The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits: Its Uses as a Forage and FertilizerCoburn, F. D. (Foster Dwight)
History
The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits: Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer
Coburn, F. D. (Foster Dwight)
Alfalfa
_John H. Gordon, Laramie county._--During the past 10 years, I have had
from 10 to 200 acres of alfalfa on second bottom and upland, with sandy
loam from two inches to six feet deep, and below this soft rock, water
being found at depths of 20 to 200 feet. I plow or break the soil the
first year, and raise a crop of wheat or oats; the second year plow
deep, sow about half a crop of oats, and when this is well harrowed, sow
20 pounds of alfalfa seed and cover it about two inches deep. To get the
best results, this seeding is done about April 1st, and there is no
trouble here with weeds. In cutting the grain, the alfalfa is cut off
too, but it does not grow tall enough for hay the first year. The plant
does not winterkill, and reaches its full yields by the third or fourth
year; I have found no necessity for reseeding any of my land. We
irrigate from streams, the quantity of water used depending on the
season. There are generally three applications of water, about six
inches each time. After the first two or three years, only about half
the quantity used at first will be needed. After the first year I cut
twice, and obtain about 1¹⁄₂ tons to the acre each time. The first crop
is best for seed, and is harvested when the top bolls are dead ripe,
raked the day after cutting, bunched for two days and then stacked, to
be threshed with the common threshing machinery, putting through twice.
Five bushels to the acre is a common yield of seed, and the cleaning and
threshing cost 50 to 75 cents a bushel. The hay is cut when the greater
part is in bloom, allowed to lie about a day before raking, cured about
three days, and then stacked, 14 to 16 feet wide, 60 feet long, and 20
feet high. It does not seem to heat or mold here. The total cost in the
stack is about $1.50 a ton, and baling, in 100-pound bales, costs $2 a
ton. Selling price of loose hay in this section is $5 a ton, and the
seed, 10 to 12 cents per pound in the market. The straw is worth about
as much as the hay for feed. I am well satisfied with the general
results of growing alfalfa here, and am now preparing 200 acres for
seeding. Where it will grow well, it is the best forage plant ever
discovered, being good feed for cattle, hogs, sheep, fowls, and, in
fact, all animals on the farm, while as a fertilizer it cannot be
surpassed. But one cannot do anything with it if there is not sufficient
moisture to raise wheat or oats.
INDEX.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account