1912. 
THE; RURAL NEW-YORKER 
©71 
LICE ON THE ALFALFA. 
I read with interest the' article on page 907, under 
the caption “Why Does Alfalfa Turn Yellow?” My 
own experience in this line may be of some value. A 
year ago. last Spring I sowed four acres of Alfalfa on 
my farm in Loudoun County, Virginia. The plat bear¬ 
ing the Alfalfa lies just at the foot of the Blue Ridge, 
on the east side, and is a good quality of soil. The 
plot was carefully prepared by deep plowing, thor¬ 
ough stirring of the surface, and a previous treat¬ 
ment with two tons of lime per acre. The germina¬ 
tion was almost perfect, and the growth phenomenal. 
Suddenly, along about the first week in June, when 
the young Alfalfa was two or three inches high, the 
whole plot began to turn yellow. I thought it was 
due to fungus, and brought samples to the Bureau of 
Plant Industry at Washington. It was examined by 
the specialist on plant physiology, but no fungus could 
be found. They did say, however, that innumerable 
insects were found among the leaves and stems. I, 
therefore, took samples to Dr. Howard, entomologist 
of the Department. He was delighted in discovering 
a special Alfalfa louse, of which he had often heard 
but never had seen. In his opinion the production of 
xanthophyll was due to improvishment of the plant by 
the extraction of the sap by these lice. I would sug¬ 
gest to farmers who notice this appearance to examine 
their Alfalfa for lice. H. w. wiley. 
Washington. 
POTATOES IN A PEACH ORCHARD. 
It is doubtless unnecessary at this day to insist on 
the necessity of cultivating young orchards; never¬ 
theless the brief recital of an unintentional experi¬ 
ment—if an experiment can be unintentional—which 
has been unfolding itself before my unwilling eyes 
this year, may not be wholly beside the mark. In 
May, 1911, I set out a peach orchard containing 25 
rows of 25 trees each, and planted the inter-spaces 
to corn. It was rrty intention to put it in potatoes 
this year. But owing to labor and weather troubles 
we were able to plow and harrow the ground between 
only 12 rows, and of this we got only the space be¬ 
tween 10 rows planted. So 10 rows of trees were in 
ground which was fitted for and planted with pota¬ 
toes and thoroughly cultivated; two rows were in 
ground which was plowed and harrowed, but neither 
planted nor cultivated; and 13 rows were in ground 
that was not touched, and which was taken for their 
very own by a most bountiful crop of weeds. 
By the first of August it would have been well nigh 
impossible to convince a stranger that all those trees 
had been planted at the same time and under precisely 
the same conditions, the contrast between the two 
halves of the orchard was so striking. In the first 
half the trees had made a splendid growth, developing 
large, spreading heads of a uniformly deep and vivid 
green. The others had made only from one-third to 
one-half as much growth, the color was uniformly 
pale and the foliage thin. That the result was not 
due to the first half getting the potato fertilizer, but 
was owing almost entirely to the beneficial effects of 
cultivation, is brought out by the fact that there was 
practically no difference in amount of gro.wth, degree 
of vigor, and depth of color between rows 11 and 12, 
standing in ground which had been plowed, rolled 
and harrowed, but not planted, and rows 1 to 10, 
which had this fitting and the fertilizer in addition. 
I am now curious to see how long it will take the 
neglected trees to catch up with the others. 
Bucks Co., Pa. thed. pershing. 
R. N.-Y.—We have had much the same experience 
this year. Peach trees with potatoes planted between 
the rows have made an extraordinary growth. There 
is too much growth, and we are apprehensive as to 
what Winter will do to this tender wood. We think 
potatoes a poor crop to grow among peach trees for 
this reason. If the weeds had been cut three times 
and left on the ground the other trees would look 
better. 
VETCH IN MISSOURI. 
The one trial that I have given vetch here was very 
successful. To-day we are cutting the third crop 
from ground sown last September, but this third crop 
is not vetch, but Red clover sown at the same time 
and with the vetch. This trial is of interest as estab¬ 
lishing several facts; one is, that vetch may be sown 
here as late as the last days of September and then 
withstand without apparent injury an exceptional 
Winter of 16 degrees below zero. Another is that it 
succeeds without any inoculation of the soil, and a 
third one proves that Red clover may be sown at that 
late date, endure such a Winter, survive the smother¬ 
ing burden of the vetch and then grow large enough 
to make a good hay crop the last of August. This 
vetch was sown on fairly good land that had been in 
sweet corn. It was sown broadcast at the rate of 
only 20 pounds of seed to the acre and with a half 
bushel of rye and the ordinary amount of Red clover. 
Cold weather closed in uncommonly early, and the 
rye, clover and vetch were able to make very little 
growth before freezing weather set in. Thus the 
ground looked bare, and it seemed a most severe test 
of the vetch and clover (which had been harrowed 
in). Nevertheless in the Spring the delicate threads 
of vetch were found to be alive, as well as the clover, 
and a vigorous growth ensued, which sent the rye up 
BABY PARTRIDGE AND ITS KEEPER. Fio. 408. 
to five and much of the vetch to four feet high. On 
May 20 the combined crop was cut, while the rye was 
still green, and cured and stored. A month later the 
vetch had made a second heavy growth and was cut 
on the 20th of June while in full bloom. Although 
it had no support, we found it no more of a task 
to mow than so much cow peas. No doubt we should 
have waited later, till it had formed seed, but I 
feared the clover would be smothered. After this 
second crop was harvested the clover started to grow 
rapidly and now, in a little over two months, it stands 
two feet high interspersed with some native grasses 
and a very little vetch. 
I consider this test highly encouraging and most 
creditable to this new plant. Vetch is evidently an- 
VETCH PODS AND SEEDS, NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 409. 
other permanent addition to the already long list of 
forage and leguminous plants that have made them¬ 
selves at home on American soil. Its special value 
should be promptly realized by the agricultural world. 
For one thing its value is doubled by the fact that 
it is a legume, and therefore a nitrogen-gatherer and 
a soil-restorer. It is perfectly hardy, germinates eas¬ 
ily and seems to require inoculation of soil no more 
than does the cow pea. Most important of all, per¬ 
haps, it fills a place in farm rotation unoccupied here 
in the Middle West by any other plant, and in cer¬ 
tain States only by Crimson clover. It makes a 
heavy growth suitable either for hay or for plowing 
under. It is so early as to insure itself against 
drought. It is able to replenish the wasted hay mow, 
consumed during the Winter, long before any other 
crop is ready except Red clover. It can be turned 
under and made to fill the soil with a mass of 'fertiliz¬ 
ing material in time to plant corn above it and enable 
that grain to derive strength from its decomposition. 
Cut early, it will in the space of a few weeks make 
a heavy second crop, that may be cut for hay or 
utilized as a rich hog pasture when the seed has 
formed. Red clover may be sown with it in the Fall, 
and be ready to come to its maturity the Spring after 
the vetch has yielded its two crops. Its ease of 
germination, its season # of growth during the season 
of moisture, and its perfect hardiness, all combine 
to make it the surest and most dependable of any for¬ 
age plant on our list. Finally it consumes the short¬ 
est time in growth, considering the cold months it 
lives through, of any plant of its class. Such an enu¬ 
meration of valuable qualities should surely at once 
establish vetch in a secure and enduring place in 
American agriculture. l. r. Johnson. 
Southeast Missouri. 
FARMING WILD GAME BIRDS. 
The American Game Protective and Propagation 
Society has a game farm of 6,000 acres near South 
Carver, Mass. On this farm many kinds of game 
birds, such as wild ducks and geese, turkeys and 
partridges, are being raised. A picture of a young 
partridge is shown at Fig 408. The Association gives 
the following account of part of its farm: 
The authorities of Massachusetts gave the gamekeepers 
permission to take the eggs of wild birds, and as these 
abound on the farm there was little difficulty in getting a 
good supply. At the present time bantam hens may be 
seen proudly mothering their strange foster children—from 
Quail that look as much like bumble bees as birds, to grouse 
that are now nearly full grown. Every effort has been 
made in the handling .of those tiny birds to make their 
surroundings as nearly as possible like what they would 
have encountered in a wild state. After they are a day 
or two old the young chicks are allowed to run in the 
grass around the hen coop where their mother is confined, 
in search of insects. They are fed on ants’ eggs, fine 
grain, and chopped egg. 
For the older birds which are already strong of 
wing a large enclosure has been made of fish net. 
This resembles a circus tent in shape and takes in a 
rather heavy growth of pine saplings. It is always a 
source of surprise to the stranger to visit this. On 
entering there is nothing to be seen but thick brush. 
To all appearances there is not a single bird in the 
enclosure, but when the superintendent calls there is 
a rustle here and there and the young partridges 
come walking in from all sides, followed by a little 
black hen scarcely larger than themselves.^ 
The Association hopes to arouse widespread inter¬ 
est in raising game birds, both native and foreign. 
Anyone can take it up on a small scale, and it i§ 
likely to prove very profitable. Birds will be dis¬ 
tributed free from the Association’s farm to appli¬ 
cants who will make proper provision for their pro¬ 
tection by placing them on land where there is good 
cover, and by agreeing that there shall be no shooting 
on this tract. The plan is to secure sanctuaries of 
this kind all over the country which shall serve as 
fountain-heads from which the overflow will stock 
the surrounding territory. If the birds are unmolested 
they will increase so rapidly in a sanctuary that they 
will be forced to spread out, and there will be good 
shooting in the neighborhood. There will be no 
danger of their extinction, however, if the rule 
against killing them .on the protected areas is en¬ 
forced. 
The value of game as a food supply is leading 
more and more people to take up its propagation. 
Propagated game is the only kind which should be 
used for market purposes. Because game is sold in 
Europe at a very low figure, some people in this 
country have been led, through ignorance of the facts 
behind the conditions, to advocate the sale of all game 
in this country, erroneously thinking that a with¬ 
drawal of the protective laws would make game 
cheap. Of course, as is well known, in Europe shoot¬ 
ing is only for the rich, but so much game is raised 
on the large estates by corps of gamekeepers, and so 
much is shot by the few who have the privilege, that 
there is a large surplus to be disposed of. The people 
are placated for being deprived of the shooting privi¬ 
lege by being allowed to buy game at a surprisingly 
low figure. Any such institutions as European game 
preserves would, if they became the rule, be intolerable 
to American ideas, yet such conditions are inevitable 
if our wild game is allowed to be slaughtered for the 
market. Game might be slightly cheaper at first if 
this were permitted, but it would soon be extermi¬ 
nated everywhere by the market hunters, as it has 
been already in some places. The game farm offers 
a solution to two vexing problems—that of free shoot¬ 
ing for all, and that of supplying the markets, for 
both the wild covers and the meat shops may be 
stocked from this source. 
