some years ago we handled the 
pomace from a cider mill—working it 
over with warm water, repressing and 
boiling the liquid down to apple jelly. 
The pomace, which we fed to stock, was 
more valuable after being worked over 
than before. It was less acid, the sheep and 
cattle liked it better, and ate more of it. It was 
hauled out every morning, and spread thinly over 
the pasture. What little was not eaten decayed 
and improved the pasture. Comparing it with silage 
as stock food is a little difficult. Corn silage as 
stock food I would class as bread, meat and potatoes 
for humans, while the pomace would take the place 
of baked apples. I don’t think I would want to 
silo the stuff. There are innumerable cider mills lo¬ 
cated in every nook and corner of this country with 
large piles of pomace decaying, its odor polluting the 
atmosphere. In these piles of pomace, I believe, are 
hidden possibilities that have the making of a “trust” 
more gigantic and powerful than the meat trust. 
Many of us remember the days when outside the 
limits of every town one or more slaughter houses 
polluted the air with its stench. These places have 
been abandoned and concentrated in large cities, where 
this very stuff that created the stench, the offal, 
is made into human, stock and plant food. There is 
no longer any waste ; everything is utilized of an animal 
except the proverbial squeal. Men have become mul¬ 
timillionaires from the wasted materials, j. H. b. 
GLADIOLUS MASTODON, FROM A PAINTING, MUCH REDUCED. 
Fig. 399. See Ruralisms, Page 856. 
