VOL. LXVIII
INDIANAPOLI   #/JNE 14, 1913
NO. 24 St^oa
Montgomery County's Novel Alfalfa Campaign
Montgomery County, one of the foremost agricultural counties of the state
as shown by the fact that It was one of
tht first of the four counties in the state
that up to this time have secured a
county agricultural agent, has recently
begun a practical campaign for the
production of alfalfa in the section of
the country surrounding Crawfordsville.
The manner in which this campaign
is conducted is not only entirely new
for this state but very few of a similar nature have been attemp-   	
ted in the United States. The
plan was to visit alfalfp
fields and examine *he growing alfalfa plant when it was
in its prime, and to have lectures given upon the culture
and advantages of alfalfa i
various communities. To accomplish this end experts
from Purdue gave their service as lecturers, and farmers
who owned automobiles gave
their time with their ma
chines to make the route cov
ering nearly every part of
the county.
Plan of the Campaign.
Mr. Chittie, who is the agricultural agent for Montgomery, county, is a thoroly
practical man and his object in holding such a campaign at the time it was held
was to create an interest and
better knowledge of the crop
while it could be seen grow
ing and at the season when
the preparation of the land
for the seeding of the crop
should not be neglected. As
he said: "Any one migh'
hear a lecture on alfalfa in
the winter or any other time
but unless the growing plant ———
can be examined what is said
in the l.ecture may be of little
benefit." With this idea in mind
he planned the campaign which
was conducted as follows. A lecture,
such as has been mentioned, was given
at sn appointed place and immediately
aturwards all present would proceed to
a nearby alfalfa field where a few specimens of plants would be dug up and
the long Up roots examined in search
of bacterid nodules. The party would
then go to the next meeting place where
another lecture would be given and another field or two visited. During the
two days of the campaign about 18 lectures were given and a great many
fields were visited.
In the neighborhood of forty persons
made the entire trip and visited all of
the fields, while, at the stops where lectures were given, many others from the
surrounding locality gathered to hear
the lecture and to visit at least one field.
At New Market the gathering was so
large that it was necessary to give the
lecture In the open from the town bandstand.
I.iessons THustrate<l by Visiting Field-;.
By visiting several fields much could
be learned about the crop. The results
of inoculation and nonlnoculatlon were
seen in the same field and before the
first day was over those in the party
were able to tell in almost every case
before a plant's roots were examined
by the dark or light green color of the
foliage and also the amount of foliage
whether or not the nodules were present.
In like manner the results of the use
of lime were seen. Some growers, with
a desire to experiment, had applied
lime  to  part  of their field  allowing  a
During one of the lectures the question was asked concerning the proper
time for cutting alfalfa. The best way
to show this was in the field. Here a
plant was examined and the speaker
pointed out a few small, light green
sprouts that were beginning to grow
from the crown of .the roots. Then he
said that when these sprouts were an
inch or two in length the flrst crop
should be cut to allow the sprouts to
develop and make the second crop.
The home of John Trot where the party visited a fine large field of alfalfa.
were driven to the edge of the field.
Many of the autos
portion to remain unlimed. The un-
limed land could be distinguished in
every case by the yellow color of the
foliage. One field, one of three in the
same locality, attracted special attention. As far as could be learned it
had received good attention but no care
had been taken to look into the acid
condition of the soil, for no lime had
been applied and it had not been inoculated. The foliage was yellow and
small, and weeds were gradually gaining ground. The other two fields, although they had not been inoculated
had received an application of lime and
would make a good crop but not as good
as would have been the case if they had
been inoculated also.
Many other questions relative to the
growing of alfalfa were brought up and
answered in the field while those present stood more than knee deep in the
valuable crop. The exchange of ideas
among the farmers and the calling of
the attention to new points regarding
alfalfa proved to be another valuable
side of the visit into the field.
Social
Opportunites
Movement.
of    the
Another beneficial feature of the campaign was the social side. Nothing
created a more friendly feeling among
those who attended than a ride together in an auto or a little stroll or talk
in the alfalfa field.    Men from one side
Part of the line of autos that made this alfalfa campaign possible.
cf the county met men from the other
side, their interests were the same, and
they began to co-operate at once and
work for the slogan of the county,
which is "A thousand acres of alfalfa
for Montgomery  county."
Autos Made This Campaign Possible.
This sort of a campaign has many
advantages over others that have been
held heretofore. It is more practical
than the others.    No other avails those
    present    the  opportunity    to
visit several fields in the
same day thus permitting a
.;ood comparison. Without
the use of the auto such a
campaign could not be held.
During the recent one from
twelve to fifteen autos took
part and from forty to sixty
miles were traveled each day.
Those who attended the first
day found the meetings so interesting and the investigations so valuable that they
made the trip over new territory the second day. Mr.
Peterson, living in the northeast part of the county, took
his family on the trip. During the second day by the
time he reached his home in
time to do the evening work
he had traveled about seventy miles. Others made similar  drives.
The autos were stopped at
the edge of the field to be
visited. In some cases they
were driven down the lane or
stopped in the farm house
yard and thus no time was
lost in walking to the field.
On the road they attracted
no little attention for they
were  kept  only  a  short  dis-
    tance  apart,  and  the owners
were glad that they could be and were
participants in such a large movement.
Talks on Alfalfa  Culture.
Professors Christie, Thompson, Beaver and Abbott from Purdue, and Mr. T.
A. Colman, who is now at work preparing the way for the application of the
new- vocational law, were present to
give the talks. To sum up what was
said they told of the advantages of alfalfa, how it should be grown and how
used. It is valuable, it was brought
out, because it was a legume, having
the power through the bacteria which
live on its roots to collect the nitrogen
from the air and store it in the soil
for the use of plants as food.
Because it has deep roots which feed
on plant food in the soil 6 to 8 feet
deep. With alfalfa you are farming
the soil to th' i depth, with wheat, oats,
corn and other similar crops only a few
inches.
Because of deep cultivation, the decaying of the deep roots leaves a passage way for air and moisture and for
roots of other plants, which, following
the course of least resistance extend
down the passage an dthere find food
left by the decayed alfalfa root.
Because it contains 11 per cent of dl-
Continued on page 16.
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