T K E
OKLAHOMA FARMED, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBEK 17, 190 9
^ GENERAL •*
AGRICULTURE
ANY PROBLEM IN GENERAL ACRICULTURF WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THIS DEPARTMENT
lilt! soil 1)1 UHl'll ill'
foods; single cropping lea
I he soil, although general
various pluui
ves some in
v yleldh
de< H '
plelion <
Yhlds ;
• It•illt'lll
Irss of
The decrease i
f olio of I lie g« N
re hound to Ot
w hieh is least h
I he supply of
; dm
•ruing
liinit«
/tii Mlil
►tilers.
In
i|«
•Ir
d
also adds
ehanleal
portani i:
largely in
-ondltion of
I'lol ill I I It •
ALFALFA.
G. B. '
Grows on Any Good Soil.
Alfalfa is ii nitiv.
of Western Asia and was first culti-
vated by tile ancient (ireeks and Uu-
mans. It is an upright perennial
plant, resembling somewhat the red
Hover, but having' purple flowers, in
a long cluster rather than in a com-
pact bunch: t hi dusters art- scatter
«*d over the entire plant instead of the^
upper branches as in red clover. It
should lie remembered that alfalfa,
with other legumes, lias upon its roots
nodules produced by certain 1;nct<-rin
with whose aid the plants are enabled
to obtain a supply of free nitrogen, by
1 he de<ay of these nodules the soil
becomes richer in nitrogen. Now al
lalfa can he grown without the bac-
teria, more especlallv if the soil is
l ieh and there is an abundant supply
of nitrogen; but if the soil lacj:s these
e'ements then to grow alfalfa success-
fully it is necessary to inoculate tin
plants artificially. This is «lone b\
scattering upon tin field snil from an
infected field, or by placing the bac
teria directly upon the sist-^ before
sowing. The latter process >vis been
found the more practical.
As to the preparation ol the soil:
\s soon in the spring as the soil i«
warm enough and in good condition,
take a disc harrow atul cut the ground
two or three iiidius deep. Follow with
a drag harrow and innke surface fine,
then follow with i turning plow :iiul
break six or seven Inches deep. Fol-
low with the disc then with a-harrow,
making a fine, mellow, firm seed bed
quite lien ssafy for alfalfn. Then drill
one bushel of oritv per acre for a nurse
crop. Then sow twenty pounds ntc ■
cle'in alfalfa seed per acre. p i« best
to sow seed both \vav«. R\ this inetli-
od we secure a uniform stand, there
being no hare spots. The oats should
be cut for (lav about the tir.i  tl'ev
pre eomiiis into milk. By this titni
the alfalfa w •!I he eiht to tweh
inches high. The onts ind alfalfa
together wilt mal<e exc lli rt ha v.
bow
I p ('
It
firs'
W hei
t h:11 tin
d
orn
mi-'
lll|K li:llit II
fully cured.
hown that corn when
from the field, even
ivell matured and dry,
of sdl
upon
land
done
hill it
to iner
Iniprov iii^;
til
proper
run not hi
•use soil t«
1111' 111
hy t he
r.'n:i i I -
notation
tlu in-
til an lie
t rent met1!
depended
rtilii v
has been
.•fathered
it poems
still has over thirty per cent of wa-
ter in the grain. Containing so much
moi^tuic it is readily seen that there
is danger of damage and weakening
mi' the fvorm by freezing. This at once
suggests the importance of drying it
1 \ some kind of process, and at least
of keeping it ir the free air currents,
not t"i  much exposed to tlje possibil-
ity of freezing, until this moisture is
iru-atly reduced. Those who grow seed
corn on a large scale kiln dry it by
gentle steady warmth.
i  , eoiir>e si ed corn so prepared, if
t has been grown from selected well-
bred corn, is sure to germinate under
fairly ♦'avor ible conditions of soil and
weatiKv. ami insures a much larger
of cotton
tnnual review
just publish! d
ol
annual review
.u cording to tie :i
tin- « « tt  a situj
ihe New York Financial Chronicle, tie-
total cotton crop for tlu year 1
♦ nding with September 1. turns « ut t•->
I >« 13,829,000 bales, eouipared with
lkos^OOU lialcs the preceding 12
inonths. These totals may be compared
with 13,551,000 l ales for the year cov-
ering the crop grown in KM)ti and moved
up to tlu ( lose of that erop >ear ending
September 1, 1907.
Out of the latest crop grown
fully ha rv est nl and marketed, the
t :kings by spinners north ami south
ing the 12 months ended
V, oyt ref
divided
yield than i
dinary way
sider this
sound rind
has lv en
leeted seed,
we!! for the
i i • «/ i t
i'orn
This
import
treated in
is the time
int matter.
the or-
to con-
( rOO( I
<1
well dried
rown from well
insures a \ ield
•orn. il it
bred se-
t ha t pays
fare in sating and prepar-
eight r r ten
he again cut
etna iii where
When
should
t i n u s
almoin, as before «!
it will ma 1« a
go into winter.
The next suiiiin
moved four time
produce five oi
acre. It require*
and labor to eur
clover. The best
when about one
bloom The hay
or three times to
i nolle
ind lr
thev
i
scribed,
sufficient
it
t the cut-
fall. ' rut
ftor which
growth to
or the alfalfa can be
s at least, and will
six tons of hay per
< a little more time
• • than tin I i 111< r< 1
hav i« obtained if cut
- fourth is showing
should be tedded two
keep the leaves from
sunburning and to dry the stems well.
When cut at the right time and well
cured the stock prefer it to any fe.Vl
than can be given them.
I feel confident that with care in
preparing ground and with good seed
a good stand of alfalfa can be secur-
ed on any of our well drained good
clay soils, and when secured will last
for many yields if not mistreated Hy
pasturing and tramping of live stock.
Alfalfa never should be pastured close-
ly as this injures the crown of the
plants Horses and sheep are more li-
able to do damage in this was than
cattle and hogs. It is well known that
alfalfa is even .more nutritious than
clover, although it is not as well bal
anced, being too rich in protein. For
best results it should be combined with
some other feeds rich in carbohy-
drates. Alfalfa should not be used as
a seed crop, only the last year before
plowing under, as a seed crop weakens
the plant and reduces the stand.
SEED CORN.
The assurance of a good yield of
corn lies primarily in the seed. Ex-
perience has shown that the cause of
barren stalks, those bearing either no
ears, of small ears',' is due to poor seed,
and such seed as is not properly
cared Mr after it is gathered"from the
field. The barren stalks detract much
from the yield. One such in every
dozen hills reduces the yield from la
to 20 busfiels per acre. This shows
C0RN\C0RN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, ThE
OKLAHOMA FARMER
WILL ISSUE tt'S
SPECIAL CORN EDITION
It is tlir « l>jecl .ol' the management to give the farmers some
r.-jl information m ~ to I lie proper selection of seed; preparation of
-i.il for ihe grain, proper cultivation; best manner of handling,
; and poultry feed as well as the world's market
and storing for st<u
;iiid man's table.
There is not ti farmer in i
experience in corn-cultivation-
|-';iruiiT i- informed o| ihi> ;i^
a- a i nnseiiuence a -peeial department will beset aside in the Spe-
cial Corn Kdition in which the agriculturist may tell of his ex-
periences and i>'ive his friends and neighbors the benefit ol his dis-
i <i\erics.
To this end we ask that every reader of the
write us a letter, not exceeding two hundred wort
which max be told / I'l I. SI()IIIKS Of' ('OI!.\
I 'lease remember to write on but one side of tli
mu'ii names and addresses plainly.
hook out for the SI'KOI \ L rOllX KIHTIOS
la who lias not had worlds of
—the management of the Oklahoma
well as the farmers themselves, and,
oiiia farmer
in length, in
ii/niiK.
ie paper anil
mistaken idea of rotation
Sunn*
l hey r«
i heir, h
is. they ;
niaint ennn
1 lie crops.
Farmers'
nothing* t
larniers
tale their
>il as il s
y are the
nance « f f
* m
•ops
mid
l IV
to think 11
tiny are tr<
be treated,
providing
al if
•it ins
That
for a
ii ret, which have bien taken to increase
II,. yield, which* may b.- ot Interest to
.  u rentiers
i-list, as tJ tlx available wheat latul
m| t u- world. Leaving out the United
States, the wheat citing countries ol
i... world must be supplied i  lh''
liittii' ■ Ither from Siberia, Argentine,
Uisti iUa ot Canada, these behiR the
,,,ii.v counti les lett where virgin wheat
i- stilt available for oultlva
I lids ire
t ion.
Tileiv
< \l« usion
IV  mi the
jiossil.h
re lor n
Sibi ria.
• pint? «'
<t'
scarce I.\ hp.v limit
of wheat iiilture in
fact that individuals i
disloyalty ' !• their
li nu lime.
the i « «b i
ver hint al
of the • aim
shown mat vi-
llus citiit•• as ri
of the United
liu it *d ability
wa ll as other
latitude. \\V \
in l^onvlon in s
t(  th
Siberia,
uspecteil
countrv
xiled from Russia
f«•• Is a cold chill
tin- vary mention
ltd   n( explorations hav«-
v much of that country
• 11 soil as the middle west
Sta tes, and has a ii nil
for wheat as
products peculiar to t ho
• re quite interested when
lunleritm around the m ir-
und
tola
ith dur-
\-> months ended September 1.
•he*! «U12.t 00 bales, nearly equally
between the north and south.
Exports meanwhile w< re s.TiSJ.wo bales,
showing that foreigners took about 62 per
cent, of the aggregate erop. Of oours •
thoso exports of raw cotton do not re
piesent all of our foreign business, be
cause we sent abroad, in addition, dur
ing the llscal year ended June 110,
cotton manufactories to the extent ot
J;!!!,000,00ft, or the largest on record.
kets and
<-hickens
things at
butter.
gqtt)3ig prices on Siberian
trather scrawn\ looking
best) and Siberian 'ggs and
e realised then that the w« rl I
is not such a big place after all.
Argentina has eighty million aci\
that eou'd be immediately devoted t«
successful wheat growing, if there wcr«
rarniers to grow it. (This scarcity o
farmers, thai is, of men who know hov
to farm and can ! andle tools and stoel
ammo
if fri t-1
vear
•ltllitv by thus varying
This is a mistaken idea, says
Review. Crop rotation adds
> the land. llow about tl>
i urmi)g
growl h
really r
all that
from thr
 rn
under the e«
f stubble, etc
hied by this
Is in the plant
soil and are
stall*:
There
pract ice.
a good
not hi rig
Ind not
originally co .ie
you not simnl.v
turning it back again. In the case of
plowing under clover, or other legumes,
some nitrogen is, of course, added n.;i
tliat class of plants possess the power to
lake their nitrogen supply from the air.
The mere rotation, following one crop
with another, lias practically .nothing to
do with the addition of plant food to
the soil. 'The value of rotation lies more
largely in the direction of mitigating the
dangers from insects and plUnt diseases.
When the same crop is used si|c< essive-
1> year after year any amount of
trouble may be experienced from there
sources. Crop rotation, in fact, drains
Domestic stocks of old cotton at th •
• •pining of Sept in be;- were very small.
The world's visible supply was larger
than o year ago, hut smaller, than two
years ago The home price Is now three
cents n pound higher than last year .at
this timr . It appears that the new crop
hi cotton new rapidly maturing ivpros
• ut - an acreage laiger than ever before,
the < n-eomlng crop may be truly termed
a 1 at« oie and full of urtcertalnty, owing
to the drought and high temperatures
which have prevailed in the southwest
The spot market is firm, middling sell
ing at 12.00 cents per pound in New York,
but fluctuating between that price and
ir, cents. The census report of the ginn-
ing shows a.  total nf .'oT.vjo bales ginned
intelligent I v. seems to b< quite <
the world over.) As a matter «
Argentina has inert nsed her whe i
age 12,000,000 acres in the last twa
or about twice the combined increase
o;' Canada and Australia. She is. lherc-
foro, to be reckoned with not merely b
Kngland and Canada but by the 1'nited
Staies. One oi the greatest drawbacks
to growing wheat in Argentina is th
character of the Italian immigrant, lie
does not go there to stay, but to make
his pile and then go back to sunny Italy
and live a life of leisure there; much
i:i the same way that the western farmer
moves to town when he has made a pile
that will be sufficient for the future, or
that he thinks will be. The yield pi.
acre is very low simply from poor farm-
ing.
One of the greatest wheat flields in
tlie would 1° that which is being develop-
ed in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alb-
erta, and developed largely by farmers
from the corn belt. The wheat area in
these three provinces of Canada is plac-
ed at 42,750,000 acres, with an estimated
yield of 812.000,000 bushels The difficul-
ties here are frost, drough, and weeds.
These can be overcome only by better
farming, so far as weeds are concerned,
and the production early ripening, and
adapted to the relatively scanty moisture
of the semi-arid regions.
Resides these districts there are Man-
churia, about which we know little, and
the basins of the Tigris and Euphrates
i ivt rs. which were once the homes of o
dense population, and which can again be
refiopulated under a settled government
the growth of timber, the conservation
of moisture, and irrigation.
From Major Craigle's point of view
it looks as though the world was not in
very much danger of starving None
the less we liace faith That wheat
growing will be profitable for many years
to come. It takes a long time to develop
these newer countries, and in the mean
time the dread-eating population of the
.vorlil is increasing in numbers faster
than the acreage of wheat or any other
grain. When the babies quit coming
ilie wheat grower may sell his binder
and his thrashing machine; but until that
time it is just as well to glv • careful
study to wheat, not as a main' crop but
as a part of a well planned rotation
r
I ti August, compared with lO'-.I-Jt*
time last year.
: I 111
the world's wheat SUPPLY
Major 1\ <"!. CralKle, C 11.. F. It. S ,
chairman of the agricultural suib-.seetlon
of the British Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, at its meetlnn
held in W'innepep, Canada, In August,
gave some statistics as to the wheat sup-
ply present and future, and the ineas•
On Rainy Days
A Fisli Brand Slicker
will keep you dry
And giv« you full value in
comfort and long wear
s: *.oo
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