More Alfalfa
Newspapers may say that the May re-
port of the Oklahoma State Hoard of
Agriculture states that the acreage
sown to alfalfa this year is shown to be
16,964 and the total acreage of alfalfa
at the present time 65,964. If this re-
port has been correctly quoted, and 1
assume it has, since several newspapers
published the same figures at the same
time, there has been i\ marvelous disap-
pearance of 158,458 acres of alfalfa
since 1909. The total acreage of alfalfa
in 1909 is stated on page 230 of the
biennial report of the Oklahoma State
Board of Agriculture, to have been 224,-
422 acres and in 1908 the same report
gives the alfalfa acreage as being 169,-
702. This however, is unimportant.
Anyone who travels over the state, ob-
serves and talks with farmers, knows
that the alfalfa acreage is increasing
instead of diminishing. And, the im-
portant thing to the farmers of the
state is that the alfalfa gets into the
soil,correctly, even if it does not get in-
to official reports that way. This is the
ti ne to be getting ready for fall seed-
ing of alfalfa. All lands to be sown in
alfalfa next fall should be plowed be-
fore the first of July and it should be
well disced before it is plowed to make
the plowing easier and to fit the land to
settle more quickly into a good seed
bed. Then work the land through July
and August in such way as to settle it
and get it full of moisture if possible.
This is the proper plan for all kinds of
soil except that which is very sandy.
With them the plowing may have to
give way to listing and even more at-
tention will have to be given to com-
pacting the soil. Reports received by
the Journal indicate much success with
the spring sown alfalfa. Get ready for
a big increase in the acreage this fall if
it rains enough to hiake it moist enough
to sow. Oklahoma should have two
million acres in alfalfa this fall. That
will be an acre for each of the state's
inhabitants and a little to spare. —Farm
Journal.
Summer Pruning of Fruit Trees
There are two chief reasons for prun-
ing fruit trees in summer; one is to
make them bushy to fill out the vacant
parts, the other to promote fruitf ulness.
Bushiness is promoted by pinching off
the heads of growing shoots, which
causes the shoots to push forth, and by
autumn gives a half dozen or more
. shoots in the place of one.
It is on the same principal hedges are
pruned in the summer, the number of
s"hoots taking the place of one makes a
compact hedge, so that both bushiness
shapeliness are promoted by the prun-
ing, says the practical Farmer. This
pinching back of shoots or pruning of
the hedge must be done before the
elongation of the shoots ceases; other-
wise the side buds will not push out,
Hedges are pruned before the growth
ceases often with sole purpose of mak-
ing them of good shape irrespective of
any idea of promoting bunhiness.
A better general idea of where to
prune a tree or bush to make it shapely
can be formed when it is in foliage in
the winter, so that pruning for this ob-
ject is to be recommended then.
Branches can be put out here and there
to shape the tree and to promote the en-
try of light and air, but care must be
exercised that too many branches are
not cut out when the foliage is on a tree,
as it is in summer, or its destruction
will cause a serious check to the tree.
To part with a third of its foliage in this
way should be the limit.
Pruning for fruitfulness is done later
in the season than that for the bush-
iness of the tree. For bushiness, do it
when the growth is in full swing; for
fruitfulness, when it is nearly over for
the season. The object is to check the
growth a little, causing fruit buds to
form, which checking always does.
This brings about, though perhaps
less rapidly, what root pruning does, a
tendency on the part of the tree to pro-
duce an abundance of flowers in spring,
and fruit follows unless some freak of
climate destroys the blossoms.
[
Resolved—That the Guthrie and Logan County Co-Oper-
ative Union does hereby endorse The Oklahoma
Farmer and Laborer as its official organ, and
recommends to all affiliated organizations that they
efive consideration to advertisers that use the columns
of said Labor Paper.
Uhe '/few 2/or/c
Black Walnut for Future Profits
Better than life insurance, Edmund
Secrest forester at the Agricultural
Experiment Station at Wooster, says,
in comparing forestry operations with
other kinds of investments.
There are very few abandoned farms
in Ohio, continued Secrest, but there is
a great deal of waste land or land that
cannot be cultivated, in this state, that
can be made to day at enoi'mous profit.
This land, if planted in black walnut,
would grow more than 150 trees an acre,
which in forty or fifty years would yield
300 board feet of lumber a tree. This
means 45,000 board feetiper acre, worth
$3,500 easily. The chief value of black
walnut lies in its lumber products, and
it is not unreasonable to say that com-
fortable fortunes can be realized from
its growth.
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9 Buggies, Oil Wagons, Delivery Wagons, §
Harness, Saddles, Wagons and ^
Implements
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♦
See Us For Prices and Terms
SPALDING NICKESON CO. „
South Main Street SAPULPA, OK LA. I
Sfccirctware Store
Wholesale and Retail Dealers in
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Cutlery, SPumps, Suns, <fjtc.
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No Phone. GUTHRIE, OKU. Opposite Post Office.
Making Alfalfa Hay
Charles B. Wing says alfalfa hay
should be cured in the same manner as
red clover, with the difference that as
the leaves of alfalfa when dry are ex-
tremely brittle, care must be taken to
j prevent their loss.
This simply necessitates raking the
hay when still quite tough, and it should
! also be shocked before it is bone dry.
Alfalfa hay will cure admirably if rak-
| ed quite green, shocked immediately,
j and allowed to stand in the shock for
several days. If this method is used
I there will be very little loss from storms
and the hay will be of the finest pos-
| sible quality. Hay caps may be used if
desired with excellent results.
When the hay is cured in the shock
open up the shocks to the sun and air
for an hour or so before putting the hay
into the barn. Alfalfa hay will stand
more punishment from storms than any
other hay that we know of. It will al-
so keep excellently in the stack, al-
though we think it a little more ui.Ticult
to stack than timothy hay It m:'" be
put in the stack or mow with a tride
more sap than any other kind of hay.
A sate method of ascertaining wheth-
er it is sufficiently cured to go into the
stack or barn is to twist the stalks, and
if no water appears the hay is in safe
condition to go into the barn.
We usually cut alfalfa when about
one-fifth of the plants begin to show
bloom. A somewhat better way of as-
certaining the proper time is to watch
for the buds at the base of the plants
and cut when they appear above ground.
These buds are the beginnings of new
stalks, and their appearance indicates
that the plant is ready to make another
crop.
PATTERSON
[FtLoraolkore (&0)o
Carpets 6c 'Drcipcris
Guthrie, Okla.