Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1907 — GROWING ALFALFA [ARTICLE]

GROWING ALFALFA

Reducing Weeds to the Minimum Is an Important Point. E. C. Dameron of Pike county, Mo., by an exchange with the following suggestions on growing alfalfa. “After several years’ experimentation, with both success and failure, I unhesitatingly advise fall seeding. While 1 know of no plant that excels alfalfa in vigor of growth after it Is once established, it Is extremely timid about its association.with other plants in its early life. Weeds and foxtail are Its worst foes, and how to avoid them or to reduce them to the minimum is the problem before the alfalfa grower. It is with this in view that I advise the fall seeding. To my mind the piece. selected for seeding down next fall should be upjand naturally well drained and fertile. Preparation of Ground. “If the piece selected is land In wheat I -should top dress it during winter with all the stable manure I could possibly get on it—not in great hunks, but well distributed. After the wheat comes off in June I should disk it twice, once each way. After the first shower the weeds will begin to appear, then disk again. Keep this tip until about Sept. 1. Don’t plow under any circumstances, but kill all the weed growth by surface cultivation. All this sounds like work, and it is work, but the best remunerated work a fanner ever did. About Sept. 1, if there be moisture enough for germination, sow twenty pounds of seed per acre. Use a wheelbarrow seeder and sow ten pounds each way. .This covers ‘skips’ and gives a better distribution of the seeds. Then slant your harrow teeth and cover by going over the field at least twice.”