American Agriculturist, April ii, 
Spring Brings Again the Old Problems 
A. A. Readers Tell How They Meet Them 
I NOTICED an article in the February 16th 
issue of American Agriculturist on grow¬ 
ing alfalfa. I have some experience of grow¬ 
ing alfalfa, my first being in the spring of 
1906 and from then on. My experience is to sow it 
in oats, say one and one-half bushels oats to the 
acre. I give it a light harrowing after the alfalfa 
seed has been sown in order to give the seed a light 
covering. The oats make a cover crop and it will 
be free from weeds. The alfalfa roots will get 
growth enough so they will not heave with frosts. 
I have never used any inoculation. Sometimes 
I have mixed timothy and red or alsike with the 
alfalfa seed. I have sown it in at least 10 or 12 
different lots in a section at least in the radius 
of six miles on limestone, gray rock and slate land. 
The crop sown in the year 1906 I continued to cut 
either two or three crops per year until 1921. 
This may be of interest to some of your readers as 
it is put in with so little trouble except cost of the 
seed.—W. R. Ayres, New Jersey. 
* * * 
Disking Old Land 
TN many places it is usual to plow all land which 
1 is to be sown in the spring, while in the West 
it is common to simply disk the land without 
plowing. Formerly I always plowed all the land to 
be sown. But for some years I have simply disked 
all potato land which was to go into oats, and part 
of the time I have tried the practice with corn 
stubble and with oat stubble. 
I have found that disking the land 
was superior to plowing it in the spring, 
where the preceding crop was potatoes 
or corn. With fall plowing I found 
that there was a slight loss in the case 
of potatoes through plowing, while 
there was a little gain with the corn 
land. I consider this to be due to the 
fact that the fertilizer was plowed 
under deeper on the potato land. ' In 
neither case did I find that it paid to 
plow if the land was clear. Where the 
corn stubble was pretty cpiacky it was 
some harder to get a good seedbed by 
simply disking. 
One year I tried disking oat stubble 
for winter wheat. It was a fizzle and 
I never tried it again. I had neighbors 
who tried the same thing (it was in the 
war years) and they had the same re¬ 
sults. I understand that this works out 
well in the West, however. 
Under the present conditions of 
high-priced and scarce labor and low- 
priced and plentiful crops, it seems’ to 
me that the practice of disking un¬ 
plowed land for grain should become 
more common. Incidentally I might 
mention the fact that the best grain 
crops I ever raised (75 bushels of oats’ 
per acre and 40 bushels of winter 
wheat per acre) were raised on land 
which was not plowed after the pota¬ 
toes were dug though of course the 
digger gave an extra fitting.— A. H. de 
Graff, New York. 
* * 
Our Experience in Sowing Clover 
^HE time of year is here to sow 
clover seed for this part of Penn¬ 
sylvania. Medium red is mostly 
grown for hay, for seed of the second 
crop, which may also be cut for hay for 
cows, is pastured, or plowed down for 
corn to improve the soil. Alsike mixed 
with red makes a fine hay for all kinds 
of stock and it does better sown with 
another clover to help keep it off the 
ground Sweet white clover has been 
fried out lately, too, for hay for pasture 
and as a soil builder, which it is, be¬ 
cause of its long roots and heavy tall growth. It 
is also being tried out for an all-summer pasture. 
Crimson does not often stand the winters in this 
part of Central Pennsylvania. 
We like to sow in a forenoon when the ground 
is frozen in order that the thawing and later rains 
may help to cover the seed. By using a cyclone or 
one turned by hand instead of a wheelbarrow 
seeder, it is very easy to sow on frozen ground. 
With the barrow seeder it seems to go better when 
the soil is not frozen. 
Some persons advise heavy seeding of clovers 
to get a thick stand covering all the ground after 
the wheat is harvested. We seed all our clover on 
growing wheat, so that a growth of clover usually 
is made the same season and it may be clipped, 
pastured or cut for hay for cows if needed for more 
dry feed. 
Many farmers sow only four quarts of red and 
one pint of alsike and get a fair stand for hay. But 
three quarts of red, two quarts of alfafa and one 
quart of alsike, or six quarts in all, are enough to 
make a good stand of clover where the soil is sweet 
enough or has lime enough to grow red and alfalfa. 
Alsike will grow better in a sour or acid and on 
wetter soil than either of the.other two. A* com¬ 
bination of these three make a fine hay for feed 
and for fertility of the soil. Alfalfa alone will make 
three cuttings in a year when sown alone after the 
first year, while the medium red will make only 
two crops the second year and then disappear. 
Sowing alfalfa in the spring in wheat without cov¬ 
ering it a little with some tool is only in the experi¬ 
mental stage here, but it has been done success¬ 
fully on soils which have grown alfalfa before. 
White sweet clover is a lover of lime as is alfalfa, 
yet it grows on poorer soils than the others will. 
However, it has coarse stems and cattle will not 
eat the hay. As a soil builder, for pasture and for 
a legume crop to plow under for humus it is a 
great clover. 
On an eight-acre field, four acres of which had 
been in alfalfa for three years, we sowed a mixture 
of red, alfalfa, alsike and white sweet clovers at 
the rate of seven quarts per acre on the 17th day 
of April and harrowed the wheat with a spike- 
tooth barrow, having the teeth slanted backwards. 
On the 20th of July we cut the wheat which 
yielded 22 bushels per acre, then on September 
14th we cut and took in eight loads of mixed hay, 
largely red and white sweet, with a showing of the 
other two from the eight acres. To grow these 
clovers successfully lime enough must be applied 
to keep soil sweet. Sowing clover seed later than 
the time mentioned is often done, but we find the 
seeding early in April is more likely to make a 
better, stand one year with another than later 
seeding.—J. N. Glover. 
* * * 
Dairymen 1 urning to Mixed Farming 
JN these uncertain times with so. much strife in 
regard to the milk situation, it would seem that 
if a larger percentage of dairymen would strike 
out and follow mixed farming, it would offer a 
solution to remedy the present un¬ 
stable condition of farmer’s problems 
as soon as anything I know of. 
Reduction of the larger dairies 25 
per cent, or more of course, would 
accomplish a great deal, but this of 
course would necessarily be a slow 
process to bring about better times, 
and it strikes me that the situation has 
become so acute that something should 
be done and done at once to better 
conditions for the dairy farmer. 
It goes without saying that not 
every farmer is situated so as to follow 
mixed farming and make a real success 
ol it, but having spent my lifetime here 
in northern New York in the most fer¬ 
tile Black River valley, I know that the 
location is ideal, also that the soil itself 
is adapted suitably for other uses than 
the pasturage of milch cows. I recall 
on taking trips through the country a 
couple of decades ago, of seeing so 
many flocks of sheep dotting the hill¬ 
sides and had a little experience myself 
in the case of a small flock as my father 
used to winter about 20 ewes. As for 
the care, it took very little time—only 
during the lambing season in the 
springtime and as for the amount of 
fodder, don’t think it ever took more 
than enough to winter two cows. 
Also good results can be obtained in 
the raising of crops, such as small 
fruits. Strawberries, for instance one- 
quarter of an acre, properly fertilized 
and cared for, have been known to 
return nearly $500, but of course, there 
is a lot of care and work connected with # 
the job. But isn’t it true of anything 
that gives a good substantial return? 
The cultivation and raising of corn, 
to which this soil hereabouts is splen¬ 
didly adapted, offers another avenue 
to add to the farm revenue as the corn 
can be converted into pork which 
nearly always can be disposed of at a 
profitable figure. 
Just why so many farmers will con¬ 
tinue to keep a few more cows than can 
be maintained right on their own farms 
(Continued on page 392 ) 
If you believe in tax reduction sign the petition below, get your neighbor 
to sign it, and send it IMMEDIATELY to American Agriculturist, 
461 Fourth Avenue, New York City. 
TO THE GOVERNOR, THE LEGISLATURE, AND TO EVERY 
OTHER PUBLIC OFFICIAL IN STATE, COUNTY AND TOWN 
GOVERNMENT IN NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW 
JERSEY. 
WHEREAS, first, taxation has increased in this nation more than four times 
since 1913, and in our State and local governments more than three and a half 
times, and 
WHEREAS, second, this burden of taxation, particularly for State and local 
governments, falls heaviest and directly on farmers and farm property, amounting 
to 16.6% of the farmer’s income in 1922, stopping agricultural prosperity and 
fast becoming absolutely insupportable, and 
WHEREAS, third, the general basis of taxation is INCOME and not PROPERTY, 
and 
WHEREAS, fourth, our national, State and local governments have made little 
real progress in cutting out unnecessary officers, government departments and 
appropriation bills since the end of the World War, therefore be it hereby 
RESOLVED: First, that we, the undersigned, are unalterably OPPOSED TO 
THE EXTENSION AT PRESENT OF ALL NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOV¬ 
ERNMENT ACTIVITIES. 
Second, that all of our national and local officers should give immediate at¬ 
tention to THE GRAVE NECESSITY OF LARGE REDUCTIONS IN ALL GOV¬ 
ERNMENT EXPENDITURES, to the reduction of government personnel, to com¬ 
bining and simplifying government departments and activities, to the need of 
short legislative sessions, to smaller expense accounts for public officials, to 
passing fewer laws, and in short, to the necessity for practicing the same economy 
in public affairs that farmers are constantly obliged to practice in the production 
of the necessities of life. 
Third, that we as farmers are not interested in credit or any other unsound 
farm relief legislation, BUT IN TAX REDUCTION. 
Fourth, that taxation, both State and national, be maintained on all luxuries, 
as for example, chewing gum, tobacco, motion pictures, etc. 
Fifth, that tax reduction be made TO ABOLISH DIRECT PROPERTY TAX. 
A REDUCTION OF INCOME TAXES IS NOT SATISFACTORY. The farmer’s 
income is from his property holdings and therefore his assessed valuation, par¬ 
ticularly on paper, is high. The reduction of income taxes, while government 
expenditures are still so high, will inevitably result in greater taxes on property, 
chiefly FARM REAL ESTATE. Signed eventually by 100,000 farmers. 
Name (write plainly) . . . 
Address. 
• . * . . .•»*•••♦*•>•» 
{Paste blank paper to this petition for additional names.) 
