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Show v LATE PLANTING OF ALFALFA No Record of Failure to Obtain 8tand Where Sowing Was Done Early In ' the Season. (Uy E. It. I'An80NS. Lost year many of my friends requested re-quested nn opinion from mo ns to the Into planting of alfalfa. At Hint tlmo I hod only my own cxpcrlonco to profit by, which Is thnt oarly planting Is much tho best. In tho menntlmo, however, I have been nblo to accumulate somo daU from nil over tho dry states, nnd I And that tho percentage of successful planting nftor July Is only nbout 25, whllo thnt of early planting about April nnd Mny Is nbout 7G or 80, nnd with deep plowing probably 100 per cent,; In fnct, I have no record of nny failure to obtntn n stnnd where tho plowing wns eight Inches or more nnd tho nlfnlfn sowed before Juno. Tho best averngo date for tho planting plant-ing of this legume seems to center nround tho 20th of April, and when tho ground Is wet down to n depth of two feet or moro nnd plowed deep, there Is little or no risk of failure. Alfalfa Is peculiar In this respect; It requires plenty of molsturo nt tho start, but onco established, no drought can kill It out. Tbo top may dry, but It will oud again from tho root. If tho ground Is plowed deeply enough, tho roots go down very quickly, quick-ly, nnd ns soon ns It has acquired a ten-Inch root, It Is practically out of danger. When planted In tho fall on summer fallowed land. It will sometimes succeed suc-ceed If tho season Is right, but It Is very easily exterminated by cold nnd drought when young nnd not thoroughly thor-oughly established. A stnnd of nlfnlfn nlfnl-fn secured by shallow plowing nnd n wet senson for somo renson or other often poters out nftor u yenr or two. The young plnnts In the seed leaf will stnnd n tempornture of nbout 20 Fnhrenhc'.t If thoy nro covered with snow. Without snow, tho dnnger point Is nbout 20 degrees. Tho lower tho nltltudn tho moro cold thoy will stnnd, nnd slnco wo find thnt lack of nlr pressure Inercnses tho bursting power of frozen snp, this rule npplles not only to nlfnlfn, but to nil vegetation. vegeta-tion. As fnr ns tho different varieties of nlfnlfn nro concerned, It Is n tood Idea to try them nil. On my ranch I find tho ordlnnry vnrlety docs ns well ns nny, nnd uBtmlly costs less. Somo fnrmors nro nfrnld to plant nlfnlfn uocnutro they think their soil Is not right, but thero Is absolutely no wny of testing this, except to try It. It can, with tho help of a. llttlo manure, ma-nure, be raised oven on n snnd bar, nnd will ultimately convert It Into good soil. For this reason, wo need never havo any nbandoncd farms In tho west, If wo plant them to alfalfa beforo It Is too Into. In fertilizing weak or sandy land for this crop, tho manuro should bo harrowed In nn tho surface, nftor plowing- nnd bofore planting. This dnrkoiiH tho color of tho surfaco nnd diminishes tho glnre from tho sun, which will Bomotlmes dry up thu young plants on very light colored soil by scalding tho leaves, even when thero Is plenty of molsturo down below. Alfalfa will often do hotter In rich hill soil thnn on n weak sandy bottom. bot-tom. It will sometimes reach water at 20 feet In threo or four yars, nnd thnn, of course, will jllold ns much per aero ns Irrigated nlfnlfn. |