Vol. LXVII. No. 3054. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 8, 1908. 
ALFALFA CULTIVATED IN DRILLS. Fig. 277. 
ALFALFA SEEDED BROADCAST IN WEEDY SOIL. Fig. 278. 
broadcast method by sowing Alfalfa between the rows 
drilled in. I am so well satisfied as to the value of 
Alfalfa that I am re-seeding all available land with it, 
and with me it solves the problem of reducing my 
grain bills and obtaining a much larger margin of 
profit in the production of milk and 
eggs. VV. H. JENKINS. 
New York. 
THE CULTURE OF ALFALFA IN DRILLS. 
Will It Pay to Grow Like Corn? 
For several years I have grown Alfalfa by the 
broadcast plan of sowing. I have been fairly success¬ 
ful, but am not entirely satisfied with 
results. My land has been used for 
gardening, is very rich, and it is diffi¬ 
cult to keep weeds from growing in it. 
I could not keep my Alfalfa fields clean 
of weeds, especially plantain, and the 
yield of Alfalfa was so reduced by the 
weeds that I have tried the plan of sow¬ 
ing Alfalfa in drills 18 inches apart, and 
cultivating it with hand and horse 
wheel cultivators. Last year I selected 
a plot of loamy, deep, well-drained soil 
that had grown a cultivated crop the 
previous year and prepared it for the 
Alfalfa almost as well as I would for 
an onion bed. I marked it off in rows 
18 to 20 inches apart, and sowed the 
Alfalfa about as thick as onion seed, 
but in a space about four inches wide, 
treading the seed in with my feet, and 
covered by drawing the hoe along the 
rows, covering it about one inch deep. 
This work can be done with the garden 
seed drill, or with the horse grain drill, 
on large fields, if they are set just right. 
The Alfalfa seed germinated well, and I 
got a good stand of plants. They were 
kept clean with horse and hand wheel 
cultivators and hand hoes during the 
Summer. Wood ashes and hen manure 
were scattered between the rows and 
cultivated in. It made a large growth 
last year and two fair crops were cut. 
This year the first crop is shown by 
Fig. 277. There are no weeds here. 
Fig. 278 shows another plot near the 
other one shown, on which the Alfalfa 
was sown broadcast, and therefore could 
be given no cultivation and weeding. 
There are many weeds in this plot, and 
it is unsatisfactory. 
On my own place I see great possibil¬ 
ities in the culture of Alfalfa. I have 
seen a single Alfalfa plant, when culti¬ 
vated, with a root two inches or more 
in diameter, and between two and three 
feet long, and this produced a stool of 
Alfalfa that was very large. My reason¬ 
ing is, if I can afford to cultivate a corn 
plant for one crop in a year, of car¬ 
bonaceous food, I can afford to culti¬ 
vate an Alfalfa plant for three or four 
crops of protein food that is more val¬ 
uable. I am satisfied from the experi¬ 
ments I have made that I can grow 
more pounds of dry food during the 
Summer from an Alfalfa plant than 
one corn plant will produce, and the 
Alfalfa plant will last many years when 
cultivated as I have described, so I do 
not have to prepare the soil and re¬ 
seed each year. 
I do not know that the cultivation of 
Alfalfa is practicable in large fields, but 
I am satisfied it is on the small farm or garden where 
ones wishes to obtain the maximum results. On the 
poultry and fruit farm one can grow Alfalfa in this 
way for the poultry or the family cow or horse and 
get the most from a small piece of land. I believe on 
the large farm if a plot of Alfalfa was sown in drills, 
and cultivated as one would a garden crop, it would 
afford an opportunity to study the plant and its needs, 
and the knowledge so obtained would enable one to 
grow it successfully in a large way. 
I still sow Alfalfa broadcast, when I get a piece of 
ground just right, and one piece so sown gave me 
large crops for several years, but I know I can grow 
Alfalfa in drills by giving it cultivation, where I could 
not grow it by the broadcast plan. I can control the 
weeds in this way; I can plant seed any time to fill in 
vacancies; I can apply fertilizer between the rows, as 
the growth of the plants indicates their need. One can 
easily change from the drill to the close seeding or 
PRIZE WINNING CATTLE AT 
FAIRS. 
On page 592 we printed an interview 
with a breeder of purebred cattle who 
argued that the prize winning animals at 
fairs are not fair types of what working 
farmers need. This statement has called 
out an interesting discussion. Here are a 
few comments. 
If the exhibition of registered Jersey 
cattle on the State Fair Grounds at Syr¬ 
acuse last year was a fair representa¬ 
tion of the annual exhibit of that breed 
at that place, I have no hesitancy what¬ 
ever in stating that exhibitions of that 
kind are a damage to the Jersey cattle 
interests of this country. In the first 
place, the cattle pens are so arranged as 
to prevent a thorough inspection of each 
animal by the public. This gives the 
professional exhibitor a fair opportunity 
to conceal from the public any defects 
in the animals exhibited. The rules 
governing the exhibit permit the exhi¬ 
bition of fat animals in the dairy class, 
with the result that the more fat and 
smooth a male animal appears, the more 
likely the animal is to take the pre¬ 
mium, as many faults in conformation 
are covered up. A fat animal in a dairy 
class is as much out of place, in my 
opinion, as a dairy animal in a fat stock 
show. As a resident of the State of 
New York, and as a breeder of Jersey 
cattle, I would like to enter my protest 
against any such exhibition of Jersey 
cattle as was made at the New York 
State Fair last season, as it was evident 
that better arrangements and a change 
in management should prevail. It would 
be a great benefit to the agricultural in¬ 
terests of this State if some method 
could be adopted that would permit the 
dairy farmer to bring in his best dairy 
cattle, and have them tested for milk 
and butter, under similar conditions to 
those made in England. In the dairy 
classes premiums should only be offered 
on bull calves and young bulls when 
exhibited with their dams, on aged bulls 
when exhibited with progeny, but no 
other premiums offered on bulls. The 
State of New York should, in my opin¬ 
ion, adopt new methods and have an 
exhibition worthy of the name, or re¬ 
duce the appropriation for the cattle 
exhibit at Syracuse. rufus a. sibley. 
I do not fully agree with the views 
expressed in the article regarding the 
exhibit of cattle at the State Fair. I believe there 
might be and should be very great improve¬ 
ments made in the conditions presented at the 
fair, which would undoubtedly induce more breeders 
to exhibit cattle, and produce a much larger and 
better exhibit. The fact is that the fair, so far, has 
been largely run for the benefit of horsemen and 
