Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 September 1914 — LETTERS FROM OUR READERS [ARTICLE]

LETTERS FROM OUR READERS

What Wing Said. Many \»ere prevented from hearing Mr. Wing's alfalfa talk on account of the pressure of farm work. We presume they would be interested in knowing what he had to say, so give the following from his speech: "The sleeping porch, the bathroom and the open fire are coming to be necessities of the home, and might be more generally found were the returns from the farm sufficiently increased. No other product of the farm can do this more quickly t'han alfalfa. A good way to get it started is to begin a year ahead, give the land a coating of manure and plant to corn. Give this thorough cultivation, going over it with a hoe after it is "laid by" if weeds or grass apj»ear. "The worst pests of young alfalfa is foxtail, blue grass and crab grass: the first two can be exterminated by clean cultivation of the corn, and the latter is harmless where a sufficient amount of phosphorus Is used. Remove the corn in the fall as early as possible and plow at once. We use a tiling machine and go about 16 inches deep. Seed just as soon in the spring as the land becomes fit to work. Twenty pounds sown broadcast or fifteen with a drill will be sufficient. One bushel beardless spring barley is sown with it as a nurse crop. Inoculate with infested dirt from alfalfa or sweet clover and harow it in at once. "We find it pays to apply four tons of ground limestone and 500 pounds 16 per cent acid phosphate per acre at seeding time. Finish the seeding by leveling it with a heavy float. Watch the alfalfa for new' shoots at the root. When they appear mow it all close. The barley and alfalfa makes a splendid hay. “We apply 500 pounds acid phosphate every year, any time in March when it is not frozen. Continue to apply lime as the crop seems to need it, which can best be told by a trial strip. If blue grass appears we give it a cultivation with a special alfalfa springtooth harrow. When fed and treated in this way we think it will probably pay better for 25 years than any other crop we could raise. “We have one piece eight and another eleven years old that are splendid.

“It is dangerous to cut it more than three times per year. The fourth growth may be pastured by pigs until 'heavy froast. Let nothing tramp it when it is frozen.’ That this heavy application of fertilizer paid was apparent from the fact that from the same land that produced SBOO worth of products the year before he began, last year produced $7,829.1)9. Their fertilizer bill was $674.28. They do not use mixed fertilizer where potash is required; they apply murate of potash. He thinks the best seed comes from Dakota and Montana. The two most important things to aid in keeping a stand where once, secured is to give it plenty of phosphorus and cut it at the correct time. He told the writer privately that they got 16 per cent acid phosphate at $12.00 per ton and an application of 500 pounds per acre annually had paid 200 per cent on the investment. Those who heard Mr. Wing were fortunate, for his health is fast failing. and it is hardly likely that he will make any more lectures. W. .if. P.