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Show SOD-BOUND ALFALFA FIELDS Method Employed In Regenerating Vary Great Deal Disking Is Moit Popular System. ny II. F. PATTKRW1N.I The tuHhods ued lu regenerating an old field of alfalfa vary a great dt-al. Perhaps the method that It used to the largest eitent throughout all of the northwest states Is the method meth-od of dlttk'iiK the land enrly In the spring;. Whether or not It Is a good plan to dbk alfalfa land Is a question uiKin which there has been much difference dif-ference of opinion. However. If this work Is done properly there seems to he a good reason .for so handlltig our field. In localities where there Is but a iimall amount of rainfall and where the soil becomes hard snd Impervious to water It Is a very good practice to follow. Then Bpaln In regions where there Is sufficient rainfall and where the w inter (canon is open, the thawing and froefcltig will tend to loosen up the ground and In that way have the snme effect as dlRklng 'n the arid regions. It Is a well known fact that the disking disk-ing of the uteins will caime them to become be-come very much thicker. However. In dlnklng alfalfa there Is some danger In that the crowns very often become Infected with fungus diseases which will oftentimes destroy the entire plant. We muKt keep this In mind and must govern our actions accordingly. That is. we munt use extreme care In order that the crowns of the plants will not be Injured to any great extent. ex-tent. The dlnklng of course will cut the crowns and there Is always the danger that the fungus diseases will set In. llowevet, If we are careful and do not alow tl( dlseanes In our fields on the start and are careful that our disk Is very clean, this danger will be almost entirely eliminated. The disk should he eo set that It will cut the crowns of the plants rather than gouge them out. Some farmers have had success by getting the disk nearly straight and running the dink ench way. This will divide the crown Into four equal portions por-tions and each part will send up a new alfalfa plant and In that way the stand will le materially thickened. Then again It Is well to disk the alfalfa field when the field has become Infested with blue grass and dandelions, dande-lions, which will choke out a large amount of the alfalfa. Farmers have also had success by putting on from five 10 six pounds of alfalfa seed, especially ujrfn fields that have become Infested with dande lions. It Is sometimes a good plan to add a small amount of clover seed to tho alfalfa. The clover germinates very rapidly snd will get a good start and will thus keep down the weeds. The clover will die out In a year or two and we will still have a good stand of alfalfa. We would suggest the following of this plan upon a large number of our alfalfa fields that have grown alfalfa for three or four years. Iiy getting In and disking It Is possible pos-sible to thicken up the stand to such an extent that we can grow our alfalfa upon the same field for three or four years longer and still obtain large and profitable crops. The best tlmC to disk the alfalfa is In the early spring because the young plants can thus obtain ob-tain a very early start Implements for Dry farm. A dry-farmer for the best work should be supplied with the following implements in addition to the necessity neces-sity of wagons and hand tools: One plow. One disk. One smoothing harrow. One drill seeder. One harvester or header. One mowing machine. |