787 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
A Short Alfalfa Talk 
I wish to try Alfalfa. I am going to tisfi the Grimm 
variety. Would you advise ground or burnt lime', and 
the quantity per acre? I intend .sowing the Alfalfa 
when I plant my rye this Fall, about the middle of 
August. Is that too late? j. t. i’. 
Westchester Co., N. Y. 
F or most locations around New York, the follow¬ 
ing general plan should l)e followed, modified 
when considering the soil, the locality 
and other conditions. 
Fii’st, I’ememher that Alfalfa does 
not grow naturally in this .section. 
It can only be made to succeed by 
making the conditions as nearly suit¬ 
able as possible. It will not do to 
seed the Alfalfa on wet, soggy or un¬ 
drained land. It is a deep-rooted 
plant, and thrives best Avhere the 
water level is not too clo.se to the sur¬ 
face. and where the lower soil is open 
and porous. A good sandy loam soil, 
underlaid by sand or gravel, would 
be best for the Alfalfa, but it must 
l>e in good condition, .s-weet and with 
an abundance of available plant food. 
There is no use seeding Alfalfa in 
this country either on wet. undrained 
soil, or on poor soil which will not 
produce good clover, or on rougli. new 
land. Alfalfa may follow a grain or early fod¬ 
der crop to advantage; For example, bats and 
peas, rye or wheat, may be cut in .Inly, .and the 
stubble promptly plowed and worked up as fine as 
po.ssible. In this latitude we think late Summer, 
say about the middle of August, is the best time 
for seeding, and in most cases we would use the 
Alfalfa seed alone, and not attempt to put in a 
nurse crop of grain. 
As between burnt lime and ground limestone on 
very sour, hard land, burnt lime will probably give 
a little better satisfaction. Where the limestone is 
ground very line there will be little if any <lifference 
between the two in the effect upon the .soil. We 
should use at least one ton of the burnt lime, or two 
tons of the limestone per acre. Gur plan would be 
to plow the land as soon as possible after the grain 
or fodder crop has been taken off. Then put the 
lime evenly on the rough furrows, and Inirrow it 
thoroughly in, working the soil again and again with 
disk, spring-tooth and drag. A plank drag or stone- 
boat is good for part of this work, as it Avill help 
smooth or grade the field. This is necessary, as 
when pockets or depressions are left in the surface 
the water will often accumulate and kill out or 
weaken the Alfalfa. After this thorough prepara¬ 
tion,' the Alfalfa may be .seeded along about .the 
middle of August, either drilled or broadcast as 
desired. T.ime is necessary on most of our Kastern 
soils, and i)hosphorus in some form should be used 
to make sure of the crop; 4(>0 or .o(X) ll)s. ])er acre 
of acid phosjduite or fine ground bone Avill pay in 
Alfalfa seeding. We .should use 
about 20 lbs. of seed to 
acre, and it will certainly 
to inoculate either the .soil 
the seed. To inoculate the 
a quantity of dirt taken from 
upl»er surface of a good Alfalfa 
harl become thin and the wire gra.ss and other foreign 
weed.s and grasses were forcing the Alfalfa out, I plowed 
up the field and planted corn and Soy beans, using 
200 lbs. of prepared fertilizer. 5 per cent ammonia and 
8 per cent acid phosphate in the' drill, and as the corn 
started up I broadcast 400 lbs. mixture of ground fish, 
10 per cent ammonia, and acid phosphate, 16 per cent, 
in equal parts. My corn and beans came up and started 
off looking well; now they have fired or become very 
yellow and stopped growing. My manager says the 
ground is lime-burned. I am of the opinion there has 
phuric acid, which ha.s combined with the lime in 
the soil and made plaster or .sulphate of lime, which 
does not preserve the sweetness of the soil as linu* 
carbonate does. You have probably some acidity in 
the .soil. Avhich litmus paper, the blue sort, will show, 
I think. Then, too, the .soil has not had its organic 
decay, or what we call humus, maintained. Making 
hay from the Alfalfa till it ran out has very ma¬ 
terially robbed the soil of its humu.s. 
and. Avhile the Alfalfa belongs to the 
le.gumes and has the power to get 
nitro.gen from the air. I am rather of 
the opinion that more nitrogen has 
been carried off in the fn'e yeai*s tlnin 
has been restored to the soil. This 
being the case, what your corn neede<l 
was organic nitrogen and lime. Soil 
acidity has probably been the indirect 
result of heavy use of acid phosphate. 
^Maryland. w. F. massky. 
M 
The Mower at Worlc in a Field of Timothy. Fig. S83 
Hudson Valley Farm Prices 
ILK is the chief product of 
Dutchess County, N. Y., but as 
I do not sell it I Avill not attempt to 
give any definite information about 
it, but confine myself to my own sales. 
I have a farm of 125 acres that 
would keep 20 or more cows, but as I emi)h)y 
no help except in haying, or at other very busy 
times when I get in .a pinch, I cannot milk so 
many and do my other work, so I keep from eight 
to 10 he.ad. They are grade .Terseys and Guern.seys, 
and I .'<ell cream to our local creamery where it is 
made into Imtter and sold in the nearby city. We 
patrons are paid on the butterfat basis. I have no 
fault to find with our creamery: it is vvell and 
honestly managed. I believe, and the butter is a 
first-class article and brings the to]) price. Rut the 
price of butter has not risen in proi)ortion to the 
price of the things the farmer has to buy. I refer 
to the ri.se iu prices during the last half dozen years, 
particulai’ly .since the war began. Here is the ])rice 
per lb. of butterfat Ave received for the first four 
months of 1912 and the .same for 191S: 
1012 . 
1018. 
•Tan. 
42 
40 
Feb. 
40 
40 
Mar. 
.38 
50 
Apr. 
.38 
.50 
tlU! 
pay 
or 
.soil 
the 
field 
may be scattered over the field to be 
seeded. About 300 lbs. per acre of 
this should be used. It Avould be bet¬ 
ter to dig or scatter it on a cloudy 
diiy, just about the time of seeding. 
To inoculate the seed one of the com¬ 
mercial bacteria may bo used accord¬ 
ing to the directions which will come 
with the package. When this plan is 
canned out. Ave should have a Avell- 
drained field Avitl;i an open subsoil, 
thoroughly ploAved and fitted, Avith a 
good application of lime, :i fair 
and the 
Ry follow- 
this jtlan you Avill lun-e 
about all you 
Alfalfa going, 
one of the 
(Jrimni or ('oss'ack, 
a branching root 
De.'iirahic Tyye of J'arent Asnaragitft riant to 
tSave 8'ccd From. Fig. SS.'i 
amount of phosphoru.- 
proper liacteria added, 
ing 
done 
the 
use 
can to get 
We should 
varieties like 
AAdiich gives 
system, and 
forms not only a long tai)-root. but surface roots 
which feed in the upper surface of the soil: 
I'ruit Tree in Northern Franee, Destroifed hg Itetreating Germanft. Fig. .W.l 
A Case of Sour Land 
About seven years ago I planted a five-acre lot that 
Avas filled Avith raw oyster shells in Alfalfa, using one 
ton of burnt oyster-shell lime per acre. About three 
years ago I put half a ton more of the same lime per 
acre. Each year to the present one I have put in Feb¬ 
ruary and .Tune 1,000 lbs. of acid phosphate per acre, 
making a ton each year. This Spring, as the Alfalfa 
been too much acid phosphate used. I would 
opinion. 
Smithfield, Pa. 
jgVEX on shell 
like your 
F. R. n. 
land your liming has not been 
excessive, and now. instead of an exce.ss of 
lime. I Avould say that your additional treatment has 
had the effect of robbing the land of lime carbonate. 
That is. that the heavy application of acid phosphate 
has doubtless encouraged the growth of the Alfalfa, 
and this A'ery growth has taken up the phosphorus 
from the acid phosphate and has released the sul- 
As you will see. the present pidces are approxi¬ 
mately 25 per cent higher than in 1012. Rut OAery 
farmer knows his feed prices are just about doul)le 
Avhat they Avere a few yeai-s ago. Not only has 
feed doubled in price, but almost eA'erything else I 
have to buy ha.s risen from 50 per cent to 100 i)er 
cent. I like high prices, but I also like to have 
the prices of things I sell in proportion to those I 
have to pay. However, the liigh price of feed does 
not hit me A'ery h.ird, as I raise most of mine, so 
do not feel the pinch as I Avould if I bought it all. 
.Vs a side line I raise a few i)igs, also some young 
stock—steers and heifer.s—and la.st 
year I had five acres of rye. There 
are two things the price of Avhich 
seems to IniA-e about kept pace Avith 
the rise of other price.s, and they are 
pork and grain. Rut I cannot get 
for steers and fat cows anywhere 
near the i»rice that is i)i’oportional to 
the ]»rice of beef I Inive to buy. A 
feAV years ago I bought (piite good 
meat from the butcher’s Avagou for 
Sc per lb. Now the price of the very 
.same pi(*ces is MOc. Last Fall I .sold 
a nice little steer in goixl rig, “fat us 
butter,” and all I could po.ssibly 
squeeze out of the butcher Avas 6%c 
on the leg, Avhich corresjionds to 13V2<‘ 
dressed. I suspect he doubled his 
money on him. perhaps more. And 
a butcher can handle more stock in a 
month 'than a farmer can raise in half 
a dozen years. In raising stock, if 
everything they eat is taken into ac¬ 
count, there is A-ery little clear profit 
—about the only thing is the manure. 
Rut they heli» me to get rid of my 
.surplus hay at a fair price. 
On the AAliole I can .say that prices 
I receiA'e for my farm produce are not .satisf.ictory. 
The middleman .seems to want to gobble up all the 
l)rofit, and then induce the consumer to kick tin' 
farmer for the high price he has to ])ay. In the 
city T frequently hear remarks that .show the <'ity 
people think the farmer is gerting rich. If I undts-- 
take to explain to any of them that the middleman 
is making most of the profit they Avill at once begin 
to defend him by saying he is under an awful ex¬ 
pense. etc. Rut sometimes the consumer is entirely 
