| Show ALFALFA POINTS PROPER preparation OF SEED BED MEANS SUCCESS plant Is deep rooted perennial and exceedingly delicate the first month of its Life Deep plowing Is IB nece necessary esary infrequently frequently tile alio question lUt BUon is asked me ino what I 1 coti consider alder tilt tho badts of my sue buc sens with alfalfa ihlae there Is no wo ano thing which insures success yot yet tile tho proper seed bed preparation of tile alio 11 ll Is tile tho very ill upon oil which LIM alio whole matter rests 1 let et ua its inquire what conat constitutes n proper seed aecil bed and by what alin t means it Is beat obtained th tho natural characteristics acte of tile alio alfalfa plant are now so BO well ivell known that wo we need only mention them it Is a deep rooted perennial possibly tile tho deepest rooted plant witt with which the farmer r lias has to d deal eal it Is au an exceedingly delicate doll cato plant tile tho first month of its life therefore Thore toro tile the proper seed bed would bo be such a ono one as will foster the deep root growth and at tile the 13 anio tim almo 0 protect tho the tender plant let iet us ua take up tile the former it you will dig up tip nn an alfalfa plant two weeks old ono one that liaa has but bilt four or elx leaflets you yet will ind it a root six 1 soven seven or eight inches long na as blonder IB as a thread ahrend and na as delicate as it a nerve writes boyd uyi clyron oll hobb lit in tho the dakota farmer more mere common sense will tell you that such a slender tender rootlet Is not capable of petie penetrating trat a hard dry subsoil sub Boll enuch less tho the glazed plow solo which so habitually exists under a ivo or six inch plowing persisted in by the farmer for a number of years deep plowing the thing plainly then we must plow deeper how flow deep twelve inches la Is the minimum twenty la Is much better how flow con can we plow 20 inches deep thor there e aro are several makes of deep going g plows and sub sollers on the market all of merit but of them all I 1 consider the deep tilling machine tar far and away the best not only will it plow 20 inches deep or anywhere from 12 to 20 but it will do it with lest less traction power than any other implement and it will do it better for it thoroughly pulverizes all of the ground turned this Is a very important process not only in preparing an alfalfa seed bed but also for any seed bed whatsoever and what should be the condition of the 20 inches of plowed ground it should be finely pulverized packed only slightly and contain as much me moisture as Is ordinarily required tor for any crop this deep tilled soil poll la Is also in the t very beat possible condition to receive the heavy showers which so BO frequently occur in this semiarid semi arid climate and is especially fitted to admit the moisture into the subsoil the subsoil should contain a fair quantity bt bf moisture before the alfalfa la Is planted or at the time of planting now when the fine alfalfa rootlet begins to penetrate the finely pulverized top soil it goes straight down passes readily into the moist subsoil and goes on its way rejoicing how deep I 1 dare not guess but I 1 have seen alfalfa roots 28 feet long and I 1 see the end of them then it Is seen therefore that deep tilling Is quite essential to promote tile the natural growth and development of the alfalfa plant |
