Book: Clovers and How to Grow Them

T >> Thomas Shaw >> Clovers and How to Grow Them




North of parallel 40 deg., that is, north of the latitude of Columbus, Ohio,
and Denver, Colorado, speaking in a general way, alfalfa is more
commonly sown in the spring, but not usually so early as clover, lest
the young plants, which are more tender than clover plants, should be
nipped by spring frosts. This danger is frequently present in the region
of the upper Missouri. East of the Mississippi it may usually be
advisable to sow in the spring some distance south from the latitude
named. West from the same are areas where early autumn sowing is
frequently the best. In much of the Southern and Southwestern States,
early autumn sowing is considered better practice than spring sowing,
but to this there are exceptions. Under some conditions alternate
freezing and thawing of the land near the surface tend to throw out
young plants, as, for instance, those autumn sown, more readily than
plants from spring-sown seed.

Alfalfa is usually sown much the same as medium red clover (see page
75), but there are the following points of difference: 1. Since alfalfa
is more commonly sown in dry areas, it is more important, relatively,
that the seed shall be buried more uniformly and deeply in the soil in
such areas. 2. Since it is liable to be more injured, relatively, by a
nurse crop than the clovers, it is more frequently sown without one.
And 3. Since it is expected to furnish food for a much longer term of
years than any of the clovers, it is relatively more important that the
seed shall be sown with a view to seek a uniform and sufficient stand of
the plants.

Whether the seed is sown by hand, or by any of the hand machines in use,
the results will usually prove satisfactory, but in climates where
moisture is deficient, decidedly better results are obtained from sowing
the seed with some form of seed drill. A press drill is preferred in
soils so light and open as to dry out easily or to lift easily with the
wind. Under conditions of ample moisture, a light covering with a harrow
will suffice, but under conditions the opposite, more covering is
necessary. In areas where spring and early autumn showers are frequent,
the roller will provide a sufficient covering, especially where the
soils are well charged with a clay content. On other soils, as those
which cover much of the prairie, the seed should be buried from 1 to 2
inches deep.

Where alfalfa is much sown on soils well supplied with humus, and on the
soils which prevail in the Rocky Mountain region, many growers sow the
seed with the grain drill, and before sowing they first mix the seed
with some material, as earth, some kind of coarse meal, bran or other
substance to make it feed out more regularly. In some instances one-half
of the seed is sown the first time the drill is driven over the land,
and the balance is sown by driving again over the same at right angles
to the drill marks previously made. When thus sown, the plants are more
evenly distributed over the soil, and produce, it is thought, a more
uniform quality of stalk. This method meets, in part, at least, the
objection sometimes made to drill sowing, that it does not distribute
the plants sufficiently in the soil.

In the Northern and Atlantic States, also west of the Cascade Mountains,
and in some parts of the South, alfalfa is frequently sown with a nurse
crop, and under favorable conditions the results are usually
satisfactory, if the nurse crop is not sown too thickly. The best nurse
crops in the areas named are barley and winter rye, but oats will answer
also, if sown thinly and cut for hay. It has also been sown quite
successfully along with winter wheat in the spring and also with spring
wheat. When sown with winter wheat or winter rye, it is usually
advantageous to cover the seed well with the harrow. In many instances,
however, even in these areas, it is thought better to sow the seed
without a nurse crop, in order that the plants may have all the benefit
from moisture and sunlight which it is possible to give them. This is
specially desirable when the fear is present that they may succumb the
first winter to the severity of the weather. As weeds grow rapidly along
with the plants, the mower should be run over the field from one to
three times during the season. If the mowing is done at the proper time,
it will not be necessary to remove what has been cut off by the mower.
It may be allowed to lie as a mulch on the land. But should the growth
of weeds be excessive before the mowing is done, it would then be
necessary to remove them, in order to avoid smothering the plants. The
clipping back of the alfalfa plants is helpful, rather than hurtful.
When not thus clipped back the leaves frequently assume a yellowish tint
on the top of the plants, which gradually extends downward until the
greater portion of the leaves may be thus affected. Such condition
frequently betokens a lack of nitrogen, but it may also be induced by
other causes. When it does appear, the mower should at once be used and
also as often as it appears. As soon as mowed off the plants usually
stool out, sending up fresh shoots more numerously. They thus form a
crown, somewhat like the crown in clover plants. Root growth is also
strengthened, and the plants are thus made much stronger for going into
the winter. Each clipping during the season, of course, cuts down weeds
and prevents them from making seed. If not thus clipped, they would
frequently injure the crop more by shade and crowding than would a nurse
crop. The mulch thus made through clipping back the plants is in many
instances quite helpful to them, because of the check which it gives to
the escape of ground moisture. There is some difference in the view held
as to whether close clipping is preferable, but the balance of authority
is in favor of reasonably close clipping.

Alfalfa is usually sown alone, but in some instances it maybe
advantageous to sow more or less of some other kind or kinds of grass or
clover along with it. When grown for hay it is usually preferable to
sow the seed without admixture. But there may be instances in which
medium red or alsike clover may improve the crop the first year or two
that it is mown for hay. But where red clover grows much more vigorously
than alfalfa the first season, it should not be thus sown in any
considerable quantities, or the clover plants will injure the alfalfa
plants by crowding and overshading. Nevertheless, alfalfa may frequently
with profit form a considerable factor in clover grown as pasture.

Where the main purpose of sowing alfalfa is to provide pasture, various
grasses and clovers may be sown along with it, and in varying
quantities, according to the attendant conditions. The choice of the
variety or varieties to sow along with the alfalfa should be based on
the needs of the stock to be pastured, and on the degree of the vigor
with which these grow and maintain themselves in the locality. In the
Northern States and Eastern Canada timothy and Russian brome grass
(_Bromus inermis_) may be chosen. In areas with Southern Illinois as a
center, red top and timothy should be satisfactory. In the Southern
States, the claims of orchard grass and tall oat grass would probably be
paramount. In areas with Iowa as a center, nothing would be more
suitable, probably, than Russian brome grass. In the mountain States,
with Wyoming as a center, timothy and alsike clover would be suitable.
In the dry upland country in Washington and Oregon, Russian brome grass
or tall oat grass would answer the purpose. In many areas the plan of
sowing clover chiefly with the alfalfa is a good one, providing the
alfalfa is cut for a year or two, and is then grazed, as by that time
grasses indigenous to the locality, or which grow well in the same, come
in to such an extent as to form a very considerable proportion of the
pasture. Blue grass frequently behaves thus in the North, and crab grass
in the South.

The amounts of seed to sow will vary with the character of the soil and
climate, with the use that is to be made of the alfalfa, and with the
manner in which it is sown. On soils and in climates quite favorable to
the growth of alfalfa it is common to sow more seed than in those with
less adaptation, and with a view, probably, to check coarseness in the
growth of the stems. If sown thinly in such areas, the rank growth which
follows would be coarse. This explains why in the Western and mountain
States more seed is usually sown than in the Eastern and Northern
States. Averaging the whole country, 20 pounds of seed per acre is more
frequently mentioned as the proper amount to sow than any other
quantity. In the Northern States many growers sow 15 pounds per acre,
and judging by the yield obtained, this amount of seed has proved
satisfactory. Some growers even mention 10 to 12 pounds as satisfactory.
The amounts last named are certainly too small for average conditions.
Fifteen to 20 pounds may be fixed upon as the proper amounts to sow on
soil in good condition for speedy germination. But many growers claim
satisfactory results from sowing larger amounts of seed than those
named. Under semi-arid conditions, where irrigation cannot be given, a
moderate amount of seed will be more satisfactory than very thick
seeding, as when sown too thickly the plants would suffer more from want
of moisture than if sown more thinly. The aim should be to obtain a
stand that will cover the ground evenly and as thickly as will admit of
the vigorous growing of the plants. Because of the relatively long
duration of the period of the growth of alfalfa fields, it is specially
important that good stands shall be obtained at the first, and for the
further reason that the plants will then be better able to contend with
intruding weeds, the great bane of alfalfa meadows.

When alfalfa is grown mainly for seed, it should be more thinly sown
than when it is grown for hay or soiling food. It has been noticed that
when the plants stand thickly beyond a certain degree, they do not seed
well. Twelve to 16 pounds have been mentioned as quite enough to sow for
such production in the mountain States. Where both objects are
important, medium thick sowing would be the most suitable.

When sown in combinations such as have been named above, it will be
necessary to modify somewhat the amounts of alfalfa seed sown, according
to the proportion of the other seeds sown with the alfalfa. But since
many grasses are more aggressive than alfalfa, it is not necessary to
reduce the amount of alfalfa seed sown proportionately to the amounts of
the other seeds that may be sown along with it. In many instances it may
be proper not to reduce the amount of the alfalfa seed at all, as some
of these grasses will soon crowd the alfalfa plants, to their injury,
even though the usual amount of seed should be sown. The amount of the
grasses sown with the alfalfa will, of course, vary. It will seldom be
necessary in any instance to sow more than 6 or 7 pounds per acre, and
under many conditions not more than 5 pounds. When alfalfa is sown with
timothy and clover in temporary meadows or pastures, it is seldom
necessary to sow more than 3 to 5 pounds per acre, and the same is true
of it when sown in a permanent pasture. The crop is so little grown for
hay in mixtures, that it is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the nature
of these, or the respective amounts of seed to sow in making them.

When alfalfa is sown with the grain, there will be a saving of seed to
the extent of at least 20 per cent., as compared with broadcast sowing.
This arises from the more general sprouting of all the seeds, since they
are planted at a more uniform depth, and from the subsequent loss of a
smaller percentage of the plants through drought, and it may be other
causes. But when sowing broadcast, it will in many instances prove more
satisfactory to add 20 per cent. to the amounts mentioned above, as
suitable for being sown without admixture with other grasses and
clovers, rather than to deduct 20 per cent. from these amounts when
sowing the seed with the drill.

=Cultivating.=--Under some conditions, it is, in a sense, necessary to
sow alfalfa in rows, and to give it cultivation during the first season
and sometimes for a longer period. In some parts of Florida, for
instance, the most satisfactory results have been obtained from sowing
in rows with 12 to 24 inches between the rows, and then to cultivate
between these as may be necessary to keep down the growth of weeds.
Under some conditions also in the Atlantic States, the most satisfactory
results have been obtained from sowing alfalfa in rows 14 to 16 inches
apart and cultivating between them. Even hand hoeing the first season
may be justifiable along the line of the rows for small areas, but with
the price of labor as at present, would be too costly for large areas.
When grown in rows as indicated in the Atlantic States and westward from
these, the yields of seed have been more satisfactory than when sown
broadcast, but the crop is less satisfactory for hay, owing to the
coarse and uneven character of the stems. The amounts of seed wanted for
such sowing will, of course, vary chiefly with the distance between the
rows. As small an amount as 6 pounds or even less will in some instances
suffice per acre.

=Pasturing.=--The practice of pasturing alfalfa the first season,
especially where it cannot be irrigated, is usually condemned, lest it
should weaken the plants unduly for entering the winter. It would seem
probable, however, that under some conditions such grazing would be
helpful rather than hurtful. The cropping of the plants by stock, in the
influence which it exerts upon the plants, is akin to that which arises
from cutting them back frequently during the summer. The animals thus
grazed will also crop down weeds. This, at least, is true of sheep. The
author has succeeded in getting a good stand of alfalfa by sowing seed
at the rate of 15 pounds per acre, along with 2 to 4 pounds of Dwarf
Essex rape seed, and grazing the same with sheep. Other growers, during
recent years, have succeeded similarly. The grazing should not begin
until the plants have made a good start, but it should not be deferred
so long that the rape and the weeds will unduly shade the alfalfa
plants. The pasturing should not be too close, nor should it be so long
continued that the alfalfa plants will not be able to provide a good
growth in the early autumn before the advent of winter.

The management of the spring-sown crop the first season requires careful
attention in areas where the hazard exists in any considerable degree
that the plants may take serious harm at that season, or, indeed, fail
altogether. In Western areas, from Canada to Kentucky and Missouri, it
is important that the stubbles of the grain shall be cut high, amid
which alfalfa grows when it is sown with a nurse crop. When not thus
sown, it is of prime importance that the plants shall stand up several
inches above the surface of the ground before the advent of winter. This
is specially important in States west of the Mississippi River. The
objects effected are three-fold. First, the snow is arrested and held
for the protection of the plants, and to furnish them with moisture when
the snow melts. The extent to which the stubbles and the erect young
alfalfa plants will hold snow is simply surprising. On the exposed
prairies, the snow usually drifts so completely from unprotected lands,
that during almost any winter a large proportion of the area will be
quite bare. The melting of the snow thus held is also of much value to
the crop in the moisture which it brings to it, especially in areas
where the rainfall is less than normal. Second, the plants are thus
protected from the sweep of the cold winds which blow so much of the
season in the unprotected prairie, and which are frequently fatal to
various winter crops. Third, they are also protected from the intensity
of the frost, which may in some instances kill young alfalfa plants in
areas northward.

In the Northern States east of Minnesota, the New England States, and
the provinces of Canada east of Lake Huron, the considerable covering on
the ground is not so important, relatively, to protect the plants
against the coming winter, but it is also of considerable importance, as
sometimes the early snows melt so completely that the fields are left
bare in midwinter. The warm temperatures which melt the snow may be
followed by a cold wave, which may be greatly injurious to the plants.
There may be instances, as where the snow usually falls very deeply, in
which the covering left would prove excessive, and so tend to smother
the plants; hence, sometimes it may be necessary to guard against too
much covering.

If the plants should lack age or vigor on entering the first winter, a
top-dressing of farmyard manure will render great service in protecting
them. This, however, is only practicable with comparatively limited
areas. It is sometimes practiced in the North Atlantic States, where
the manure thus applied will prove greatly helpful to the growth of the
alfalfa during the following season. These precautions to guard against
the severity of winter weather are not nearly so necessary in the Rocky
Mountain States where irrigation is practiced. In these, alfalfa spring
sown is sometimes pastured during the following winter, and without any
great harm to the crop. Thus greatly do conditions vary.

It may also be well to remember that where rainfall is usually plentiful
and sometimes excessive, that a better stand of the young plants can be
obtained when the rainfall is moderate than when it is copious.
Saturated ground is hurtful to the young plants. They will not grow
properly under such conditions and are likely to assume a sickly
appearance. Mildew may appear and the plants may fail in patches. And
this may happen on land which will ordinarily produce reasonably good
crops of alfalfa after they have once been established.

The value of alfalfa in providing pasture is more restricted than in
providing hay. This arises in part from the injury which may come to the
plants from grazing too closely at certain times, and in a greater
degree from injury which may result to certain animals which may feed
upon the plants, more especially cattle and sheep, through bloating, to
which it frequently gives rise.

This plant is pre-eminently a pasture for swine. They may be grazed upon
it with profit all the season, from spring until fall. No plant now
grown in the United States will furnish so much grazing from a given
area in localities well adapted to its growth. Swine are very fond of
it. Some growers do not feed any grain supplement to their swine when
grazing on alfalfa, but it is generally believed that, under average
conditions, it is wise to supplement the alfalfa pasture daily with a
light feed of grain, carbonaceous in character, as of rye, corn or
barley, and that this should be gradually increased with the advancement
of the grazing season. One acre of alfalfa will provide pasture for 5 to
15 head of swine, through all the grazing season, dependent upon the
degree of the favorable character of the conditions for growth in the
alfalfa, the age of the swine, and the extent to which the pasture is
supplemented with grain. But in some instances the area named will graze
at least 15 hogs through all the growing season without a grain
supplement.

Swine may be turned in to graze on alfalfa when well set, as soon as it
begins to grow freely in the spring. It should be so managed that the
grazing will be kept reasonably tender and succulent. For swine pasture
the plants should never be allowed to reach the blossoming stage. This
can be managed by running the field mower over the pasture occasionally
when the stems are growing long and coarse. Close and prolonged grazing
by swine will tend to shorten the period of the life of the alfalfa. The
extent to which this result will follow will depend upon soil and
climatic conditions and the closeness of the grazing. To avoid such a
result and also to secure the utilization of the food to the utmost,
some growers advocate cutting the alfalfa and feeding it to swine as
soiling. The advisability of handling it thus will be dependent to some
extent on the relative price of labor.

The best results, relatively, from growing alfalfa to provide pasture
will be found in the Western valleys, where alfalfa grows with much
vigor, and in certain areas of the South, where it grows freely and can
be pastured during much of the year. In areas eminently adapted to the
growth of clover, it is not so necessary to grow alfalfa for such a use.
In Western areas, where Canada field peas are a success, and especially
where artichokes are not hidden from swine by frost, pork can be grown
very cheaply, and without the necessity of harvesting any very large
portion of these crops, except through grazing them down by swine.

Such conditions would be highly favorable to the maintenance of health
in the swine, and the quality of the pork made would be of the best. In
some instances a small stack of Canada field peas is put up in the swine
pasture that the swine may help themselves from the same the following
year, as in rainless or nearly rainless climates, where such grain will
keep long without injury.

Alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for horses, more especially when
they are not at work. Like other succulent pastures, it tends too much
to induce laxness in the bowels with horses which graze it, without any
dry fodder supplement. But it has high adaptation for providing pasture
for brood mares, colts, and horses that are idle or working but little.
While it induces abundant milk production in brood mares, and induces
quick and large growth in colts until matured, it is thought by some
practical horsemen that horses grown chiefly on alfalfa have not the
staying power and endurance of those, for instance, that are grazed
chiefly on Kentucky blue grass and some other grasses. There is probably
some truth in the surmise, and if so, the objection raised could be met
by dividing the grazing either through alternating the same with other
pastures or by growing some other grass or grasses along with the
alfalfa.

The alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for cattle, whether they are
grown as stockers, are kept for milk producing, or are being fattened
for beef. For the two purposes first named it has high excellence, and
it will also produce good beef, but alfalfa grazing alone will not
finish animals for the block quite so well without a grain supplement as
with one. But the danger is usually present to a greater or less degree
that cattle thus grazed may suffer from bloat, induced by eating the
green alfalfa. This danger increases with the humidity of the
atmosphere, with the succulence of the alfalfa, and with the degree of
the moisture resting on it, as from dew or rain. This explains why in
some sections the losses from this source are much greater than in
others. It also explains why such losses are greater in some areas than
in others. It is considered that grazing alfalfa with cattle in the
mountain valleys is less hazardous than in areas East and Southeast, as
the atmosphere is less humid, the danger from the succulence can be
better controlled by the amount of irrigating water supplied, and
because of the infrequency of the rainfall. Nevertheless, the losses
from bloat are sometimes severe in both cattle and sheep in the mountain
States, notwithstanding that some seasons large herds are grazed upon
alfalfa through the entire season without any loss.

Cattle grazed upon alfalfa may be so managed that the extent of this
hazard will be very much lessened, if not entirely obviated, but with
large herds some of the precautionary methods now to be submitted may
not always be practicable. They should never be turned in to graze upon
alfalfa when hungry. Some grazers adopt the plan of leaving them on the
grazing continuously when once put in to graze. Others leave them in for
a limited time each day at the first, increasing the duration of the
pasturing period from day to day. After managing them thus for a week or
two, the animals are only removed from the pasture for such purposes as
milking. Others, again, feed some alfalfa or other food in the morning
before turning them on to alfalfa pastures. Another plan adopted is to
graze them on a field of other grazing, located, if possible, beside the
alfalfa field, until after the dew has lifted, and then to open the gate
into the alfalfa pasture. This is readily practicable with a herd of
cows, but not to anything like the same extent with a large herd being
grown for beef.

The danger from bloat in pasturing sheep upon alfalfa is at least as
great as in pasturing cattle on the same, and the methods of managing
them while thus being grazed are not far different. So, too, the
experiences in such grazing are very similar. The losses from such
grazing some seasons have been slight. Other seasons they have proved so
heavy as to make such grazing unprofitable. When sheep are being grazed
on alfalfa, a light feed of grain given in the early morning reduces
materially the danger from bloat. It also enables the flock-master to
finish his sheep or lambs for the market cheaply and in fine form, since
this small grain factor, not necessarily more than half a pound a day,
whether given as wheat, rye, barley, oats or corn, puts the ration
practically in balance for the purpose named, and it may be given to the
sheep daily in troughs without taking them out of the pasture.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.