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General Farm Topics 
Spring Cultivation of Alfalfa 
In the years past we have had consid¬ 
erable discussion as to the value of culti¬ 
vating Alfalfa. Most of our Eastern 
Alfalfa growers seem to think that it. does 
not pay to work the crop in tiie Spring. 
In the West, however, the process ap¬ 
pears to be finite general, and a number 
of special tools have been evolved to do 
this work. Generally these tools work 
on the principle of a spring-tooth harrow, 
with a sharp, narrow blade which is 
springy enough to cut and chop over the 
ground. A recent leaflet from Kansas 
states that reasonable cultivation in the 
Spring is the life of Alfalfa. There arc 
many grasses and weeds which work into 
the Alfalfa fields and choke off the Al¬ 
falfa. Cultivation with a sharp-tooth 
harrow digs out many of these grasses 
and weeds and leaves the Alfalfa free. 
Such crops as quack grass, foxtail and 
similar spreading plants are greatly dis¬ 
couraged by the use of the cultivator, 
Unis giving the Alfalfa a chance to get 
ahead of them before they get started 
anew. 
Another trouble with mauv Alfalfa 
fields in the West is that the soil forms a 
hard crust one or two inches deep. Un¬ 
less this crust is broken up. a lower yield 
will result, as there will be a heavy loss 
of moisture the same as there is in a corn 
crop, if the upper surface is not broken 
up. Again, in many cases Alfalfa is 
seeded on new lands. Grass roots are 
not thoroughly killed, and frequently with 
a light stand of Alfalfa these grasses work 
in and get a start. Cultivation cuts out 
nttiny of these old plants. In Western 
Kansas liluc grass works into the Alfalfa 
and causes considerable damage. Culti¬ 
vation will not completely kill out the 
Blue grass, but will hold it back until the 
work. lie also eats the worms that eat 
apple trees. I have seen him so full he 
could hardly walk. f. m. 
Farmingdale, N. J. 
Y'es, the skunk unquestionably is one 
of the farmer’s best friends, so long as it 
remains outside of the woodshed and 
doesn’t take up its abode beneath the floor 
of the porch or under the barn. Even in 
these places it is not particularly obnox¬ 
ious if one uses judgment and doesn't 
stumble over the animal in the dark. 
Indeed, skunks make fine pets if they are 
judiciously looked at and not handled. 
One of my students, who is a thorough 
naturalist, and interested in all kinds of 
animals, kept a young skunk for months 
about his room, but was wise enough to 
remove the scent glands as soon as the 
animal had attained a fair size. I think 
one of the most, interesting things among 
animal habits I ever saw was the treat¬ 
ment that this small bit of animated 
.black hair and tail would give to one of 
the rod and black hairy caterpillars, 
known as the Isabella caterpillar, before 
eating it. The skunk would take the 
caterpillar in its paws and roll it over 
and over and back and forth until every 
hair had been removed from the body, 
and the caterpillar was a smooth as the 
top of a shining bald head. Then the 
little rascal, with apparent gusto and 
complete satisfaction with his job of hair- 
removal; would devour the bald cater¬ 
pillar, but never before this process had 
been fully completed. 
The skunk lives very largely on in¬ 
sects—caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, 
crickets and white grubs«—and partly on 
mice, lizards, earthworms and sometimes 
berries or small fruits. In an investiga¬ 
tion some years ago of the insects in¬ 
jurious to hops in New York .State it was 
fonud that the skunk was the most ef¬ 
ficient natural enemy of the hop grub. 
About July 1, when the grubs are nearing 
maturity, numerous holes may be seen in 
hop hills where skunks have been digging 
for the fat. juicy grubs. Although in¬ 
sects furnish a very large part of the 
food of skunks, it must be noted that only 
those insects that live on or in the ground 
are eaten, for the kinds of skunks found 
in New York State are terrestrial ani¬ 
mals, and unless forced to do so seldom 
. 
■ 
Original Model of Kansas Alfalfa Cultivator 
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Alfalfa crop is well started. Quack grass 
and foxtail are the worst pests, appar¬ 
ently, in the Western Alfalfa fields, and 
nu thin stands of Alfalfa there seems to 
be nothing but cultivation to keep these 
old grasses in subjection. ,Where there 
is a full stand of Alfalfa, naturally such 
plants as quack grass do not give much 
trouble. The picture shown on this page 
illustrates the original model of the Al¬ 
falfa cultivator. This machine was built 
1”> years ago by John Stabler of Meade, 
Kan., and is the type commonly used. 
For doing this work a tool is required 
1 bat will injure as few plants as possible. 
The teeth should have a rounded or cut¬ 
ting edge, and arranged so as to have a 
little side play. It is said that the disk 
or cutaway typos of cultivator slice off 
aud kill too many of the plants. As 
stated, it is not likely that this cultiva¬ 
tion will pay in many of our Eastern Al¬ 
falfa fields, but the conditions in Kansas 
are such that it evidently does pay, aud 
ibis is but another illustration of the fact 
that methods should be devised aud 
adapted to suit local conditions. 
The Skunk and Corn Ear Worms 
II. C. Filer, East Hampton, L, I., N. Y., 
page 800, asks how to poison the corn 
ear-worm. It will not be necessary to 
poison the worm if he has a couple of 
skunks on liis farm, as these little fel¬ 
lows will eat more worms than the poison 
will ever kill. This I know from experi¬ 
ence. Just at evening the worms come 
out and go to the ground. If you look 
m the corn field in the morning you will 
see where the skunk has dug them out. 
1 have had a tame one ami watched him 
climb trees, shrubs or other plants. Thus 
it happens that the skunk cannot be of 
any benefit in controlling the corn ear- 
worm referred to by the correspondent. 
The moth of the corn ear-worm lays its 
eggs on the silk of the corn, and the ear- 
worm itself lives all of its life inside the 
husks of the ear, usually near the tip, 
but often half-way down the length of the 
ear. The skunk could nut possibly climb 
a stalk of corn, even had it any dispo¬ 
sition to do so, aiul the corn ear-worm 
passes its life secure from any harm that 
skunks may bring to it. Unless we can 
find some efficient parasites for the corn 
ear-worm we shall be forced probably to 
fight it by some human means, and the 
best method yet known to 11 s is by dust¬ 
ing the ends of the ears with poison, as 
described in Thk IJ. N.-Y. for March 1, 
1020, page SUB. or.KN.v w. hkkkick. 
Leaf Mold as Fertilizer 
1 have a quantity of black soil or leaf 
mold, such as we find in the woods under 
the trees. It seems like decayed forest 
leaves and black soil. j. s. 
A good sample of black leaf mold will 
compare very well with the average stable 
manure in plant food value. In fact, 
some samples of this leaf mold have con¬ 
siderably more nitrogen, ton for ton, than 
tin 1 manure. Leaf mold, however, is 
usually very sour aud will be much more 
effective if lime can be used along with 
it. Probably the best plan would be to 
haul out the leaf mold during the Winter 
aud make it into a compost with lime. 
This is not always possible, but if the leaf 
mold can lit' used in the same way that 
line manure is handled, and a fair quality 
of lime worked in with it. you will cer¬ 
tainly get good results in garden culture. 
As is the case with manure, leaf mold is 
usually deficient in phosphoric acid, aud 
a quantity of fine-ground hone or acid 
phosphate used with it will give good re¬ 
sults. 
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