Show LATE UTE PLANTING OF ALFALFA no record of failure to obtain stand where sowing bowing was waa done early in the season dy by it IS n PAn dansons PARSON SONS 3 last atar many of my friends requested an opinion from me as to the late into planting of alfalfa at that time itne I 1 had only my own exper experience lence to profit by which Is that early planting is ie much the best in the meantime however I 1 have been able abe to accumulate some data from nil all over the dry states and I 1 find that the percentage of successful planting after july Is only about 25 w while hile that of early planting about april and may la Is about 75 or 80 and with deep plowing probably per cent in fact I 1 have no record of any failure to obtain a stand where the plowing was eight inches or moro mor and the alfalfa sowed bowed before june the best average date forthe for the planting of this legume seems to center around the of april and when the ground Is ie wet down to a depth of two feet or more and plowed deep there ther i e la is little or no risk riak of failure alfalfa Is IB peculiar in this respect it requires plenty of moisture at the start but once established no drought can kill it out the top may dry but it will bud again from the root it if the ground Is plowed deeply enough the roots go down very quickly and as soon as it has hae acquired a ten en inch root it la is practically out of danger when planted in the fall on an summer fallowed fallowes fall owed land it will sometimes succeed it if the season season la Is right but it la is very easily exterminated by cold coid and drought when young and not thoroughly established A stand ot of alfalfa secured by shallow plowing and a wet season for some reason or other often peters out after a year or two the young plants in the seed leaf will stand a temperature of about 20 fahrenheit it they are covered with snow without snow the danger point Is about 26 degrees the lower the altitude the more cold they will stand and since we find that lack of air pressure pressure increases the bursting power of frozen sap this rule applies not only to alfalfa but to all vegetation As far as the different varieties ot of alfalfa are concerned it to Is a good idea to try them all on my ranch I 1 find ahe he ordinary variety does as well as aa any and usually costs less some farmers are afraid to plant alfalfa because they think their soil Is not right but there is absolutely no way of testing this except to try it it can with the help of a little manure be raised even on a sand bar and will ultimately convert it into good soil for this reason we need levei never have any abandoned farms in tho the west it if we plant them to alfalfa before it Is too late in fertilizing weak or sandy land for this crop the manure should be harrowed in on the surface after plowing and before planting this darkens the color of the surface and diminishes the glare from the sun which will sometimes dry up the young plants on very light colored soll eolk by scalding the leaves even when there to Is plenty of moisture down below alfalfa will often do better in r rich leb hill soil than on a weak sandy bottom it will sometimes reach water at 20 feet in three or four years and then of course will yield as much per acre as irrigated alfalfa |