The Rural New-Yorker 
The Business Farmer's Paper 
Vol. LXXIII NEW YORK, DECEMBER 12, 1914 No. 4285 
Published by 
The Rural Publishing Co. 
333 W. 30th Street 
New York 
Weekly. One Dollar Per Year 
Postpaid 
Single Copies, Five Cents 
HEADQUARTERS FOR EASTERN ALFALFA. 
Central New York Alive With It. 
Part I. • 
REAS IX THE CROP.—Five years ago the 
writer made a careful investigation of the 
methods by which Alfalfa was being grown in 
an annexed district of Syracuse which contained con¬ 
siderable farm land, and in several towns lying not 
tar from that city. In following years these places 
were revisited, and many other fields were inspected. 
The results of these investigations were published 
in The R. N.-Y. in April. 1910. and September, 1912. 
In September. 1914, the ground was gone over again, 
and many other and more distant fields were seen. 
The area of observation included more than a dozen 
towns and villages, and a good many of the promi¬ 
nent growers of Alfalfa within 20 miles of Syracuse 
were interviewed. Most of the growers interviewed 
are producing Alfalfa on a rather large scale and 
preparation of the land. The Summer fallow has 
been tried but little. Under ordinary conditions it 
is not to be recommended. Careful cultivation of pre¬ 
ceding crops in order to free the land from weeds is 
the universal rule. The majority of the growers in¬ 
terviewed plow eight inches deep. One sometimes 
plows as deep as 10 inches. All take a great deal of 
pains in pulverizing the surface and making a fine 
seed bed. 
SEEDING.—The most common method is to sow 
with oats in the Spring, but barley is sometimes used 
instead of oats and Alfalfa is occasionally sown on 
fields that were seeded to wheat the previous Fall. 
April is considered the best month for sowing Alfalfa. 
But little Fall seeding is done. The Fall sown seed 
will start well, but cannot be depended upon to pro¬ 
duce a crop. Seeding with Alfalfa alone has not been 
tried extensively. Thus far the results have not been 
satisfactory, but two or three growers will test this 
method further. Sowing grain with Alfalfa tends to 
greatly in curing the hay. When grown with grain a 
fair quantity of seed appears to be eight quarts of 
Alfalfa and four quarts of Timothy per aero. After 
the grain is harvested the Alfalfa will make consid¬ 
erable growth, and there will probably be more or 
less weeds. Most growers leave these plants, but a 
few clip them rather late in the Fall, though they do 
not take them from the ground. 
CUTTING AND CURING.—A few growers cut 
only two crops per year, but the great majority get 
three and a few, in favorable seasons, cut a fourth 
time. The first cutting is commenced when the 
plants are in blossom, usually from the first to the 
tenth of June, the second from the middle to the 
last of July, and the third according to the condi¬ 
tions of the crop and the weather. This year a large 
quantity was harvested in the second and third 
weeks in September. Very late cutting is liable to 
cause serious injury. Some growers cure the Alfalfa 
where it was left by the mower, others cure it partly 
GOOD ALFALFA ON A FARM IN SANGAMON COUNTY. ILLINOIS. Fig. 624. 
have had a good deal of experience with it. Quite a 
number cut from 30 to 00 acres each. A few. who 
lease part of the land, cut from 100 to 150 acres. 
Jairus Pierce, an Indian at the Onondaga Reserva¬ 
tion. who is 79 years of age. has just seeded 13 acres 
to Alfalfa, and expects to cut about 30 acres next 
Summer. Nearly all the growers interviewed have 
cultivated this crop 15 years or more. Some have 
grown it from 20 to 25 years and one has been grow¬ 
ing it more than 30 years. 
SOIL AND LOCATION.—In this section Alfalfa 
makes itself very much at home. It prefers rather 
dry land but does well in moist places. It flourishes 
on hillsides, which are so steep as to make plowing 
and harvesting extremely difficult, and. if the water 
does not stand in them for any length of time, it 
does well in the low places of uneven fields. The 
plant .will not live long in standing water, but it will 
grow to the extreme edge of a pool. Occasional over¬ 
flowing does no harm unless it is quickly followed by 
a hard frost. Alfalfa does well in sunshine or in 
shade, in loose soils and in hard ground. .1. S. 
Jerome is growing Alfalfa on land that was left idle 
for 50 years because it was too hard to be cultivated 
for grain. Naturally it is easier to get a good start, 
and the yield is larger, in fertile soil than it is on 
poor land. 
PREPARATION.—On some points of Alfalfa cul¬ 
ture growers have different opinions, but they are 
unanimous as to the vital importance of a thorough 
keep down weeds. If foul plants appear their growth 
is checked when the grain is harvested. The grain 
protects the Alfalfa plants while they are small and 
weak, and it also quickly returns a crop of consid¬ 
erable value. The cost of seeding with grain is but 
little greater than it is with Alfalfa alone. The only 
disadvantage of the practice is seen when the grain 
is so heavy as to interfere with the growth of the 
Alfalfa. This can be obviated by using only a mod¬ 
erate quantity of grain. This Summer W. A. Par¬ 
sons substituted peas for oats when seeding a field to 
Alfalfa. The peas were cut and left on the ground 
for a mulch. The result of this experiment remains 
to be determined. 
IIOW IT IS DONE—Alfalfa seeding is largely 
done with a grass seed attachment to a grain drill. 
Of the many growers interviewed one uses a wheel¬ 
barrow seeder, one broadcasts and does not cover the 
seed; and two broadcast and then roll lightly, but 
one of these will use a light harrow at the next sow¬ 
ing in order to give the seed more covering. Only 
a very few leave the seed uncovered. There is a 
wide variation in the quantity of seed that is sown. 
Two growers use only six quarts of Alfalfa seed with 
four quarts of Timothy per acre, and two others use 
10 quarts of Alfalfa seed without Timothy. All seed 
with oats and all obtain good results. Those who 
sow Timothy claim that its mixture with Alfalfa 
makes a better feed for horses, that it will cover the 
ground if the Alfalfa fails in spots, and that it helps 
in this way and partly in the windrow, while still 
others cure it in the cock. The first method admits 
the use of the tedder and loader and requires the 
least work. The last method involves the most work, 
and if caps are used the most expense, but it is con¬ 
siderable protection in bad weather, and it gives the 
hay a finer and more uniform color than either of 
the other processes. Several growers have changed 
their methods, but they have not all changed the 
same way. Judging from what could be seen in 
passing in various directions through a large tract of 
Alfalfa country not more than one-fourth of the total 
crop is cured in the cock. 
YIELD AND PERMANENCE.—Like that of all 
other crops the yield of Alfalfa varies on different 
fields and in different seasons. The general range 
in this section is from three to five tons per acre. but 
in a good many instances a considerably larger yield 
has been secured. Under favorable conditions Alfal¬ 
fa. which has made a good start gradually improves 
for several seasons. No decline is to be expected in 
less than eight years, and pretty good crops should 
be obtained for at least 15 years from the date of 
seeding. J. S. Jei'ome has a field that was seeded 14 
years ago, and gave two good crops this year: C. D. 
Andrews has a field which was seeded at the same 
time which still gives good crops, and Hamlet Work¬ 
er has a field which has grown 33 crops'in 11 years, 
and the yield in the present year was as good as that 
in any which had preceded it. although the land had 
