?0 
QUANTITY OF SEED.—So far as learned there 
has been no change in the variety of Alfalfa that is 
sown here. There is considerable difference in the 
quantity of seed used on different farms. The ten¬ 
dency appears to be toward heavier seeding than was 
common nine years ago. Of the growers recently in¬ 
terviewed only one uses as little seed as six quarts per 
acre. Some use one peck and several sow one-half 
bushel. One advocate of liberal seeding stated his 
view in the words: ‘‘No seed, no crop.” The impor¬ 
tance of thorough preparation of the land before 
sowing is generally recognized, and in some cases 
much care is used in covering the seed. 
RESEEDING.—Under favorable conditions an Al¬ 
falfa field can remain unbroken for many years. 
There is no rule as to the frequency of reseeding, 
- and there is a wide variation in the practice of 
growers. Some let. the field remain as long as the 
yield is good. Others plow when the land is wanted 
for some other crop in the system of rotation. As 
the plowing is hard, needing three horses or a tractor, 
it is not desirable to do it often: and on steep hill¬ 
sides, where it is difficult to cultivate corn or po¬ 
tatoes. it is an object to delay reseeding as long as a 
fair crop of hay is obtained. 
BREAKING UP THE SOD.—Average growers 
break up the Alfalfa sod once in from five to eight or 
rine years. Occasionally one is found who waits only 
four years. Many, in all, go to the other extreme 
and wait 10 or 12 years. It is said that there is one 
field in this vicinity which has been in Alfalfa con¬ 
tinuously for 20 years or more, but it is not now very 
productive. Apparently when a good stand is ob¬ 
tained in land that is well adapted to the crop, it 
should last about 10 years. Occasionally good land 
gives only a moderate crop the first two years that 
it is mown. W. A. Parsons, one of the largest grow¬ 
ers here, believes that such fields should have a 
longer test. lie holds that it requires at least three 
years for an Alfalfa seeding to reach its full devel¬ 
opment. The owner of a large stock farm advised 
the plowing of a recently seeded field in which the 
growth was small and weak, but his new foreman 
asked, and was given, permission to disk and manure 
it lightly. When this work was done the Alfalfa 
made a vigorous start and for several years it has 
given large crops. 
MANURING AND LIMING.—Much has been said 
and written about Alfalfa as a self-sustaining crop. 
It certainly gathers nitrogen from the air and ob¬ 
tains phosphorus and potash from lower strata of the 
soil than are reached by the roots of ordinary plants. 
Whether it can obtain these elements in sufficient 
quantity to enable it to produce large crops for an 
indefinite period seems to be an open question. After 
the late Mr. Worker sold his dairy business he told 
the writer that he should try to grow Alfalfa con¬ 
tinuously for sale instead of to feed on the farm. 
He believed it would do well for a while, but was 
not sure that it would do so permanently. It was 
his plan to use chemicals if they seemed to be needed. 
This was several years ago. No fertilizer has been 
used and the fields have not yet diminished their pro¬ 
duction. The majority of the growers interviewed 
enrich the land by manuring the crops which pre¬ 
cede the seeding to Alfalfa. Some manure the Al¬ 
la lfa until its third or fourth year, and then let it 
get its food from the air and the soil. In fields which 
have been down long some growers manure the thin 
places only, but a few manure the entire field lightly 
every year or two. One grower sells hay and buys 
manure. All agree that manure should be applied 
with a spreader in order that it may be scattered 
evenly over the field, and that it is better to use a 
small quantity frequently than to manure heavily at 
longer intervals. Lime, which is absolutely essential 
to the production of Alfalfa in many localities, is 
seldom used here for that purpose. The general 
opinion is that there is enough readily available lime 
in the soil to meet all the needs of the crop. Re¬ 
cently two farmers have limed some of their Alfalfa 
land, but it is too early to determine whether it will 
increase the yield. Inoculation, also, which is nec- 
cessary in some sections, is not required in this vicin¬ 
ity. The soil is well adapted to the plant, and with 
ordinary care a good stand and a large yield can be 
secured. 
THE TIME TO CUT.—The time for cutting de¬ 
pends somewhat upon the number of crops which are 
to be taken during the season. If only two are to 
be gathered, the first cutting is delayed longer than 
it would be if there were to be three or four. Usu¬ 
ally the first cutting is early in June, when most of 
the plants have blossomed; the second six or seven 
weeks later; and the third and fourth, if there is 
one, according to the condition of the crop and the 
weather. Early cutting of the first crop favors a 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
vigorous start and a large yield for the second crop. 
Very late cutting is not advised. Considerable growth 
should be left to protect the crowns and roots during 
the Winter. The grower who in 1914 said that the 
time for cutting should be governed in part by the 
moon is confident that this view is correct. He still 
holds that cutting in the last three or four days of 
the “old of the moon” is liable to injure seriously, 
and may utterly ruin, an Alfalfa field. He has ob¬ 
tained good crops for many years. J. e. R. 
The “Oregon” Hen 
M ANY of our readers have asked about the 
“Oregon”—the new “breed” or strain which 
led all the other pens in the Storrs egg-laying con¬ 
test. S?o at Fig. 9 we show a picture of one of 
these birds. This hen laid 272 eggs during the year. 
This bird looks more like a White Leghorn than any 
of the specimens in the pen now in the contest. The 
new birds are built lower than this one. and more on 
the order of a Dorking. As is now pretty well 
known, these “Oregons” represent a cross between 
the Plymouth Rock and the White Leghorn. Then 
(he White Leghorn blood was bred into this cross 
unti 1 the birds are pretty much of the Leghorn type. 
An Oregon Hen With Year's Record of 272 Eggs 
Fig. 0 
At any rate they have proved to be great layers, and 
are likely to show our breeders what can be done 
with cross-bred birds. 
Protecting Trees From Rodents 
RUIT trees most likely to be attacked by rodents 
are those that have been set out only one or two 
years. Damage done the first year is particularly 
harmful, owing to the trees not being established. 
They are therefore not able to supply the sap in 
abundance required to heal over the wound. It is 
particularly destructive to Fall-set trees to be bitten 
by rabbits during the first Winter, for the above 
reason. A large percentage of the trees so gnawed 
die. 
A tree is counted immune from attacks of rodents 
at five or six years after being set, although so much 
depends on the condition of the orchard, weather, 
food for rodents, variety of trees, and so forth, that 
no fixed age can be given. For the first five years 
after setting, protection is necessary. After that 
time if injury occurs it may be considered as rather 
accidental. As to the kinds of trees oftenest at¬ 
tacked, apple, pear, quince, peach, plum and cherry 
seem to be attacked in the order named. Cherry 
trees have seldom been injured with me. 
Here in the hills of Southern Illinois every known 
protector has been used (I suppose) with varying 
results. Some use cornstalks, which are good as 
long as they are kept in place. But the strings with 
which the stalks are tied soon rot, and pigs or other 
animals dislodge them. So, on the whole, they can¬ 
not be relied upon. Wire screen is used, but too 
often old screen is used, and this rusts out before 
one expects it to. Paper is good, but too often the 
strings with which it is tied are not cut in the 
Spring, and the papers interfere with the circulation 
of the sap, and in due time the very precaution taken 
to protect the tree kills it. 
By far the most satisfactory mechanical protec¬ 
tors 1 have ever used are cottonwood-veneer wrap¬ 
pers. I put these on with wire, which is held in 
place by a notch cut into the edge about half way 
up, and only hooked once to fasten it, so that it may 
be easily removed to look for borers, aphis and other 
insects. These wrappers last from one to five years, 
are cheap, handy and effective. 
January 11 , min 
Various applications and washes have been used. 
Each year someone has found a sure preventive, but, 
without exception, so far as it has come under my 
observation, all of these fail after a time. A good 
application against rabbits is to smear the tree with 
rabbit skin, or, better yet, cut open a newly killed 
rabbit and rub the trunk with the rabbit. This, of 
course, can only be done on a limited scale. 
Almost all of the applications lose their effect 
after a week’s hard freezing or heavy rains, and are, 
therefore, unsafe, for one is apt to neglect applying 
the remedy often enough. So far as I am able to 
judge, no wash or application is sufficient for one 
year, as claimed for so many of them. It is my 
opinion that no application not injurious to the tree is 
< ffective for six months, and in heavy rains or freez¬ 
ing it is not effective for six weeks. 
The best means that I know of for protecting the 
orchard trees from mice is to keep the orchard free 
from weeds, particularly at seeding time. A mow¬ 
ing machine will do this. Next is thorough cultiva¬ 
tion. If only a space three feet about the tree is 
kept absolutely clean of weeds, little if any damage 
v ill be done by mice. No form of wrapping ma¬ 
terial will keep out mice unless bound closely about 
the tree, which is sure to injure it. Mice can either 
burrow under or crawl over, and, when once inside, 
the wrapping is a protection for them which they 
onjoy. 
Illinois. n. B bushing. 
R. N.-Y.—Wire in place of strings will hold the 
protectors. Last Winter trees 12 years old were 
/uined in our orchard. 
The Value of Forest Leaves 
I gathered about 70 barrels of leaves after the fashion 
suggested on pags 1289 and dumped most of these in a 
container which I called a compost heap, mixing them 
with layers of earth, with the idea of using the mixture 
in my 60x60 vegetable garden this coming Spring. I 
gathered these leaves mostly along a 150-yard section of 
a street opposite my house, and they are chiefly sugar 
maple. 
The point I would make is there seems to have been 
very little written upon the use of leaves for fertiliza¬ 
tion, and I should be very glad if The R. N.-Y. would 
be instrumental in getting someone to write a mono¬ 
graph on the use of leaves, which would become a public 
document, corrected from year to year, as the. knowl¬ 
edge advances. g. w. l. 
Brookline, Mass. 
UR own experience in gathering dry leaves does 
not permit us to advise others to spend much 
time over the job. The leaves are too light and 
bulky. A “barrel” of leaves does not mean much. 
They should be valued by the pound or ton. like any 
other fertilizer, and any man who thinks he can pick¬ 
up and store a ton of leaves before breakfast has a 
great disappointment coming to him. Paul Serex, 
Jr., of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, has 
written a pamphlet on "The Plant Food Material in 
the Leaves of Forest Trees.” He shows how the 
leaves vary as to variety, season and soil. For in¬ 
stance, leaves of the maple taken on May 22 con¬ 
tained nearly 3.5 per cent of nitrogen, while leaves 
from the same trees on September 20 showed a little 
over 2 per cent. The loss in phosphoric acid was not 
so much, but the potash fell from 1.8 per cent to 1.2 
per cent. There was nearly as great a difference in 
maple leaves on a stony loam soil compared with a 
clay soil. As a rule, too, the leaves at the upper part 
of the tree contain more plant food than those on 
the lower limbs. 
One trouble with the forest leaves is the fact that 
they contain an excess of acid. Lime is needed in 
some form where they are used. White oak leaves 
seem to contain most of this acid, and such leaves 
should be well decayed and limed before they are 
used. A man may gather a great volume of dry- 
leaves and think he has a gold mine of fertility, but 
let him weigh all he can crowd into a bushel basket 
and he will see how little actual plant food he can 
gather in a day. As for the plant food value of 
leaves, the pamphlet by Mr. Serex gives analyses of 
24 different samples, including maple, chestnut and 
oak. One sample of maple leaves contained 3.48 per 
cent of nitrogen, 1 per cent of phosphoric acid and 
1.8 per cent of potash. Another of oak had 3.4 per 
cent of nitrogen, .93 per cent of phosphoric acid and 
1.5 per cent of potash. Still another of chestnut 
had 2.99 of nitrogen, 1.4 of phosphoric acid and 1.3 
per cent of potash. It was estimated that these 
leaves ran in plant food value from $3 to $6.50 per 
ton. After a careful estimate of labor cost, Mr. 
Serex says: 
The cost of collecting and handling would prob¬ 
ably be greater than the value of the leaves, thus 
mailing it inadvisable in most cases or farmers to 
spend their time in this way. 
That is the conclusion we came to after a good 
many experiments in gathering leaves. 
