'Cbe Conservative * 9
that he is measuring its resistance to
adverse conditions by the weakest period
of its life. The young alfalfa plant is so
sensitive to standing or stagnant water
that the intelligent irrigator of Colorado
would not dare to put an inch of water
upon his field after seeding before the
plants wore six weeks old , even if ho
were sure that they were going to perish
from drought. In eastern Kansas I
have known six inches of rain to fall in
three days upon the young , growing
crops. Is it a wonder that some people
have lost their spring-sown alfalfa ?
This is not a fault of the adult plant , but
a weakness of the seedling , which must
be respected by man if he would receive
the full rewards accruing to the intelli
gent.
Quantity iiiul Quality of Scc l.
"The quantity of seed to sow on an
acre is a question of considerable im
portance. The majority of successful
growers advise twenty to thirty pounds.
If the seed were universally good , and
the ground always well prepared , this
would bo grossly extravagant. Professor
Headden has made some interesting
observations upon the 'stand of alfalfa
in a number of meadows. A field of
alfalfa six months old was found to con
tain 658,400 plants per acre ; another
field ten years old was found to contain
526,793 plants per acre ; another con
tained 189,892 plants to the acre. All of
these three fields yielded practically the
same quantity of hay per acre a little
over four tons. Another field twelve
years old was found to contain only
70,288 plants per acre , and yet this field
yielded over three tons of hay per acre.
The stands in these different fields were
respectively 15 , 1,3 , 8 and less than two
plants per square foot. A pound of
alfalfa seed contains about 210,000 seeds.
If ninety per cent of them germinate ,
twenty pounds per acre would give 8,780-
000 plants , or eighty-eight per square
foot. After nine-tenths of the young
plants have perished from crowding or
accidents we would still have an ample
stand. From these facts one can readily
find the reasons for difference of opinion
among good farmers as to the quantity
of seed to sow. As low as eight to ten
pounds per acre have frequently been
used with success.
"The quality of th seed is another
very important factor. Good germinable
seed should always be used. The per
centage of germinability should be ascer
tained by a test before sowing. This is
easily obtained as follows : Count out
100 seeds and place between two pieces
of muslin. Invert a small dish in a
larger vessel and pour water around it.
Place the muslin with seeds on the in
verted dish. Let one end of the muslin
hang down into the water. Saturate
muslin and seeds before putting them
into the germinator and set the whole
in a warm place. The sprouted seeds
should be counted and discarded at
intervals of two or three days until all
have germinated that will do so. The
number germinated will give the per
cent of germinability. This ought not
to be less than seventy-five per cent.
"Farmers are often cautioned against
buying old alfalfa seed. Moderate- age
is no drawback. Seed six years old has
been known to show a germinability of
ninety-three per cent , and a German
experimenter kept alfalfa seed bottled
up in nitrogen gas for seventeen years ,
and at the end of this time it showed a
germinability of fifty-six per cent.
Subsequent Care of the Crop.
"Alfalfa may be seeded broadcast erin
in drills. It is preferable to seed with a
drill having a press-wheel attachment ,
because the depth of planting can be
better regulated. The seed should be
covered about one inch in depth , unless
the surface be very dry , when a some
what greater depth is admissible. A
good method to secure a better distribu
tion of plants is to sow ten pounds of
seed , running the drill in one direction
across the field , and then cross-drill with
the other ten pounds. If the drill has
no grass-seeder attachment , the seed
should be mixed with about three times
its weight of coarse corn-meal. When
intended for a seed crop , alfalfa should
be sown thinly. Thick sowing improves
the quality of the hay ; but the plant has
wonderful ability to adapt itself to
either thick or thin seeding. One good ,
stout , healthy crown has been known to
produce 860 stems at one cutting. When
seeding broadcast , the seed should be
covered with a light smoothing harrow
or with a brush drag. The majority of
farmers seem to prefer broadcasting ,
presumably because they have less diffi
culty in getting the plants covered
shallow enough than with a drill. The
majority of grain drills are not properly
manufactured to admit of the nicety of
adjustment necessary in seeding grass
seeds.
"In very sandy districts , where the
sand is liable to blow and cut off the
young stems of alfalfa , it has been ad
vised to seed a half bushel of oats with
the alfalfa as a protection against the
blowing sand. The oat plants must be
removed before they have an opportunity
to shade the alfalfa , using a mowing-
machine , the same as if they were
weeds.
"After the alfalfa has been sown in
the spring , it will be necessary to run a
mowing-machine over the ground two
or three times during the summer to
keep down the weeds. The sickle bar
should be set high , so as to injure the
young plants as little as possible. If the
vegetable debris is so abundant that it
promises to smother the young alfalfa ,
it should be raked up and removed.
Foxtail and crab-grass are great enemies
to young alfalfa. If a good stand of
the young plants can be gotten through
the second year , no subsequent crop of
these weedy grasses can hurt the alfalfa.
Foxtail and crab-grass are annuals , while
alfalfa is a perennial that can crowd
these weeds to death. I have heard
farmers complain that the foxtail was
ruining their alfalfa. I think all cases
of this kind were caused by overpastur-
ing the alfalfa , or by some other injury.
When my alfalfa has obtained a firm
foothold upon the ground , I will let any
farmer who wishes to try the experi
ment sow a ton of foxtail seed per aero
on my alfalfa meadow and disk it in
thoroughly. I have no fear that the
alfalfa would bo injured.
"The use of the disk harrow is a great
advantage to an uneven stand of alfalfa.
This causes the roots and crowns to
become thicker in diameter and more
vigorous. Wherever the disk cuts or
bruises the crown many new buds are
formed , and thus the number of shoots
is materially increased. "
BENEFACTIONS OF A YEAK.
Rossiter Johnson's compilation of pub
lic gifts and bequests in the United
States which were made or became
operative during 1899 shows a total of
$62,750,000 , the largest over recorded.
The year previous the total was $88-
000,000 , which was a falling off of
$7,000,000 from 1897. The exceptionally
large total last year is undoubtedly duo
to the general prosperity of the country ,
which had the result of unloosing purse
strings.
The largest benefactions during the
year were by Mrs. Leland Stanford of
San Francisco. On May 81 she trans
ferred to the Leland Stanford Jr. Uni
versity stocks and real estate of a face
value of $88,000,000 and a cash market
value of $15,000,000. Two weeks later
she transferred valuable land and water
front rights , swelling the endowment
of the university to $45,000,000. The
face value of the securities constituting
the bulk of the investment is $80,000,000
making the total endowment the largest
of any institution in the -\vourld.
Mr. Carnegie's Gift for 1809 , $5,000,000.
Next to Mrs. Stanford the largest
benefactor was Andrew Carnegie , whose
total gifts for libraries and other insti
tutions , including pledges , aggregated
$5,000,000. In addition to this amount
Mr. Carnegie gave about $500,000 to
foreign institutions , the most con
spicuous of which gifts was that of
$250,000 to Birmingham University to
promote scientific education.
Mr. Rockefeller's Gifts for Twelve Months.
The year 1899 was not John D. Rocke
feller's big year for public benefactions ,
but the sum of his gifts in cash is
$780,000 , viz. : For the improvement
of Gordon and Rockefeller parks , Cleve
land , Ohio , $225,000 ; Brown University ,
$250,000 ; Denison University , $100,000 ;
Columbia University , for a chair of
.psychology , $100,000 ; new Horace Mann
