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E. WING.
JOSEPH
Alfalfa Farming
In America
74
By JOSEPH E. WING
Late Staff Correspondent of The Breeder’s Gazette
CHIGAGO, TEE:
Sanders Publishing Company
1916
Copyrighted, 1912.
BY SANDERS PUBLISHING CO.
All rights reserved.
Copyrighted, 1916.
BY SANDERS PUBLISHING CO.
All rights reserved.
FEB 16 1916
Octad27488
CONTENTS.
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INANE OU
Wey
IN TRODUGTION,
In March, 1886, the writer, a tall awkward young
man fresh from ‘the fields of Ohio, was traveling by
rail through Utah. Near Provo he began to see
snug farms with trees, meadows, orchards, granaries
and haystacks. Some of these stacks had been cut
in two with the hay knife, and he noticed with won-
der the beautiful green color of the fresh cut sur-
face. Calling the attention of the conductor to this
phenomenon, so strange to him, he asked, ‘*‘ What
sort of hay is in those stacks?’’ ‘‘Lucern,’’ prompt-
ly replied the conductor. ‘‘And what makes it so
ereen?’’ ‘‘It’s green because that’s the color of it,’’
sagely replied the smiling conductor, as he pocketed
a cash fare and moved on about his business. At
that date lucern, or alfalfa, had not spread much
east of the valleys of Utah; some was grown in Col-
orado, but it was a new thing there. The Utah
farmers were many of them English and Danish,
hence their choice of the old name lucern, while the
Spanish term alfalfa had come in from Chili by way
of California.
Late that night the writer reached Salt Lake City
and early next morning he was up ready to explore.
In his rambles about the quaint old city (more old-
world than American at that time with its houses
of adobe, its walled gardens and orchards, its rows
of towering Lombardy poplars) he came across a
(3)
4 AFLALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
square devoted to the hay market. There stood
awaiting purchasers dozens of loads of this curious
green-looking hay. He went to a load of it and drew
out 1 stem and chewed it to see what it tasted like.
To his astonishment it tasted good, much as wheat
tastes when chewed. It dissolved in his mouth and
tasted as though it would nourish him. ‘‘The best
eountry I have struck yet,’’ remarked the boy to
himself. ‘‘If ever I get hard up here I can at least
go to a haystack and eat lucern hay. I won’t
starve.’’ Curiously enough it later came to his
knowledge that this first impression was true, that
alfalfa hay has really in it nearly the same amount
of nutrition, pound for pound, as has oats, and from
oatmeal have come mighty good men.
Next the boy lived for a time in Salt Lake City
and cared for his uncle’s cow. She was a fine
motherly cow, very wide where width did the most
good, low down and gentle, with a big mouth
and an appetite to match it. He fed her on alfalfa
hay without grain. What milk she gave! That cow
must have been a freak, for she gave some 5 or 6
gallons a day of rich creamy milk with no other
food than alfalfa hay and hydrant water. Steadily
as he milked the cow the respect of the boy for
alfalfa hay grew.
Next the boy went down into the deep mountain
canyons along Green River and worked there on a
eattle ranch. It was a great ranch in dimension,
full 40 miles in extreme length, extending from the
horrid cliffs along Price River to the cool heights
INTRODUCTION. 5
of the Big Mesa, sloping down to the Nine Mile.
Through this ranch ran a little creek called Range
Creek. The soil was sandy and gravelly along the
ereek, not very fertile. The climate was intensely
hot; often the thermometer would climb to 110° and
stay there day after day. Cattle and horses were
kept on the ranch, some 2,000 cattle at times. In
the narrow sandy valley little ditches were made to
lead the water from the bubbling creek, idle for ages
though once Cliff Dwellers had farmed along its
banks and grown corn, which they had stored in
adobe ‘and stone treasure houses high up under the
cliffs. Now little fields were cleared from their en-
eumbering sagebrush and grease wood, the water
turned on, and they were planted to corn and al-
falfa. It was called lucern then; later the name
alfalfa overpowered and became almost universal.
At first the alfalfa did not thrive along Range
Creek. It made a small feeble growth, but it stuck.
In one field especially, down close to the headquar-
ters cabin, alfalfa grew the first year no more than
about 6 inches high. The boy, who: already had
charge of the farm and general charge of all the
ranch, was disgusted with it and wished to plow it
up and try something else. The soil there was
sandy, gravelly, open and rather coarse. An old-
timer happening in at the right time counseled
against plowing it. ‘‘Let it be; you may have good
alfalfa there another year,’’ he said. This advice was
heeded; the next year the alfalfa there grew so high
that when the burros would walk out into it only
6 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
their heads would be visible. It produced four crops
of hay and easily 8 tons to the acre. Water for
irrigation was very abundant at that time in Range
Valley. It was the custom to flood the land over just
before cutting off the hay and once afterward.
At that time no one knew anything about soil inoc-
ulation and the behavior of alfalfa was a profound
mystery. It now occurs to the writer to explain the
curious behavior of the alfalfa in this manner: up
the canyon a mile or two was an established alfalfa
field, not a good stand, but thrifty. When this field
was irrigated the surplus water flowed on down to
the lower field and went over that. It seems clear
now that in this manner the bacteria were intro-
duced from the established field to the new one. As
long as the writer had connection with this ranch,
some twelve years, this field continued to produce
heavy crops of alfalfa, though not so wonderfully
rank as the earlier growths. Doubtless the excessive
irrigation leached away some fertility, and the con-
tinual removal of hay without returning any manure
or fertilizer told, even on that very deep and per-
vious soil. However, the last crops that the writer
remembers growing on this field could hardly have
been less than 5 ‘tons to the acre.
It used to be a great joy to grow alfalfa on this
old ranch. Before the alfalfa came there was noth-
ing in the valley to relieve the monotony of brown,
drouth-stricken nature. The alfalfa fields were
vividly green squares and patches, relieving the
monotony of brown sage brush and bare earth. The
INTRODUCTION. 7
advent of the alfalfa changed the animal life too of
the canyon, Before alfalfa came there used to be little
animal life save the chipmunks and lizards; all had
fled that could flee to the green mountain tops.
After alfalfa deer came to stay down in the meadows
all summer long; some of them had their little fawns
down there. The boy foreman used to see the old
does standing deep in alfalfa nibbling daintily very
early in the morning as he went up to change the
water. He would not shoot them; they were his
companions. Humming birds too came in great num-
bers to sip the sweet nectar of alfalfa bloom. They
would sit in quaint rows along the wire fence, peer-
ing curiously at the boy as he passed by smiling,
shovel on his shoulder. Bees he had none, else there
would have been great stores of honey made there.
It was joy to grow the alfalfa, because the grow-
ing of it was so very easy. The method of sowing
was very simple. The fields were first made fairly
level. There was a strong slope so that it was easy
to get water to any part of them. Then furrows
were made with a common turning plow run shallow,
or else with a furrow marker that made a number
of shallower furrows parallel with each other. Then
the alfalfa seed was sown, sometimes brushed in
with a brush drag, and then a tiny stream of water
turned in each furrow and kept running there for
days and days, since under that burning sun one
eould not count on sandy land holding moisture at
the surface very long. Sometimes the alfalfa was
sown in March, oftener in April. It did not make
8 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
much hay the first season, hardly any in fact; the
second year was when it began to hump itself. By
the second year all furrows were pretty well leveled
down or washed away; then the land was irrigated
by flooding. Large ditches were placed across the
heads of the fields, with lesser ones transversely
lower down. The head ditches were provided with
dams hastily thrown up across them from the sand
of the ditch bottom. Then as big a head as could
be mustered was turned in and all of it turned out
in one place. The irrigator got out with his shovel,
often in bare feet, and helped it flow this way and
that, spreading it so that it covered that part of the
field with an even-flowing sheet of water a few inches
deep. When it had flowed a few hours the dam was
broken, ‘the stream carried further along to another
turnout. By this simple plan of irrigation the writer
unaided one summer watered about 90 acres of land.
That was a happy summer. He had a big white
burro, ‘‘Old Nig,’’ which he kept saddled most of
the time. Nig knew the work about as well as the
boy knew it, and he would gallop merrily up the
road to the top of the field in the morning, about
two miles from the cabin, stand patiently under a
cottonwood tree till the work was done there; then
with his master on deck gallop cheerily down to the
next field, and soon till all the water had been given
attention. There is a great fascination in working
with water and the writer yet thinks irrigation
farming one of the finest schemes in the world.
The making of the hay was hard work, but not
INTRODUCTION. 9
accompanied with worry, because usually no rain
fell between April and September. We used to mow
down the alfalfa and rake it while quite green and
as soon as possible pile it up in big cocks and leave
it there to dry out a while. In that hot sun and
baking air the moisture disappeared very rapidly
indeed, so that by the time we could get to hauling,
the hay would be dry enough, and thus it retained
perfectly its color, leaves and delicious aroma. Very
joyous times we had at this haying, a lot of harum-
scarum cowboys and ranch hands, strong as wild
eolts and rejoicing to see which of us could lft the
largest forkful of hay.
At first we simply hauled the hay on wagons and
stacked it by hand. Later an ingenious. Mormon
boy showed us how to rig a pole stacker, and then
we let the horse do the pitching. We accumulated
great ricks of hay, hundreds of tons, against pos-
sible severe winters.
Meanwhile we were feeding alfalfa to our saddle
and work horses, to poor cows and calves that would
have died before green grass came had they not had
this help, and occasionally fattening a bunch of beef
steers on it for the spring market, when fat beef
brings a premium in Denver and Salt Lake City.
We had no grain at all and fed only alfalfa hay,
making with it very good beef indeed, though doubt-
less we would have made much fatter cattle had we
had corn to feed along with it.
We had a few old sows on the ranch and must
make provision for feeding them and their pigs.
10 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
They were astonishingly prolific sows and gave us
great litters of healthy pigs, so many sometimes
that we did not know what to do with them. The
sows were kept penned up nearly the year through
and during summer we simply cut alfalfa with a
scythe and threw it over to them. This kept them
in fine thrifty condition and their pigs grew but kept
rather lanky on the diet. Whe. fall came we would
fatten them off with pumpkins and squashes and
alfalfa. In winter time we would vary the diet by
giving them dry alfalfa hay and alfalfa leaves.
They throve well and it was at first very amusing
to see hogs eat alfalfa hay, putting their feet on it
to hold it down while they tore it apart with their
teeth and chewed it as best they could. It was won-
derful to us also to see what fine full udders our
milk cows had. Old-fashioned milking Shorthorns
they were, of the type that the fathers had. The
Mormon settlers had brought with them their best
family cows when they came across the range, and
we had some of their descendants. We fed these
cows only alfalfa hay in winter, and mostly soiled
them on green alfalfa in summer, and what splendid
foaming pails we carried down from the corral! We
half lived on milk and cream those days, being too
busy to make butter. Sometimes we had trouble
from alfalfa bloat. That came in the fall, after we
had turned the cows on the meadows and they
erazed the alfalfa that had come up since the last
mowing and gotten badly frosted. We used to have
strenuous times with these old cows, tying sticks in
INTRODUCTION. 11
their mouths like bridle bits, making them stand
with their heads up a steep bank and putting cakes
of ice on their distended sides. We never had one
die, but learned then that frosted alfalfa is never:
a safe feed for a cow.
Over on the Castle Valley desert were Mormon
settlements, Castle Dale, Ferron, Price and other
villages. They were on adobe soil mostly, a sad
sort of alkaline clay, full enough of minerals but
lacking in humus and life-giving properties. The
first attempts of these settlers to grow grain were
mostly unsuccessful; it would not thrive, and the
people were incredibly poor. Little by little they
got alfalfa to growing on this alkaline soil and then
with cows and pigs and poultry they managed to
live quite well. Finally one of them let the water
run over his alfalfa in the winter so that it froze
into solid ice over his field. This is sure death to
alfalfa, unless there is air under the ice, and in the
spring he had lost his meadow; nearly every plant
of alfalfa was dead. He grieved over this, but set
to work to see what he could get from the land and
planted a part of it to spring wheat, though it had
previously refused to grow wheat, and a part to
potatoes, also a very uncertain crop at that time in
Castle Valley. The result was a crop of wheat that
made 60 bushels to the acre, a marvel to the whole
valley. The potatoes made some unheard of yield,
about 900 bushels to the acre, I think, and the for-
tunes of Castle Valley with its sun and brilliant skies
and wildly desolate plains and crags was assured.
12 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
These valleys were fertile, they would yield food for
man and beast, and alfalfa was the magic sesame
that made open the door to the riches of the valley.
All this time the writer was becoming more and
more enthusiastic over the wonderful value of the
alfalfa plant. Back in Ohio was the old home farm
where he had spent his boyhood. It was a little
farm of less than 200 acres, charmingly diversified
by little hills, rich flat meadow lands, wet and half
wild, in which grew wild lilies and pink fragrant
splreas. There was woodland and pasture, a run-
ning stream, the Darby creek, with swimming holes
in it, a big pond where he had sailed his tiny ships
not so very many years before, a corn field, usually
of about 15 acres, meadows in irregular patches,
and an old apple orchard that 'bore famously ‘of big
red apples. On that farm too was an old man once
tall but now bent and gray, weatherbeaten, seamed
and furrowed from exposure, with a kindly serious
face and a twinkling blue eye. That was the father.
And a mother, small and agile and energetic, rather
frail yet sunny and happy, ever singing at her work.
That was mother. And two younger brothers did
the work about the barns and went to school. These
younger brothers, men now, are yet on Woodland
Farm and are the writer’s partners.
The writer had been a very close friend of his
father, and together they had planned the work on
Woodland Farm before he had gone west, and now
the old man remembered his boy and knew of his
interest in the old place, so he used to write now
INTRODUCTION. 13
and then long and careful letters telling of what he
was doing, of the drains that he was laying, or the
good corn that he grew. And the boy in his very
first enthusiasm for the alfalfa plant sent home a
package of seed by mail (that was in 1886) and
asked the father to give it space and soil and care.
And often in his daydreams he would ponder the
question of returning some day to the old farm. He
would dream idle dreams of what he might do there,
how he might enrich it and plant it and maybe bay
neighboring acres to add to it.
Somewhat more than two years rolled away and
the boy took a vacation and went back to the old
home, to see the home folks, and a sweetheart he
had there. It is a very joyful and rather a wonder-
ful thing to come home after having been exiled to
a strange land. The deserts of Utah were like an-
other world, so that when the boy came to Ohio it
was as though he had come to a dream world, so
beautiful, and so natural and so lovely it all seemed.
How eagerly he explored his ‘old haunts, one by one!
What old memories were stirred into life as he saw
the meadows, the woodland, the hill planted to corn
and kept immaculately clean of weeds, the orchard,
the garden; the dear old father, stooped and aged
more than the boy remembered him, went right to
his heart; the mother, silvery haired now; the sister
and young brothers! The sweetheart was of course
unspeakably marvelous and wonderful, and it all
was as though the boy had been born again into a
new world. Soon after his arrival, as he explored
14 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
with diligence, he asked the old man: ‘‘Father,
where is my alfalfa? Did you plant that seed that
I sent you?’’ ‘‘Why, yes, I planted it, but it did not
amount to anything. This is no country for alfalfa.
It may do for you in the West, but it is of no use
here; but come and see it, what there is of it.’’ Back
of the garden the old man had spaded a square rod
of good clay soil and sowed his seed. He led the
way and pointed accusingly to the stunted little
plants scattered thinly over the ground: ‘‘There,
don’t you see that this thing is no good for Ohio?”’
The boy stood in amazement looking at it, so dif-
ferent from what he had fondly hoped it might be.
His father turned away and left him, but still he
stood studying the situation. Soon happened along
a flock of his mother’s fowls; they came to the
alfalfa patch and began an eager search for leaves;
one by one they plucked them off till nearly every
plant was stripped bare, then walked away. ‘‘ Aha!”’
eried the boy; ‘‘I see a light now,’’ and he went to
the well and pumped a tub full of water, which he
earried and emptied carefully down by the strongest
root that he could find. It was early August and
the land was dry. To keep away the chickens he
took an old barrel, knocked the heads out of it and
put it over his alfalfa plant. In a little more than
three weeks he was ready to go back to his work on
the ranch and he went to say good bye to his alfalfa
patch. To his delight the stalk of alfalfa had
thrived for its wetting and its protection and had
grown out through the top of the barrel! Joyfully
INTRODUCTION. 15
the boy called his father, ‘‘Come here; see what my
alfalfa has done!’’ And the sire, amazed and be-
wildered at first, stood there scratching his old gray
head and smiling an amused, puzzled smile. Finally
he turned and said: ‘‘Son, do you suppose that I
want to grow a crop that won’t grow till you put a
barrel over it?’’ The lad laughed and said no more,
but went back to his mountains and the alfalfa
fields, remembering the one stalk of alfalfa that had
succeeded and saying, ‘‘I know that alfalfa can be
grown in Ohio. If one stalk will grow as that one
grew, why can’t a man grow a thousand? If he can
grow a thousand, why can’t he grow a million, why
can’t he cover his farm with alfalfa?’’
The ranch was not just the same to the boy when
he came back to it, not just the same because he had
ever before him the image of the sweetheart left be-
hind. Yet it was a happy place, and he went tumul-
tuously into the work again, strong as a young giant,
eager to do, finding no day long enough for him.
Now was time of happy dreams, and after a time
the dreams began to materialize as he mixed mud
and made ‘‘adobes,’’ or ‘‘dobies,’’ as the boys called
them, and hauled down logs from far up the canyon,
for She was coming and a house must be made ready
for her.
There were wonderful letters coming, too, and
often the boy would be seen on Sundays sitting far
up on the rocky hillside, away from the confusion and
talk of the cowboys, reading the last letter that She
had written, or writing one in reply to it. The work
16 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
of the ranch was much the same as it had been save
that the ricks of alfalfa grew larger and larger each
year and the problem of making and using the hay
grew to be portentous. The mountains remained
the same always, and the boy loved them deeply and
climbed them eagerly, going up where never white
man had been before, just to gaze off afar to other
snowy ranges, and across sunny yellow valleys in
the desert, beautiful from afar. All the cowboys
loved him and worked faithfully for him; every one
worked as hard as he could and the cattle waxed fat
on a thousand hills.
In November it was that the letter came, the letter
written in that familiar crabbed yet plain handwrit-
ing that the father used. Nearly always the father’s
letters gave the boy much pleasure. He opened this
one expecting it to be like the others that had come,
but it was a shock to find in it a totally different
note. It read like this: “My boy, I wish you to
come home. ‘Times are hard back here; hired men
are no good any more. I am getting old and infirm.
I need you very much. Come home and help me
with the farm. I do not see how I can get along
without you longer.”
The letter gave the boy a rude shock. All at once
he realized how he loved the wild ranch with its free-
dom, its responsibility, its opportunities for doing
things. He loved every hill and every mesa and
every canyon. Half of the canyons he had named,
some of them he only had ridden through. He
loved the sun and air, the yellow bunchgrass, the
INTRODUCTION. 17
solemn pines. He loved the horses that he rode and
the great herd of cattle in his charge, and his com-
rades, rough as bears and loving as brothers. So
he carried the letter in his pocket with a sad heart
for a day or two, when little Billie Barnson, who
was riding beside him, turned to him and said:
‘“Joe, what in thunder is the matter with you? Has
your girl gone back on you?’’ ‘‘No, Billie, that is
not what is the matter,’’ and in a few words he laid
bare his heart; he ought to leave the mountains,
perhaps forever, and he dreaded to go. ‘‘ Why, Joe,
I’m ashamed of you.’’ ‘‘Ashamed, Billie? Why are
you ashamed of me?’’ ‘‘Well, Joe, if 1 had had a
father as good as yours has been [ Billie had never
known his father] and in his old age he asked me to
eome home and help him, I’d go.’’ That decided it.
‘“T think you are right, Billie. I’m going.’’ ‘‘ Well,
I want to see you smile then.’’ ‘‘ All right, Billie,
T’ll go, and I’ll smile too,’’ replied the boy, and his
heart grew light again as he began to turn his
thoughts toward home once more, and the simple
but satisfying joys of the homeland. _
The homecoming occurred just before Christmas
time of the year 1889. It was a very joyous home-
coming. The kind and rejoiced old father, the old
mother happy to see her son, and the things made »
dear by old association, all these conspired to make
full the cup of joy; and beside near by lived the
sweetheart. So the boy was very happy for some
days. After that he began to explore again the old
farm. It was a good farm, of 196 acres, mostly
18 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
meadow and pasture land, with a fine bit of wood-
land, and about 50 acres part of the time under the
plow. It was farmed in the old-fashioned way—
corn followed by wheat and wheat by clover and
timothy. Hogs were kept and cattle; timothy hay
was sold with wheat, pigs, fat steers, potatoes,
parsnips, pears, grapes and a few minor items. The
father was a careful man, economical to a degree,
hard working and patient. He loved his land and
eared for it as best he could, saving every scrap of
manure and tilling the soil with diligence. He loved
his animals and fed them well. His driving mare
was almost too wide to get between the shafts; his
eattle knew him and would stand to be rubbed and
petted. It was through no lack of industry or in-
telligence that the father had not of late years made
the farm pay; it was due mainly to his following an
unprofitable system of farming.
When the boy came home there was an old lame
negro man helping do the farm work, old ‘‘ Uncle
Sam”’ they called him, a faithful old soul but slow
and feeble. In the feedlot were about eight steers,
maybe twenty pigs were being fattened, in the erib
probably 500 bushels of corn, in the mows maybe 50
tons of hay. The boy took it all in very rapidly
and a great hunger for the old ranch came over him,
a hunger and a longing for its wide free life and
its endless range of activities. To add to his unrest
a letter followed him, a letter from the manager. It
read like this: ‘‘Come back, Joe, as soon as you
ean. Your place is awaiting you, and more wages if
INTRODUCTION. 19
you think best, and we will build the house for your
sweetheart, and you shall be your own boss. Come
back as soon as you have your visit out.”’
Small wonder then that the boy soon began seek-
ing to frame some explanation or excuse to offer the
father, some way to tell him that he éould not stay
to eare for the little farm, with the great ranch
calling him. And the father could read the boy’s
mind like an open book, so one morning after family
prayers he said: ‘‘My boy, I wish to talk business
with you. I suppose you did great things in the
West. You probably had 2,000 cattle there, if you
say you did. I don’t know, as I never saw that many
cattle together and never expect to; but I wish to
show you that this old farm is not played out either.
Now see here, here is what we have done this year.”’
Then he took down from the shelf his old account
book and read off the items, al! duly set down in
black and white, the wheat that the had sold, and the
hay, the pigs and the potatoes and the cattle. And
together they carefully footed it all up. It amounted
altogether to a little less than $800. Hight hun-
dred dollars! It came over the boy the good salary
that he had forsaken in the West and all the bright
hopes of that golden land and his heart went down
like lead. ‘‘What,’’ he said to himself, ‘‘have I
given up all my bright prospects, all my plans and
aspirations to come back and manage a farm that
does not produce more than $800 a year? Why,
with such an income as that, with taxes to be paid
and repairs to be made and all expenses to be met,
20 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA,
Il can not so much as keep old Uncle Sam. I must
myself get out with the lantern before breakfast and
feed and curry the horses and begin over again to
do all that drudgery that I had only lately escaped.’’
It was not a very worthy thought, but it added to his
perplexity.
The old father waited anxiously for the boy’s de-
cision. Very gently he said: ‘‘My voy, when you
were with me we made more money than this. The
farm then was in better condition and times were
not so hard. I am too old now to develop it as it
should be developed and I am tired. My happiest
memories are of the time when I was strong enough
to be ealled a man, and you were my boy, helping
me. Now I am tired of being the man; I wish you
to be the man. Won’t you be the man, let me be the
boy and help you?’’ There was silence for a little
time while many thoughts passed rapidly through
the boy’s mind, then he came to decision. ‘‘ Yes,
father, I’ll stay. I’ll take hold of the old farm and
do what I can withit. I think we can make it profit-
able after a time, and you may help me.’’
‘‘Good,’’ the old man exclaimed. ‘‘Now you go
ahead and do whatever you wish to do. I’ll give you
chance to do it, for I’ll feed the cattle and the pigs.
I can feed them better than any man you can hire,
and you know it.’’ ‘‘Of course you can,’’ replied
the boy. Then: ‘‘Father, let’s go and take a walk.’’
‘*All right; where shall we go?’’ ‘‘Oh, anywhere;
Just out to look at the farm again.’’ Together they
sallied out, the father happy as a child, the son glad
INTRODUCTION. Dit
that it was settled, the uncertainty over, yet uneasy,
feeling within him a rising tide of restlessness, an
aching to get to work somewhere.
They did not walk very far. Just beyond the
barn was a field of flat clay land, wet, mostly poor
and unprofitable. All over the field rose httle clay
chimneys, the work of crayfish. The boy stopped
irene? Kather,, may dram this field?” “Yes 3 it
ought to have been done years ago,’’ was the reply
full of hearty encouragement. The boy went to the
village and came home with a ditching spade with a
blade 18 inches long. He stretched a line where the
first ditch was to be laid and began digging a long
narrow ditch in which to lay tiles. How happy he
was all at once! Those ranch muscles of his were
in good training; mightily he dug. And as he be-
gan pushing his muscles against that soil he began
to believevin it, to have faithvim it, And after he
got down in the ditch and had rubbed the mud on
him well he forgot the old ranch. When at last the
ditch was dug and the tiles laid and covered there
was one strip of land dry, only a beginning, true,
but it was a beginning. The boy stood there that
afternoon as he finished covering the tile and leaned
on his spade and dreamed, and talked aloud to the
old field. ‘‘Old field,’’ he said, ‘‘some day I will,
make you all dry. Some day, old field, I will make
your soil rich. Some day I will cover you over with
clover, and with corn, and with alfalfa too. Some
day, old field, out of you shall sprout and grow a
home, a home for that sweetheart of mine.’’ And
22 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
he looked at his watch; it was past 5 o’clock, so he
went home and shed off his muddy overalls and went
across the fields to see the sweetheart, happier than
any king. }
Spring came in all its maze of bewildering hope
and promise and beauty, as it comes in central Ohio,
and the boy was supremely happy. There was just
the joy of seeing God’s miracles all around him, the
bursting buds, the unfolding leaves, the blossoms on
every twig, the tender grass hiding the dull, ugly
earth, the dewdrops sparkling in the morning light
and all the little birds singing cheerily their songs
of gratitude and joy. There seemed something
prophetic in it all, and something very wonderful,
God’s forgiveness, God’s fulfillment of His gra-
cious promises. In a dim way the boy understood
and believed, and realized his own duty in the mat-
ter and bent eagerly to the task, seeking in a way to
make himself partner with the Almighty to cover
over the few acres entrusted to his charge with grow-
ing things, with bloom and with beauty.
Yes, it was the joyous seedtime when all one’s
hopes spring up anew and he has prophetic insight
into what may be and what should be, not only of
the good green earth, but of one’s own soul as well.
Every morning bright and early the boy was astir in
the fields, with a faithful colored man, Frank, to
help him. He had brought with him from Utah two
bags of alfalfa seed and this he wished to sow. But
the father was much alarmed. ‘‘No, my boy, we
cannot afford to sow so much as that at one time. It
INTRODUCTION. 23
has not been tried yet. You may have that potato
patch down by the old orchard; that is good soil.
Begin there and if that succeeds we will sow more
later on.’’ The potato patch had in it one-third of
an acre. That was quite a coming down from his
expectations, but he acquiesced and sowed the little
field. Fortunately it was a good place to begin. The
land was a strong clay loam, fairly well drained. It
was full of carbonate of lime, for all through it were
little pebbles of limestone. It was rich, for the cattle
had stood there much when it was a part of the
orchard. In some way or another it had become
inoculated with alfalfa bacteria, perhaps because the
father had grown sweet clover on the farm for years
in odd corners and in his dooryard. So this alfalfa
started out vigorously and grew well. The boy was
delighted. He had a path well trodden where he
had walked to see his first field. It settled in his
mind the question of whether alfalfa would grow;
he had no doubt whatever now that it would grow.
Rapidly his mind went on ahead to the time when
he would have 40, maybe 100 acres in alfalfa. The
farm at that time had in it only about 50 or 60 acres
of land that could be plowed. The rest was wet or
poor or covered with trees.
That summer came another boy from the old
ranch, Willis. He was a wiry, slender lad, just out
of his high school, and had spent about a year at
ranching, getting health and strength there prepara-
tory to going further with his education. He did
not then dream of becoming a farmer, yet he was
24 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
as enthusiastic as the older brother over the beauty
and promise of the little alfalfa field. He took off
his coat and helped with the farm work and enjoyed
it hugely till September came, when he went away to
school again. It happened that he never finished
his education in school; the confinement of the
schoolroom was too much for his health, so fortu-
nately for the farm he came back a few years later
to be a partner, and later to have almost entire man-
agement of the farm. Willis dreams dreams of his
own and makes them come true, and he loyally ecar-
ries out the plans of the writer. Woodland Farm
owes its final development very largely to the en-
ergy and executive ability of this younger brother
Willis. And there was another brother yet, a sturdy
lad, Charles, growing up at home; he grew to be
the largest and strongest of them all and mightily
he bent his muscle to help with the work. Later he
too spent years in the West, ranching with sheep
and cattle, and harvesting alfalfa hay there. Then
he also came home and found on Woodland Farm
ample scope for all his energies. It is true, is it not,
that any work is as big as the man who undertakes
that work?
That first summer was uneventful save in the fact
that the alfalfa grew so well on the trial patch. It
was a year of drouth and the corn crop was nearly
ruined, only about 500 bushels in all being harvested.
The chief events were the long and delighttul drives
that the boy took with his sweetheart and the fre-
quent walks he took to watch his alfalfa. When
INTRODUCTION. 25
fall came the sweetheart and the boy drove out one
day along quiet byways and gathered a buggy load
of wild flowers and vines and with these decorated
the sweetheart’s home, and that night they were
married. Next day they went on a honeymoon jour-
ney, with the same old horse and buggy, out again
into the country, driving slow beneath the old oaks
that overarched the road, and more than ever the
boy resolved that his life should not be a failure;
that in some way he would strive mightily to be
worthy of her, who had been an inspiration to him
since she was a merry child of eleven, with sunny
curls hanging down on her shoulders. And as soon
as they were married he began digging for the foun-
dations of a little cottage in the corner of the wood-
land, a cottage where she might be mistress. All
winter whenever it was warm enough he worked on
the cottage, so that it was done nearly altogether
by the labor of his own hands saving that the sweet-
heart’s father came to help now and then. In June
they moved in. All was fresh and new and clean,
the whole air was full of hope and life was very
joyous then.
That spring they sowed another field to alfalfa,
this time a little field of about 3 acres. And this
field taught a much needed lesson. It began down
by the creek where the land was low and wet, ran
on up over a little hill where the land was dry and
filled with limestone gravel, extended on back over
some flat cold poor clay. And on only one acre of
the three did the alfalfa thrive; that acre lay on
26 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
the rich dry hill, full of limestone pebbles. Down
by the stream the alfalfa was weak, sickly, soon
taken by the crowding grasses and weeds. Back on
the flat wet poor clay it amounted to very little. On
the dry rich soil full of carbonate of lime it thrived
beautifully. So there the boy stood and pondered;
the lesson was plain, though unwelcome. ‘‘It is evi-
dent that this farm is not ready for alfalfa,’’ he
said. ‘‘I’ll make it ready. I’ll drain the wet land.
I’ll enrich the poor land. I’ll grow alfalfa; some
day I’ll have 40 acres of it, but not so soon as I
thought I would.’’ So then began the work of lay-
ing tile underdrains in earnest. The father had laid
many in his day, but not nearly enough, judging by
the new standard that alfalfa set up.
And that fall the kind old father died, died in a
peaceful and happy sort of way, as almost anyone
would be glad to die. He had been fairly well that
summer, and had insisted in helping in the hay field,
raking with the horse rake and cheerily, almost gilee-
fully, showing the men that he was by no means
worn out. One morning he arose early, as was his
habit, and went out to work in his garden before
the breakfast time, and there the boy had his last
talk with the old man, and arranged with him about
going to the fair soon to come off. After breakfast
the father went to the barn and hitched his gentle
mare Daisy to a spring wagon and got ready to go
to the village on some errand, probably to take some
vegetables to market. When the horse stopped at
the front gate, coming from the barn, no one seemed
INTRODUCTION. DAT
with her, and when the women of the house went out
to see they found the old man lying in the wagon
as though peacefully sleeping, with a half smile on
his lips, dead. It was a fitting end. He had lived a
strenuous life, he had been good, he had been kind;
he had been builder not destroyer, and wherever his
foot had been put down there rich grasses and
clovers had sprung up.
The writer makes no pretense of being as good or
eareful a farmer as his father was. We try to fol-
low in his footsteps, that is all, and we do things in
a larger way than he in his old age cared to do them.
Yes, the father was gone, and with him the safe
counselor, and the boy all at once realized how much
he had depended upon this counsel. He could do
as he pleased now, but he was not glad of the chance.
He would have been very glad indeed if he could
have had the continued company of the old father.
He took account of stock. The farm was not pay-
ing; the crops that grew upon it when all sold could
not possibly bring money enough to make it a busi-
ness worth while. Much of the land was too poor
to be profitable. The little alfalfa fields paid well,
but they were but small spaces after all; the rest of
the farm was mostly unfit for alfalfa. The farm
needed enriching, needed further drainage. If ever
it paid it must be made rich. How? Well, there
was stable manure. The boy knew about that; the
old father had been a most careful user of manure;
he saved all that he could, but he fed his cattle out
in the woods where the manure was largely wasted.
28 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
The boy reasoned: ‘Our practices are wrong. We
sell off timothy hay and wheat, and thus load by
load we sell away the fertility of the farm, and what
we do feed is largely wasted, as we do not get the
manure. Now if ever we build this farm up we
must feed on the land the crops that we grow upon
the land. And if we make any money in feeding
animals we must feed younger animals than we
have been feeding. We must feed some sort of
babies. Now what shall it be?”
Then he thought of the lamb. ‘Why, here is the
lamb,” he said. ‘He is a baby, a gentle little fellow.
One can put him in the barn, can feed him there in
shelter. His manure will all be saved in good order
and can go direct to the fields with no wastage, and
from the feed given him one ought to make good
gain and thus make money.” He had already a little
flock of ewes which were his pets and his darlings.
To them he added now a little bunch of 200 feeding
lambs, building a shed to hold them. As he had no
money only what he borrowed, he bought the small-
est and cheapest lambs that he could find. They
were natives, fairly healthy, and weighed 55 lbs.
when he put them in the sheds in November. He
had carefully dipped them in a half barrel, and had
himself as thoroughly dipped as the lambs, so they
were free from ticks. All winter he fed them caie-
fully, every feed with his own hands. Not knowing
anything about feeding lambs, he had written to
Prof. E. W. Stewart to get his advice as to how
they ought to be fed, and he had told him how to
INTRODUCTION. 29
compound a ration with wheat bran, oilmeal, corn
and mixed timothy and clover hay. He had too little
alfalfa hay yet to make much show in the feeding
barn. The lambs throve; they became very fat in-
deed and in May weighed 1083 lbs. In fact in all
the years that lambs have been fed on Woodland
Farm no such gain has since been secured, which
simply shows that a greenhorn may do as well as
an expert, if he has his heart in it and is earnest
and careful. The boy had kept careful account of
what the lambs had eaten so he knew what the gain
had cost him. When he had figured it all up he
found that he had made a clear profit from feeding
these lambs of $115, the first real profit from
Woodland Farm since his new venture in manage-
ment. It was a small sum, yet mightily it encour-
aged him. And then he dreamed another dream, out
there on the sunny side of the barn. Thinking it
over, he said: “Some day we'll feed a thousand
lambs on this farm.” But he told no one that, not
even his wife, for all would have smiled in derision,
for had he not bought part of the hay that he had
fed this first 200?
But there was more manure to haul out than ever
before, and it was put where corn would be grown
and where alfalfa might be expected to succeed,
and more alfalfa was sown. Wherever the manure
had been put out and the drains laid the alfalfa suc-
ceeded. Inoculation took care of itself on Woodland
Farm after the first start, because of the use of
manure made from alfalfa hay perhaps, and every
30 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
little field added to those first started succeeded in
aimost direct proportion to the amount of manure
used and the thoroughness of the underdrainage.
The next winter 300 lambs were fed, then 350, then
350 again, and then a larger barn was built and 700
were fed. The work grew easier and easier; wheat
was dropped from the rotation, and no more timothy
seed was sown. Lamb feeding promised profit, so
finally it was resolved that lambs would be fed and
crops grown that lambs liked, and nothing else.
Meanwhile Willis and the writer bent their backs
energetically in the ditches, draining more and more
land, and nring men to dig what they could not.
Charlie, too, growing up a stalwart ‘boy, helped
cheerfully, and the three brothers were full of faith.
And yet neighbors smiled, and some there were to
sneer. It is true that when the new barn was built
with a mow that could hold 100 tons of hay men
asked smilingly if we thought we could borrow
money enough to buy hay enough to fill it, and went
off laughing when we declared that we would fill it
from our own alfalfa meadows some day. No one
else in the country was trying to grow alfalfa, so
far as we knew, no one else in Ohio, though there
was some grown in Onondaga Co., New York. Well,
we filled the barn at last, and had an overflow. We
fed a thousand lambs as we had dreamed, and we
fed 1,200. We had learned how at last. Lamb feed-
ing is an art, a science; it is not yet all learned.
It had not all been smooth sailing, this lamb feed-
ing. More than one disaster had overtaken us.
INTRODUCTION. 31
There had been bad years, low prices, diseased
lambs, all sorts of troubles. Grimly we had held on.
‘“We can’t afford to change now,’’ we declared. ‘‘ We
have made too many mistakes in what we are doing.
To change now would be to lose all we have gained
by making these mistakes; we don’t have to make
the same mistakes the second time.’’ So we held
on, confident that our scheme was a safe and reason-
able one, based on alfalfa growing, the alfalfa fed to
lambs, the manure put out for corn, the well en-
riched corn stubble sown to alfalfa, often with addi-
tional phosphorus and as much as possible of the
corn and alfalfa fed ‘back to lambs again.
But during these years we were in debt, a little at
first, but steadily the debt grew. We owed for labor
to dig drains, we owed for labor and materials to
build fences and barns. We did all the labor that
~ we could do with our own hands, but we were too im-
patient to wait to develop the place ourselves.
‘‘HWarming either is or is not a business proposi-
tion,’’ we declared. ‘‘If it is a safe business propo-
sition this thing will pay some day, and if it 1s not
we will break and be done with it. If we can’t farm
as a business proposition we prefer to break up
trying it.’? And ever and often the writer, the
older of the brothers, declared to Willis, his willing
lieutenant: ‘‘It is only a question of one good year,
just one good year, and the lambs will pay every
dollar that we owe and we will have the ditches laid,
the buildings built, the fields made fertile, and it
will all be ours.’’
32 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
That year came when we had 1,200 lambs. We
had learned how to feed them by this time, and
they were as alike as peas, and ripe and fine as they
could be. The commission merchants down in Buf-
falo had learned to watch for our lambs and to prize
them. They had an alfalfa quality about them that
no one could attain except he had alfalfa. We had
fed them this winter altogether on alfalfa hay and
ear corn, all grown at home, and we had hay left
over enough to sell to our neighbors; some of whom
needed hay with which to do their spring plowing.
Well, we sold the lambs, one load at a time, and the
checks came back and we laid them down on the
bankers’ counter. Now we owed no one in the world
but this bank, but we owed it a lot of money. Stead-
ily despite the fact that we had economized, had rid-
den in our old buggies and worn our old clothes,
this debt had grown, and at last it had become a
serious burden on our minds; it seemed incredible
that it would ever be paid.
At last the last check had come. With a fast beat-
ing heart the writer laid it down on the bankers’
counter. ‘‘Here it is. The lambs are all sold; is
it enough to pay that note?’’ The banker smiled;
he was a good fellow. ‘‘Yes, plenty to pay it, and
some over,’’ and he handed the note through the
window, cancelled. The writer looked at it; how
huge then the amount of it seemed! He tore off the
signature and turned anxiously again. ‘‘Tell me,”’
he asked, ‘‘how much is there left?’’ The banker
figured for a moment and presented with a smiling
INTRODUCTION. 33
face the bank book, where on the right side of the
page was a credit balance of $800. The debt was paid.
The tiles were laid, or a lot of them were laid at any
rate, the barns were built, the home was paid for
and there was actualiy money in the bank! The
writer feels that there are many happy days ahead
of him, but never again expects to experience the
relief, the thankfulness, the joy that came to him
when his first victory was won for Woodland Farm,
and the brothers fully shared the feeling.
The writer jumped into his old buggy and drove
home, his face wreathed in smiles and his heart
singing a joyous song. As he neared his home the
thought came: ‘‘Why, I will have some fun with
the sweetheart. I will make believe the thing has
ended badly. I will tell her some sort of story to
deceive her, just at first; afterward I will undeceive
her.’’?’ But when he drew near the little cottage she
stood there in the open door waiting for him to come,
looking ‘out at him, all unconscious, yet on her face
was revealed all that the thing meant to her, and his
heart became suddenly very tender and it came over
him with a shock of understanding. ‘‘Why, I never
dreamed that the girl cared like this. Did she per-
haps wonder whether the home would be sold, the
place where she had planted flowers and vines, the
place where her babies were born? Where she had
been so brave, so strong, so patient and helpful all
these years, and yet cared so much as this?’’ So
all his foolish stories were put aside and he told her
the glad truth.
34 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
And what had the farm done that year? After all
the items of sales and expenditure were footed up it
was found that the same land that had yielded our
father less than $800 had yielded us a net profit of
more than $2,500. Alfalfa had worked this miracle.
It had given us the hay with which to feed the larger
number of lambs, and through the soil enrichment
that it had given the fields it had made possible the
heavy crop of corn that we had fed to the lambs, so
really to alfalfa should be credited both corn and
hay. Further, alfalfa had made it possible to con-
tinue feeding lambs. When we were beginning, and
were almost without alfalfa hay, we had fed largely
of oilmeal and wheat bran to balance up the ration.
This was necessary; experiment proved that. With-
out plenty of digestible protein in the ration the
lamb does not gain much. We made good lambs
through the aid of the bran and oilmeal, but it cost
us too much. When finally we had our own alfalfa
hay to furnish protein we made two lots of lambs.
They had equal merit in the beginning as near as
we could tell, for they were of the same bunch, se-
lected to get two like lots. The one pen was fed with
timothy hay, with some clover, shredded corn fod-
der, corn, wheat bran and a little oilmeal. They
grew well, but each pound of gain made cost us 614.
The second lot was fed with good alfalfa hay and
corn only. With them the cost of gain was only
314c. As the price of lambs declined during the
nineties we would have had to give up had not al-
falfa come to our rescue.
INTRODUCTION. 35D
At the present writing (1909) we are feeding some
1,450 lambs, with about 150 ewes and lambs, and we
could as readily feed 2,000 or more if we had more
shelter for them.
Woodland Farm is larger now; the alfalfa has
erowded the line fences back a little. It contains
320 acres and is devoted mainly to the growing of
eorn and alfalfa.. During the summer of 1908 corn
was grown on 90 acres of alfalfa sod. This field had
been twice sown to alfalfa, with intervals
when it was planted in corn. The last pe-
riod of alfalfa was a 6 year period for part
of the land and a longer period for the remain-
der. During the 6 years there were taken off at least
20 crops of hay, certainly 20 tons of hay to each acre.
During this time no manure was put on the field, but
on parts of it phosphorus was applied in the shape of
acid phosphate, about 300 lbs. per acre or maybe a
little more. The great crops of hay taken continually
off of this field disturbed our mother, who finally
spoke in sorrowing tones to the writer, thus: ‘‘ Joey,
fT am worrying about that alfalfa field.’”’ ‘‘Why,
mother?’’ ‘‘Because you do not manure it. You
haul off hay and haul off more hay and it seems to
me you actually have hollowed the land out so that
it is lower than it used to be. I think of what your
father would say if he could see it. Why don’t you
put some manure on it, boy?”’
I assured her that I could not believe that the land
was really getting poor, and that we were putting
the manure out carefully on land that we knew was
36 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
poor, and she said no more. When we plowed the
land in the winter of 1908-09 it seemed more mellow
and friable than usual, so we plowed it deeper than
it had usually been plowed. And when we disked it
up in the spring it was most evident that the field
had changed its character somewhat, so loose, mellow
and friable it seemed. We resolved to make an ef-
fort to beat our record for corn raising, so we
planted with care. The seed was good and had been
tested. We got nearly a perfect stand over much
of the field and all summer gave it good culture.
There was a most serious drouth late in the summer,
~ which doubtless cut down our yield somewhat. Yet
o0 acres of that field made for us a little more than
100 bushels of shelled corn per acre and the entire
90 acres only fell a little short of making 9,000
bushels. This result astonished us, as the field had
in olden times yielded only about half that amount.
In truth the alfalfa had built it up far beyond the
fertility that it had had when a ‘‘virgin soil.’’
Let us briefly examine this miracle and see how it
was accomplished. In the first place it is probable
that this especial field has in it already about as
much potash as it needs for large crop production,
since it is a glaciated soil. Most of the field is well
supplied with lime; in truth one ean find small peb-
bles of limestone sticking all through the soil. Thus
it was sweet, and the alfalfa revels in sweet soil, al-
kaline, not acid. So the alfalfa was at home there.
Then the land had been thoroughly well under-
drained; thus it was full of air. Alfalfa bacteria
INTRODUCTION, Sh
thrive in soils rich in lime and full of air; they perish
in a wet sour soil. Thus the alfalfa filled all the soil
with its rootlets, going down often as far as 6 feet,
no doubt, and numberless millions of bacteria work-
ing there were storing the soil with nitrogen drawn
from the air. The phosphorus supply may have
been somewhat deficient; we bought phosphorus for
part of the land and added that. Then the land was
plowed; the plow cut off millions of those big roots
and left the top soil one mass of roots, with also
many little rootlets and many leaves and stems that
had fallen down. And the subsoil was made porous
by being honeycombed by millions of the tap roots, -
so the air penetrated all the more easily. Thus it is
seen that conditions for a big corn crop were almost
ideal.
It would be an interesting thing to know just how
much richer Woodland Farm is than it was before
alfalfa began to grow upon it. It is safe to say that
the alfalfa, yielding on the average 300 tons of hay
per year for the past ten years, has added to the soil
plant food worth at least $3,000 each year, count-
ing the manure that has been returned and the work
of the roots; probably this is an underestimate, in
fact. Once we racked our brains to find manure
enough, and never did find enough. Now we rack
our brains again to find time to haul out the manure
that is made upon the farm. Gathering fertility by
the use of alfalfa is like rolling a snowball—the
farther you roll it the faster it gathers. This would
not be true if the hay was sold off of the farm, but
38 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
it is certainly true when the hay is fed and the
manure carefully saved and returned, to make an-
other spot rich for alfalfa to grow upon.
The story of Woodland Farm is only half told;
the rest lies in the future. We have some acres that
yield as much as 6 tons of hay each year, yet the
average of the whole farm is less than 4 tons. Thus
we are not yet inclined to boast of our success with
alfalfa. We now are proceeding to try to spread
these good yielding areas. What is the secret of the
lands yielding alfalfa so well? Perhaps we do not
know the whole story, but here is what we ean readily
observe. One of these spots is a round hillock. It
is a strong, tough, tenacious limestone clay. Stick-
ing all through that clay are bits of limestone peb-
bles, as large as grains of corn, as large as a man’s
foot, and of all sizes. These pebbles are of soft mag-
nesian limestone. They readily decay and keep the
land very sweet. Alfalfa roots seem to like actually
to touch carbonate of lime. On that hillock the al-
falfa never gets old. It is one of the most productive
spots on the farm. On it our father put much ma-
nure, for it was, when he bought the farm, extremely
unproductive. We have not manured here for many
years.
On other lands we find the limestone pebbles all
dissolved away in the surface soil. When we dig
down two feet we find them in abundance, but on
the surface there are none. Here we are assuming
that lime is needed, and are putting on more ecar-
bonate of lime, buying ground and unburned lime-
INTRODUCTION. 39
stone and applying it at the rate of about 5 tons to
the aere. Probably that is too little; it is yet too
early to know. We feel sure that when we have
made the drainage right and the lime content right
we will grow as much alfalfa over all the farm as
we now grow on those favored spots. Then we can
proudly boast, sure enough! Then we can say:
““H’rom 100 acres of land we harvested 500 tons of
alfalfa hay.’’ It may take time to reach this con-
dition. It may not even come in my day. But we
have boys and to these boys we bequeath the ideal,
the task, and to them will fall the pleasant duty of
spreading these spots of gloriously beautiful alfalfa,
rich and productive beyond anything else that could
be sown.
It may be of interest to know something of
the present system of farming on Woodland Farm.
Let us begin with the alfalfa sod that is to die that
corn may live. It is plowed usually in November
and during the winter. Perhaps the field was mown
off late, four cuttings being taken from it, in antici-
pation of its impending destruction. We find that
‘late cutting is bad for the alfalfa and do not usually
cut it later than early in September. This field to
be devoted to corn then will be mown off late, as it
does not matter how much the roots are weakened.
Usually we plow with very strongly built walking
plows. We put two wheels on the beam, well in
front; one wheel runs in the furrow, the other on the
unplowed land. These wheels hold the beam rigidly
in place, and thus the plow runs well; a boy can man-
40 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
age it if the thing is set right. We keep the plows
sharp. The plowman carries a file and often lifts
the plow out of the ground and sharpens it well.
The land is plowed deep, from 7 to 10”, and we hope
ultimately to plow much deeper than that. We aim
to get the land all broken before mid-winter, so that
the frosts may work on it. No manure is used on
alfalfa sod. It is disked and fitted for corn which is
planted usually about May 5 in checks. This corn is
as well cultivated as we know. Often in the early
part of the season the alfalfa roots will grow, espe-
cially if the season is wet, and the field will look
not a little green. This does not disturb us in the
least, for after the corn cultivation begins the alfalfa
soon weakens and mostly disappears. Some stray
plants will escape destruction and will live over,
even for two or three years of corn. This is all the
better, since thus the inoculation is safely carried
over. The corn has as clean cultivation as we can
give. We discourage weed seeding as much as pos-
sible. We have learned that that enemy of alfalfa,
fox-tail or pigeon grass, can be surely eradicated in
one year by not letting a stalk of it make seed.
The corn is cut and shocked. Before winter it is
husked and the folder set up, two shocks in a place.
We cut our corn 12 hills square; at present our hills
are 42” apart. We find corn to thrive wonderfully
on alfalfa sod. The second year will usually find this
land yet in corn. This time as much manure from
the stables and sheep barns as can be found
will be put on. Even with this manuring
INTRODUCTION. 41
we do not expect quite so good corn as
we had when we grew it on alfalfa sod. As
before, clean cultivation is given. We are especially
careful to destroy all fox-tail grass before it seeds.
This land is now to be sown to alfalfa. If it needs
lime that is applied as convenience suggests, when-
ever the teams are idle and the land is hard enough
to drive on. We use finely ground raw limestone
rock, not burned. We use about 4 tons to the acre
of this. It cost us only $1.25 per ton on cars. The
land is plowed as deep as the plows will run, making
the furrows narrow. We would plow 24” deep if we.
could do so. Some day no doubt we will begin sub-
soil work, and expect that to pay well. We like to
do this plowing a month or more before time to seed
alfalfa, so that the earth may settle well together
again. In April we disk and prepare the land with
some care, but not attempting to make any “ash
heap” or “onion bed,’’ as some advise, only a little
better seedbed than one would make for corn.
About April 10 we begin drilling. We use a fertil-
izer drill that sows fertilizer, beardless spring
barley and alfalfa seed. Of barley we sow 2 bushels
to the acre; of alfalfa seed, 15 to 20 lbs.; of fertilizer
(usually plain acid phosphate, sometimes bone meal)
we use 300 to 500 lbs. per acre. We think it prob-
able that the more we enrich the land the greater our
profit.is. We let the alfalfa seed fall in front of the
drill sometimes, at other times behind the drill, ac-
cording to the condition of the soil. If moist we do
not roll but follow the drill with a plank drag. If
42 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
the land is dry and cloddy we use a roller to com-
pact it and to leave the surface smooth so that the
mower may run over it readily. We do not inocu-
late, since all the farm is now filled with alfalfa bac-
teria. The alfalfa comes up with the barley and all
grow together till the ‘barley has come into head;
before grain has formed in the heads it is mown off
and all made into hay. Barley hay is exceedingly
good hay, though not so good as alfalfa hay, of
course. After this cutting the alfalfa comes on rap-
idly and in about 45 days, or a little less, it also is
eut and a crop of hay taken off.
We judge of the time to cut this young alfalfa al-
together by the condition of the growth, not by the
bloom. When small shoots appear at the base of the
stems, down by the ground, as though it was ready
to make a new growth, then it is to be cut, and not
‘before that time. If cut before these shoots or buds
appear, the alfalfa is very greatly weakened and
sometimes is destroyed. After this cutting the alfal-
fa is left religiously alone; it is never pastured nor
mown nor tramped in any way during the fall or win-
ter. The fall growth of about a foot or a little more
is worth a very great deal to the plant, in some way
or another; it helps hold the snow and makes it win-
ter better. The next year the alfalfa shoots out as
soon as the frost is out of the earth.
Alfalfa fields are sacred ground on Woodland
Farm, and never unless by accident is an animal per-
mitted to tread upon them. It is especially im-
portant that no stock go upon them in the spring
INTRODUCTION. 43
when the young alfalfa is pushing up; even though
the alfalfa might be destined for pasture everything
is kept off until it has made good growth, and is
nearly knee high and almost come into bloom before
stock is turned in. Gloriously beautiful the fields be-
come in May, and as June draws near we watch them
to see how nearly they are approaching harvest.
We have long ago learned not to regard the bloom-
ing of the alfalfa as being an essential indication of
maturity, but only we suspect that it is ready for
cutting. We get down upon our knees in the field,
and parting the stems look to see whether small buds
have appeared at the surface of the ground. If
these buds or shoots are pushing out, showing that
the plant is ready to make new growth, then the
mowers come out, three of them, each cutting swaths
6’ wide, and with merry rattle the beautiful green
forage is laid low.
Not much use is made of the tedder on Woodland
Farm, since it shatters off the leaves too much, al-
though sometimes it is employed when the crop is
very succulent and heavy. Before the alfalfa is dry
enough for the leaves to shed off, the rake is started
and the hay gathered into small windrows, which
are then piled into slender but fairly tall cocks by
the use of the hand fork in the old-fashioned way.
Rather a jolly time haymaking is, with all the men
and boys on the place busy in the field, with merry
callings to and fro and sometimes the note of a song,
yet it is a busy place too. Seldom can the hay be
drawn in the same day as it is cut down, and not al-
44 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
ways on the next day, but as soon as it is dried it is
placed on broad, low-platform wagons, each bed 16’
long and 7’ wide, with tight board floors; and taken
to the barn where it is unloaded by horse forks. The
farm possesses 7 of these wagons, so that each even-
ing it is the daily duty to load up the 7 wagons with
from 10 to 14 tons of hay, which are then drawn un-
der shed ready to be unloaded in the morning. Not
much is doing in the alfalfa meadows in the fore-
noon; then is the time chosen for work in the corn
fields, and cultivators are pushed steadily. These
two crops, corn and alfalfa, constitute almost all that
is grown on Woodland Farm, excepting a few acres
of soy beans and the blue grass pastures, but as the
alfalfa is cut three times during the season, and the
corn cultivated at least five times, there is no dif-
ficulty in keeping everyone busy.
The writer makes no apology for having devoted .
so much time to the operations on Woodland Farm,
since he feels that in a sense this is a pioneer farm,
and fairly prophetic only, of what will be very com-
mon throughout all the region of the corn belt. Very
certainly these two crops, corn and alfalfa, are by
far the most profitable of any, and do most conserve
the fertility of the soil, do best nourish all manner of
farm animals, do most surely build the fortunes of
the farmer. Deeply buried in the soil of the fields,
the alfalfa roots know nothing of the vicissitudes of
winter; as certainly they put out green as leaves up-
on the oaks in spring, and drouths that wither up
ordinary meadows have little effect upon them.
INTRODUCTION. 45
Wheat, oats, potatoes, timothy grass and a hundred
other things are uncertain, affected vastly by the
vicissitudes of the weather. Alfalfa once rooted in
dry rich soil has the permanence of the wild native
things. Corn also planted upon alfalfa sod well cul-
tivated mocks at seasons, for floods affect it not,
since the land must perforce be well drained, and
drouths and heats that sear other vegetation pass it
by, leaving it fresh, green and undismayed. These
two crops then are destined not to free the farmer
from labor, for they bring abundant labor to him,
but to take away from him the cares and perplexi-
ties incident to the growing of uncertain things,
FISTOrRN.
The world is very old. For more ages than we
dream men have lived and loved, toiled, sown and
reaped. The history of the race is written in the
form, variation and characteristics of animals and
plants much more than in tablets of stone or pieces
of clay. Would you ask how long men have lived
on earth? Ask when first hornless cattle were kept.
Records in Hgypt show them to have been common
thousands of years before the time of Christ.
Ask when sheep were first tamed and their fleeces
developed. The very race of wild sheep has per-
ished from the face of the earth and the sheep of
Abraham’s day were highly developed. Ask when
wheat was taken from being a wild grass and made
a cultivated plant; when the banana ceased to have
seeds; the apple gathered sweetness and the vine
began to hang down with luscious clusters of pur-
pling grapes. Ask, too, when it was that animals
became the subjects and friends of men; when men
began to feed them, to gather forage for them, to
cultivate plants for them, to perceive which plants
were the best plants and which best fed the animals.
Ask, too, when men first saw that soils grew worn,
that certain plants fed soils, that other plants caused
them to become infertile.
(46
HISTORY. Al
All these things happened many thousands of
years ago. The best things done by men are older
than recorded history. The taming of the ass, the
taming of the horse, the taming of the cow, the devel-
opment of the milk-giving powers of the cow, the
earing for sheep and goats, the breeding of sheep for
wool, the spinning of wool and flax, the melting of
ores—all these primal things happened long
centuries ago. Since historic times man _ has
learned very little indeed that ‘he needed to
know; the important, primal, essential things were
all worked out before men began to write upon stone
and upon parchment. ,
It is not certain that there exists today any wild al-
falfa. There are places where some has escaped from
cultivation and gone wild, but all alfalfa, so far as
known, has so changed its form from what it would
be in the wild state that it is doubtless bearing in 1ts
nature the very marked signs of the moulding hand
of man. For example, all alfalfa so far as known
tcday needs to be cut off from time to time to keep
it in thrift. No wild plant requires that. Alfalfa
that we know reflects a long line of civilizations, re-
flects the habits of people who have kept cows and
donkeys and sheep and horses, kept these and fed
them, carrying their forage to them on men’s backs
for ages untold. It requires no effort of the imag-
ination when looking out upon an alfalfa field to
picture the fields from which it sprung through the
ages past. The little fields fair and green and fertile
under hot glowing desert skies mostly. Little fields
48 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
for the most part walled often with walls of stone
or of sun-dried bricks, lined with little canals of
eool water with overhanging trees, fig trees or al-
monds or palms, and brown men and women, lithe
and strong, coming to cut the green meadow with
eurved sickles and scythes, gathering it in sheaves
and earrying it on their backs through gates in the
walls to the animals eagerly awaiting it in the en-
closed corrals or stables. Alfalfa was developed in
dry regions. It came, very likely, from southwest-
ern Asia through Persia to Arabia, whence it got its
name alfalfa, which simply means the best forage.
The Persians grew it finely. Down along the rivers
of Babylon in ancient Babylonia alfalfa was a stand-
ard crop, most likely. Those river valleys are rich
in lime and alkaline in their reaction, admirably
suited to alfalfa culture, and there under irrigation
alfalfa undoubtedly throve. The one reference to
alfalfa in the Bible is found in the fourth chapter
of the book of Daniel where in the thirty-third verse
it is related of the king:
“The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar:
and he was driven from men, and did eat grass [alfalfa] as
oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his
hairs were grown like eagle’s feathers and his nails like bird’s
claws. And at the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up
mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned to me,
and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that
liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and
His kingdom is from generation to generation.”
The truth probably was that old Nebuchadnezzar,
rich, spoiled, feasted and wined till he became in-
sane, was turned out to graze in an alfalfa field till
on this simple and nutritious diet his body was re-
HISTORY. 49
newed, filled with health and vigor, when his reason
returned and of course he did what any healthy man
will do daily, blessed the Most High and praised
Him and was humbled and glad once more.
It is related that in the old kingdom of Babylonia
wheat would yield 200 fold and sometimes 300 fold,
which plainly indicates that it must have been sown
thinly in drills upon alfalfa sod, irrigated from the
canals with which that country abounded, and prob-
_ ably weeded and cultivated by slave labor.
About 500 years before Christ the Persians invad-
ed Greece. Now, Greeks are stubborn folks, or were
in those days, and many were the battles before the
Greeks were even in part conquered. The Persians,
aided by Greek factions and tribes, doggedly toiled
steadily onward, taking city after city. Wherever
they went they had chariot horses to feed and cattle
—hbulls, so legend says—for fighting, and cows no
doubt for helping feed the army. With curious mix-
ture of martial and agricultural zeal they brought
with them alfalfa seed and wherever they conquered
foothold they sowed alfalfa. An army travels, and
fights, on its belly, so it was a mighty help to the
Greeks to have the aid of the alfalfa. And without
doubt it was eaten by the soldiers as well, since green
succulent alfalfa has always been boiled and eaten
as greens or pottage. Unhappily the Persians
sent away hosts of the Greek subjects as slaves to
Asia, else when they had gone on the people might
have been almost benefited by the war, since alfalfa
fields were left in the wake of the army. It must be
50 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
remembered that much of the land of Greece is
formed from the decay of limestone and marble.
Thus filled with carbonate of lime it is naturally
fitted for alfalfa culture as well as for the production
of such magnificent men as the Greeks undoubtedly
were. |
From Greece alfalfa spread into Rome, just when
we do not know. The first real farm books were
written in the first century after Christ. One L.
Junius Moderatus Columella, born in Spain but liv-
ing most of his life in Italy, wrote twelve books
which he called ‘‘De Re Rustica.’’ These books
were written about the year 56 A. D. It would seem
from dipping into the pages of Columella that about
as much was known then of agriculture as is known
today. Indeed, they knew then many things that
we do not know today, and agriculture has lost many
picturesque details by the pruning. away little by
little of agricultural fancies, by the accumulations of
stern facts.
But however much we may smile at some of Col-
umella’s account of ancient Roman agriculture, we
will respect him for his account of alfalfa and the
way to grow it. Many forage crops are mentioned
by Columella—medie (alfalfa), vetches, bitter vetch,
chick pea, barley, oats and wheat.
Speaking of the various sorts of fodders he says
the herb medic (alfalfa) is the choicest, because
when it is sown it lasts ten years. He continues:
It can bear to be cut down four times, sometimes also six times
in a year, because it dungs the land. All emaciated cattle what-
HISTORY. 51
soever grow fat with it because it is a remedy for sick cattle,
and a jugerum of it is abundantly sufficient for three horses the
whole year. It is sown as we Shall hereafter direct. About the
beginning of October cut up the field wherein you design to sow
medic next spring and let it lie all winter to rot and grow crum-
bly. Then about the first of February plow it carefully a second
time and carry all the stones out of it, and break all clods. After
about the month of March plow it the third time and harrow it.
When you have thus manured the ground, make it in the manner
of a garden, into beds and divisions ten feet broad and fifty feet
long, so that it may be supplied by water with paths and there
may be an open access for weeders on both sides. Then throw
old dung upon it and sow in the latter end of April. Sow it in
such a proportion that a cyathus of seed may take up a place 10
feet long and 5 feet bread. After you have done this, let the
seeds that are thrown into the ground be presently covered with
earth with wooden rakes. This is a very great advantage to them
because they are very quickly burnt up with the sun. After
sowing, the place ought not to be touched with an iron tool, but
as I said it must be raked with wooden rakes, and weeded from
time to time lest any other kind of herb destroy the f3eble medic.
You must cut the first crop of it somewhat later, after it has put
forth some of its seeds. Afterwards you are at liberty to cut it
down as tender and as young as you please after it has sprung up
and to give it to horses, but at first you must give it to them
more sparingly until they be accustomed to it, lest the novelty
of the fodder be hurtful to them, for it blows them and creates
much blood. Water it very often after you have cut it. Then
after a few days when it shall begin to sprout weed out of it all
plants of a different kind. When cultivated in this manner it
may be cut down six times in a year and it will last ten years.
That instruction bears evidence of much famil-
larity with the alfalfa plant. It must not be cut too
soon the first time, not till some seeds have formed.
It is true here that young alfalfa is destroyed often-
times if cut before the young shoots have put out
at the base of the stems. Not having observed this
perhaps the old alfalfa growers judged by the state
of bloom or seeding when it should be cut. Note that
Columella says ‘‘it dungs the land.’’ Thus early
they knew the practice of farming with legumes,
52 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
and that alfalfa was the best of the legumes for this
purpose of enriching soils.
Note too that he found it a good food for horses.
It is said that the chariot horses were fed on alfalfa
hay, and the colts destined to become war horses
were raised largely on it because it made them
larger, heavier and more impetuous.
From Italy alfalfa naturally spread wherever the
Roman farmer colonist penetrated, through France,
Spain, England and doubtless Germany. It may be
that Spain also received alfalfa from Africa through
the Moors. The name alfalfa comes from the Ara-
bic and means the best forage, and this name the
Spanish people adopted. Through the introduction
of the plant in America by the Spanish colonists
and our taking it from them on our Pacific coast we
get the name alfalfa. In France, England and most
other Kuropean countries, and in Utah and formerly
through all our eastern states, the name lucerne is
in common use. This name comes from a river val-
ley in northern Italy.
Alfalfa throve in Italy, in much of Spain and in
parts of France. Where it throve no other forage
plant could compete with it. It was introduced long
ago into England and there it throve in spots. It
was much extolled by some, its planting advised,
yet it never became common and today is seldom
seen in extensive use on the British Isles. It was
brought to America in two ways, from Spain to
Mexico, Peru, Chili, Argentina, from Mexico to
Texas, New Mexico and California; later from Chili
HISTORY. 53
to California in 1851, which marked the really im-
portant step in alfalfa growing in America.
The other source was the bringing of lucerne seed
to the eastern states of America from England,
France and Germany early in the history of Ameri-
ean colonization. In the eighteenth century many
men were experimenting with lucerne in Virginia,
New York, North Carolina and doubtless other
states. Some of them succeeded quite well and
many of them doubtless failed. We know now the
reason why many failed. Then the behavior of lu-
cerne was a mystery to the farmer. We had not
learned then the intimate connection between alka-
linity of soil and presence of abundant carbonate of
lime and alfalfa culture. It is all very easy to ex-’
plain this now—how alfalfa came from alkaline soils
rich in lime down in Persia, into the alkaline plains
of Babylonia, to the limestone soils of Roman lands,
to the soils of Greece built on marble decay, to the
limestones of southern France, to the alkaline soils
of semi-arid north Africa, to the soils rich in lime
and alkalies in Spain, thence to similar soils, yet
richer in lime, in Mexico, Chili, New Mexico and Cal-
ifornia. In England soils vary immensely as regard
their lime content. Some are very rich in lime; on
these lucerne throve: in others lime is very deficient ;
here it failed. In France there is found a similar
variability, so also there were found areas that grew
good lucerne, and others that grew none at all. In
eastern America, on the other hand, nearly all soils
54 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
in lime and thus unfitted for alfalfa. Yet the soils
as our fathers found them were sweeter than they
are today, and thus we often hear old men relate
that in their boyhood their fathers grew lucerne and
that their daily task was to cut it and feed it to the
cows; this on land that will not today unaided grow
alfalfa at all.
In reading over the written accounts of how to
grow lucerne published in the last century one is
amazed to find how much the authors knew of the
habits of the plants, and as much astonished to per-
ceive that few if any of them understood the vital
connection between alfalfa and a large percentage
of carbonate of lime in the soil. One of the good old
‘books on agriculture is ‘‘The Dictionary of the
Farm,’’ by the Rev. W. L. Rham, Vicar of Wink-
field, Berkshire, who died in 18438. The article on
lucerne is strikingly good, so good, indeed, that had
the author known two facts of which he seems to
have been unaware there would have been left little
to add. He evidently had not traced the relationship
between thrifty lucerne and a strong lime content in
the soil, nor had he seen the harm that comes to
lucerne when it is mown off too early, before it has
made sufficient growth to start the little shoots at
the base of the stems. Ignorance of the latter fact
is very universal in England at the present time and
leads to much lack of thrift and falling away of the
alfalfa plants that are usually cut with the scythe
bit by bit, and fed to horses green, just as Rham
advised. The writer has indeed pointed out to Eng-
HISTORY. 5D
lish farmers that the lower sides of their lucerne
fields remained thrifty after the upper ends were
half destroyed, just because of the fact that the man
with the scythe commenced on the upper end before
it was time to cut the immature plants, and by the
time he had reached the bottom of the field it was
sufficiently mature, so remained in vigorous condi-
tion.
_ The article follows from ‘‘Rham’s Dictionary of
the Farm,’’ published in 1853:
Lucerne is a plant which will not bear extreme frost nor super-
abundant moisture, and its cultivation is therefore restricted to
mild climates and dry soils; but where it thrives its growth is so
rapid and luxuriant that no other known plant can be compared to
it. In good deep loams lucerne is the most profitable of all green
crops; when properly managed the quantity of cattle which can
be kept in good condition on an acre of lucerne during the whole
season exceeds belief. It is no sooner mown than it pushes out
fresh shoots, and wonderful as the growth of clover sometimes
is in a field which has been lately mown, that of lucerne is far
more rapid. Where a few tufts of lucerne happen to be, they
will rise a foot above the surface, while the grass and clover
which were mown at the same time are only a very few inches
high.
Lucerne, sown ina soil suited to it, will last for many years,
suooting its roots downwards for nourishment till they are alto-
eether out of the reach of drouth. In the driest and most sultry
weather, when every blade of grass droops for want of moisture,
lucerne holds un its stem, fresh and green as in a genial spring.
The only enemies of this plant are a wet subsoil and a foul sur-
face. The first is often incurable; the latter can be avoided by
good cultivation.
It is useless to sow lucerne on very poor sands or gravel or on
wet clays. The best and deepest loam must be chosen, rather
light than heavy but with a good portion of vegetable earth or
humus equally dispersed through it. If the ground has been
trenched, so much the better; and if the surface is covered with
some inferior earth from the subsoil it will be no detriment to
the crop, for it will prevent grass and weeds from springing up
and save much weeding. The lucerne will soon strike down be-
56 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
low it. It is not a bad practice to cover the lucerne field with a
coat of coal ashes or poor sand, merely to keep down the weeds,
where this can easily be done.
The soil in which it is intended to sow lucerne seed should be
well prepared. It should be highly manured for the two or three
preceding crops and deeply ploughed, if not trenched. It should
be perfectly clean, and for this purpose two successive crops of
turnips are most effectual. The turnips should be fed off with
sheep. In the month of March, the land having been ploughed
flat and well harrowed, a very small quantity of barley, not above
a bushel to the acre, may be sown, or rather drilled on the
ground, and at the same time from 30 to 40 lbs. of lucerne seed
sown broadcast and both harrowed in and lightly rolled. If
the land will not bear to be laid flat without water-furrows, it
will be useless to sow lucerne in it.
As the crop comes up it must be carefully weeded: no expense
must be spared to do this effectually, for success depends upon
it. When the barley is reaped, the stubble, which will probably
be strong, should be pulled up by the hand hoe, or by harrowing,
if the plants of lucerne be strong, and at all events the ground
must be cleared of weeds. It must not be fed off with sheep;
they would bite too near the crown. Lucerne should always be
cut as soon as the flower is formed. If it is kept clear of weeds
the first year, there will be little difficulty with it afterwards,
when the roots have become strong. The second year the lucerne
will be fit to cut very early, and in a favorable season it may be
cut four or five times. After each cutting it is useful to draw heavy
harrows over the land, or an instrument made on purpose resem-
bling harrow teeth, the teeth of which are flat, and cutting the
soil like coulters. It will not injure the plants, even if it divide
the crown of the root, but it will destroy grass and weeds. Liquid
manure, which consists of the urine of cattle and drainings of
dunghills, is often spread over the lucerne immediately after
it has been mown, and much invigorates the next growth; but if
the land is rich to a good depth this is scarcely necessary. The
lucerne will grow and thrive from seven to twelve years, when
it will begin to wear out, and, in spite of weeding, the grass will
get the upper hand of it. It should then be plowed up, all the
roots carefully collected and laid in a heap with dung and lime
to rot, and a course of regular tillage should succeed. The same
land should not be sown with lucerne again in less than ten or
twelve years, after a regular course of cropping and manuring.
Cattle fed upon lucerne thrive better than on any other green
food. Horses in particular can work hard upon it without any
corn, provided it be slow work. Cows give plenty of good milk
HISTORY. 57
when fed with it. In spring it is apt to purge cattle, which with
a little attention is conducive to their health. If it is given to
them in too great quantities, or moist with dew, they run the risk
of being hoven. These inconveniences are avoided by giving it
sparingly at first, and always keeping it twenty-four hours after
it is cut, during which time it undergoes an incipient fermenta-
tion, and the juice is partially evaporated: instead of being less
nutritive in this state, it is rather more So.
An acre of gocd lucerne will keep four or five horses from
May to Octcher, when cut just as the flower opens. If it should
get too forward, and there be more than the horses can consume,
it should be made into hay; but this is not the most profitable
way of using it, and the plant being very succulent, takes a long
time in drying. The rain also is very injurious to it in a half
dry state; for the stem is readily soaked with moisture, which
is slow in evaporating. The produce in hay, when well made, is
very considerable, being often double the weight of a good crop
of hay.
Many authors recommend drilling the seed of lucerne in wide
rows, and hoeing the intervals after each cutting. This is the
best way with a small patch in a garden, and when only a little
is cut every day; but in a field of some extent, the lucerne, when
once well established and preserved free from weeds by hand
weeding the first year, will keep all weeds down afterwards, and
the heavy harrows with sharp tines, used immediately after mow-
ing, will pull up all the grass which may spring up. No farmer
ought to neglect having a few acres in lucerne on his best land.
Note carefully that Rham says, ‘‘If the ground is
trenched so much the better, and if the surface is
covered with some inferior earth from the subsoil it
will be no detriment to the crop.’’ The fact is that
earth from the subsoil often, in fact usually, has in
it much more lime than surface soil, so that bringing
it up is sometimes equivalent to a fairly good liming.
Tt is a little difficult to explain the general neglect
of alfalfa in England, since there are many soils
there admirably suited to it and almost any of the
well-drained English soils would now grow it well if
they were well limed and enriched with even bare
58 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
mineral fertilizers. It may be the uncertain weather
of British hay-making times has had a deterrent
effect to the alfalfa growers, though it would seem
more probable that the mere lack of knowledge of
the subject was tle main factor responsible for the
fewness of alfalfa fields there. The writer has seen
as thrifty alfalfa in Kent as he has seen anywhere
in the world, and has marvelled at its small extent
till he was told that the entire crop was fed green to
the work horses.
In America a number of men wrote enthusiastic-
ally of the lucerne plant. It is certain that George
Washington grew it at least to some extent, and
Thomas Jefferson, on a kindlier soil, grew it so well
that mm one of his letters he mentions the joy that
contemplation of his fields of lucerne gave him. To-
day no alfalfa is grown on either of these farms, nor
in their neighborhood. Is it that eastern farms are
less fertile now, or is it that their owners are less
prudent, enterprising and careful?
In New York Robert Livingstone wrote of it and
many men experimented with the plant, some with
success, some without. In few localities in the east-
ern states, however, did it gain a permanent foot-
hold. There were several reasons for that. One
principal reason was that alfalfa does not mature
seed along the Atlantic seaboard except during very
dry summers; thus it was necessary to import fresh
seed from Europe constantly at considerable trouble
and expense. Then the plant’s nature was not un-
derstood, its lime requirement was not known, much
HISTORY. 59
land was badly drained and fields were ruined by
not being cut at the proper time. Thus the enthu-
siasts gradually became discouraged and it became
a settled belief that lucerne could not profitably be
grown in eastern America outside of a few re-
stricted neighborhoods. As indicating the sentiment
of the friends of alfalfa in those days we quote a
letter published in the ‘‘ American Farmer’’ of 1823,
the letter copied from the ‘‘ New Brunswick Times.”’’
The method of sowing advised is curious, to sow in
the spring with fall rye, and there may be a hint in
this for others living today in similar conditions.
Note the excessive price of the seed—s0ce per lb., or
$30 per bushel. The letter written by ‘‘A New Jer-
sey Farmer”’’ follows:
It may materially promote the interests of agriculture to offer
through the medium of your paper a few remarks on the culture
of lucerne. This article (frequently denominated French clover),
I have found by experience to be not only one of the most con-
venient, but also the most profitable of any grass which can be
cultivated. It vegetates quicker in the spring than any other
grass, it resists the effects of drouths, it may be cut four or five
times in the course of the season, and it will endure for at least
twelve years without being renewed. Of all other grass it is the
most profitable for soiling. I am fully of opinion that one acre
properly got in would be sufficient to maintain six head of cattle,
from the first of May until November, for before it can be cut
down in this way, the first part of it will be ready for the scythe.
English writers have recommended the drill system for this arti-
cle, but in this climate I have found this to be entirely fallacious.
The proper mode to be adopted is to have your land in good order,
to sow it broadcast, and to get the seed in during the month of
April or May. The plan I would recommend would be to sow
fall rye at the rate of 15 to 20 pounds to the acre with it. The
effect of this is that the rye vegetates quickly, and serves as a
nurse to the young grass against the heat of the scorching sun,
and by the time the grass attains sufficient strength to protect
itself, say in four or five weeks, the rye withers and apparently
60 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
dies. In the spring, however, the rye will again come forth
mixed with lucerne, will add much to the quantity on the ground,
and prove a most excellent feed for cattle. The rye cut green in
this way and before getting into seed will admit of being cut
two or three times in the course of the season, with the lucerne
before it decays.
The kind of soil most suitable for this culture is a dry mellow
loam, but a sandy or clay loam will also answer, provided it is
not wet. In a favorable season, the lucerne may be cut the next
fall after sowing. After the first season you may generally be-
gin to cut green for cattle by the first of May, which saves your
young pasture and is in every respect a very great convenience,
as hogs and every description of animals devour it with equal
avidity. Backward as this season has been, I have been furnish-
ing a copious supply every day to seven cattle, since the 5th of
May. The seed can be procured at Thornburn’s or other seed
stores in New York, at 40 to 50c per pound.
The following notes on the culture of alfalfa and
sainfoin are from a book ealled ‘‘ Practical Farmer”’
published in 1793 by John Spurrier and dedicated to
Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Spurrier was a transplanted
English farmer. It is curious to note how nearly
he came to knowing how to grow each of these crops.
and how vitally he failed to grasp the truth that
these plants thrive on ‘‘gravels’’ when these gravels
are composed of limestone pebbles, not necessarily
when they do not! This quotation is presented
through the courtesy of J. M. Westgate:
Saintfoin took its name from the French; for the word Saint-
foin, translated into English, is Holy-Hay, which name they gave
it from its excellent nutritive quality.
There may be more benefit reaped from this grass than any
other; aS you may get a very great crop in the most dryest land,
on hills, gravels, sands, or even barren ground; and it will so
improve all those lands in such an extraordinary manner that
they will bring great crops of any sort of grain after it.
The stalks of the plant in poor land will be two feet high, and
in rich land it will grow as high as six feet. It has tufts of red
flowers, of three, four, or five inches in length of the honey:
suckle kind: they are so beautiful and sweet that 1 have seen
HISTORY. 61
them much esteemed in a garden and called the French honey-
suckle.
This plant will make twenty times the increase in poor ground
than the common turf; and this is owing to its having a long
perpendicular root called tap roots, as well as numbers of hori-
zontal ones; the perpendicular ones sink to a great depth to at-
tract its nourishment. The length of this root is scarce to be
credited by any but those who have seen it; I have drawn it out
of the ground near fourteen feet; and some have told me that
they have traversed it to double that length. This is the reason
I presume why this plant will bear drouth, when all other
grasses have been burnt up by the excessive dryness of the sea-
son. I have at one cutting got two tons of this hay per acre.
Cold, clay, or wet land is not suitable for this grass, as it would
chill and rot the roots. The long root of Saintfoin has near the
surface many horizontal roots issuing from it, which extend
themselves every way; there are of the same kind all the way
down, as the roots go, but they grow shorter and shorter all the
way.
Any dry land may be made to produce this valuable and use-
ful plant, though it be ever so poor; but the richest and best
land will produce the greatest crops of it.
The best method of sowing it is by drilling, but the earth must
be very well prepared and the seed well ordered, or else very
little of it will grow. The heads of these seeds are so large and
their necks so weak, that if they be above an inch deep, they are
not able to rise through the incumbent mould, and, if they are
not covered, they will be malted; that is, it will send out its root
while it lies above ground, and be killed by the air.
The best season for planting it is the beginning of spring; and
it is always strongest when planted alone.
If barley, oats, or any other grain sown with the saintfoin,
happen to be lodged afterwards, it kills the young saintfoin. The
quantity of seed to be drilled or sown broadcast upon an acre of
land will depend wholly on the goodness of it; for there is some
seed, of which not one in ten will strike; whereas, in good seed,
not one in twenty will fail. The method of knowing the goodness
is by sowing a certain number of the seeds, and seeing how many
plants are produced by them. If it is above two years old, it
will not grow. The external signs of the seed being good are
that the husk is of a bright color rather of a purple, and the
kernel plump, of a light grey or blue color. If the kernel be cut
across, and appear greenish and fresh, it is a certain sign it is
good. If it be of a yellowish color, and friable, and looks thin
and pitted, it is a bad sign. The quantity of seed allowed to the
62 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
acre in the drill way is much less than by sowing broadcast. A
bushel of seed to an acre of land is 20 seeds to each square foot
of land if sown broadcast, which would be sufficient; but there
must be an allowance made for casualties.
The quantity of good seed I have found by experience is for
sowing broadcast, two bushels, and for drilling, one bushel. And
as the saintfoin does not cover all the ground the first year,
which spaces are generally occupied by weeds, to remedy this,
when I have sown it broadeast, I haye sown four or five pounds
of clover seed with it to the acre, which has answered a very
good purpose, as I have then had a crop the first year.
The saintfoin is but a slow grower at first; the second year
perhaps will not exceed a clover crop, but afterwards it increases
every year for six or seven years before it comes to its full per-
fection; and as that increases, the clover goes off, and makes room
LOT te
This valuable plant will keep in perfection for twenty years, if
you only give it a slight top dressing with soot or ashes, once in
four or five years. The first summer, nor early the next spring,
it should not be fed, because it will be apt to bleed itself to
death; for the sweetness of it is such, that it will entice cattle
to pite into the knot in the ground and spoil it; but afterwards,
when it has gathered strength, the best method will be to mow
the first crop, and seed it after, which is excellent for cows and
sheep.
This plant, as well as trefoil, will not thrive in a wet moist
soil; and as saintfoin thrives best on high grounds, it is a great
advantage in the article of making it into hay, as it has greatly
more advantage of the sun, and less to fear of mischief from wet,
than grass which grows in low grounds. On the high grounds,
the wind will dry more in an hour than it will in meadows that
~ lie low in a whole day; and often the crops of saintfoin make a
very good hay in the same seasons in which all the grass hay is
spoiled. The sun on the high grounds has also a more benign
influence, and sends off the dew there two hours earlier in the
morning, and holds it up as much longer in the evening; by
these advantages the saintfoin has more time to dry, and is made
with half the expense of common hay.
Saintfoin for hay should be cut when it is half blossomed, and
managed the same as before directed for clover. If saved for
seed, it must be the first cutting. You may know when it is ripe
by the seeds coming out easily in your hand. Dry it in the field,
and thresh it there on a cloth, as it will shed and you will lose
great part of the seed if you carry it to the barn. The straw
will be as good as hay for horses; and the hay, when it has been
HISTORY. 63
well got in, my horses that have worked hard have been kept on
it alone without any grain, have been so fond of it that they have
refused beans and oats mixed with chaff in the common way for
it. Sheep also will be fatted in pens in winter, with only this
hay and water, better than with corn, peas, oats, and the like. In
short, there is no hay that is made is equal to it, and the produce
will be double that of clover. The iand where it is sown should
be very clean from weeds, under a fine tilth; which is best done
by a turnip fallow.
Lucerne is the plant which the ancients were so fond of under
the name of Medica, and in the culture of which they bestowed
such great care and pains. Its leaves grow three at a joint, like those
of the clover; its flowers are blue, and its pods of a screw-like
shape, containing seeds like those of the red clover but longer
and more kidney shaped, and the color all yellow. The stalks
grow erect, and after mowing they immediately grow up again
from the parts where they were cut off. The roots are longer
’ than the saintfoin, and are not single, but some times they run
perpendicularly in three or four places from the crown.
It is the only plant in the world whose hay is equal to the
saintfoin for the fattening of cattle; but its virtues in that re-
spect are very great. It is the sweetest grass in the world, but
must be given to cattle with caution, and in small quantities,
otherwise they will swell, and incur diseases from it.
Though the common methods of husbandry will not raise
lucerne to any great advantage, yet the drilling and the horse-
hoe husbandry will raise it, annually increasing in value to the
owner, and make one of the most profitable articles of his busi-
- ness.
The soil to plant it on must be either a hot gravel, or a very
rich and dry land that has not an under stratum of clay, and is
not too near springs of water. The natural poorness of gravel or
sand may be made up by dung, and the benefit of the hoe, and
the natural richness of the other lands, being increased by hoe-
ing and cleansing from grass, the lucerne will thrive with less
heat; for what is wanted in one of those qualities must be mace
up in the other.
The best season for planting of it is early in the spring, the
earlier the better; for then there is always moisture enough in
the earth to make it grow, and not too much heat as would dry
up its tender roots, and kill it after the first shootings. About
a pound and a half of seed will be enough for an acre.
The planting it in autumn in some climates might do; but
here the winters are too cold, which would kill great part of the
tender plants, and greatly stunt and injure those it does not kill.
4
64 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
The number of the lucerne plants should be less than those of
saintfoin to an acre, because they grow much larger in this way
of management, and each occupies a greater space of ground, and
produces a larger quantity of hay.
The quick growth of this plant requires that it should have
large supplies of nourishment, and good room to grow in; and it
is better in all things of this kind to err in setting the plants too
far distant, than in setting them too near.
The most fatal diseases incident to lucerne are starving and
smothering; for this reason good cultivation is necessary to it,
and the often turning the earth with the hoe all about it. By
this means, a plant that in the common way of sowing would not
have been more than eight or nine inches high, will be four or
five feet, and will spread every way so as to produce a quantity
of hay, more like the cutting of a shrub than a plant.
The plants should stand at five inches distance in single rows,
and the intervals between these rows must be left wide enough
for the use of the hoe plough, (if managed according to the
horse-hoe husbandry); but if hand hoed, one foot between the
rows will do: for which I will refer you to my experiments on
fallow crops, where you will find that by this method I had at
the rate of four tun lucerne hay per acre. But lucerne sown in
drills so near will in a few years meet in the rows, which will
hinder the mould heing stirred, when it will starve for want of
nourishment, and thereby wear out.
Lucerne is of much quicker growth than saintfoin, or any
other grass. I have cut it four times in a season, whereas the
others are seldom cut above twice.
Lucerne is to be made into hay, the same as saintfoin or clover; .
but this must be observed, that it is always to be cut just before
it comes to flower. It is a fine food, if cut for the cattle green,
it is so sweet and full of nourishment but it must be kept clean
from natural grass, as that soon choaks and kills it.
Of the introduction of alfalfa into the Pacific coast
region we have less recorded. Naturally the people
of Spanish blood, settling California from Mexico,
brought their favorite farm seeds with them, seeds
of their best suited farm crops; among these was
alfalfa. Not much alfalfa was grown in California
by the Spanish colonists, enough probably to give
them credit for the introduction there, as they cer-
HISTORY. 65
tainly must claim credit for its introduction into
southwestern Texas and probably into New Mexico
and perhaps into Arizona.
It took the keen prophetic insight of the Ameri-
can, however, to see in the alfalfa plant the wonder-
ful possibilities that lay within it. Gold was discov-
ered in California in 1847 and immediately began a
great rush for that land. Many men went by the
long route ‘‘around The Horn.’’ In Chili a good
land and fertile, with well developed agriculture,
ships tarried often for a little time. The passengers
wearied with the long sea voyage took themselves
with delight to the fields. There they saw alfalfa
for the first time. Some of them took seed of it with
them to California. Others sent back there for seed
and sowed it in California, land of promise. Cali-
fornia proved to have suitable soil and climate, and
alfalfa throve there astonishingly. Gold could not
always be found with pick and shovel, it could with-
out fail be found by alfalfa roots. For the first time
in its history alfalfa became a great crop and men
began to plant it largely, to talk of it and write of it.
Probably no one knows more of the early history
of alfalfa in California than KE. J. Wickson, Director
of the California experiment station and dean of the
agricultural college. My letter to him containing
questiors and his answers thereto is presented:
I am delighted that you will undertake to help me in my alfalfa
investigations. I know of no man better fitted than you. The
points I particularly wish to know are not very difficult of answer.
Question: On what date did the real introduction of alfalfa in
California take place, and where was it sown?
Answer: I have record of sowing alfalfa by W. E. Cameron,
66 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
near Marysville in the Sacramento: Valley in 1851, who continued
until he had 270 acres in 1858.
Question: What was the source. of the seed?
Answer: From Chili and the plant was called Chili clover until
its Spanish name alfalfa was taken up. It was some time later
when its botanical identity with lucerne was known.
Question: Were there many alfalfa fields or patches in use by
the Mexicans, or earlier Cetera ne prior to the occupation by
the United States?
Answer: I never heard of any. Introduction is believed te
have been by Americans from Chili with which country there
was much trade and where stops were made coming round The
Horn.
Question: What is the oldest alfalfa field that you know of te
day, and about how many years?
Answer: I have no definite instance. The plant on good soil—-
that is free soil where no root injury comes from standing water
—is counted upon for more than 20 years of profitable growth.
Question: About what percentage of carbonate of lime exists in
the most productive alfalfa soils of California?
Answer: We are now growing alfalfa on nearly all productive
soils, the acreage on the heavier soils, formerly held to be un-
suitable, increasing every year. The average lime in California
soils (average of 262 analyses) is 1.25%.
Question: What would you consider an average yearly pre-
duction per acre of alfalfa hay?
Answer: Five tons.
Question: What is the maximum that you have known?
Answer: I cannot be sure but think it has gone up to 12 tons.
Question: We hear very astonishing stories of long alfalfa
roots; how long a one have you actually seen measured, or had
knowledge of that you considered authentic?
Answer: 24 feet but others claim up to 30 feet.
Concerning Henry Miller’s alfalfa I wrote in
‘‘The Breeder’s Gazette’? in September of 1900 as
follows:
Away back in 1850 there landed in San Francisco a lad with
fifty cents in his pocket, a brave heart and a determination to
work and succeed in this new world. He went to work in 2
butcher shop. Soon he had a small shop of his own. Then it
was a large shop. Then he bought, in 1858, a little land on whick
to hold some cattle. In 1860 he bought land in the San Joaquin
AN ALFALFA HAY HARVEST IN THE CORNBELT.
HISTORY. 67
Valley. It was dry semi-arid land. Some of his associates won-
dered what he would do with it. He bought more. After a time,
I think in 1872, he took out a canal to water it. In 1873 he im-
ported some alfalfa seed from Chili. He sowed 7 acres, a large
operation at that time. Gradually the holdings of land and of
cattle increased. Today the firm owns about a million of acres
of land, most of it in California. They have about 100,000 head
of cattle. They have about 120,000 sheep. This growth all repre-
sents the profit made in growing, killing and selling cattle and
sheep.
Henry Miiler is one of the wonderful men of our time. He is
one of the men with foresight and faith. His manager, Mr.
Schmitz, of the Poso ranch at Firebaugh, has been with Mr.
Miller for thirty years. He told me many incidents that showed
the kind of stuff of which the man is made. Here is an instance:
When the water was out Mr. Schmitz was instructed to irrigate
and sow barley. The land was not prepared for irrigation. Mr.
Schmitz and his Irish laborers knew little or nothing of the art.
They had a tremendous time of it. Mr. Schmitz lived night and
day in the fields, trying to manage the elusive water. The crop
was a fair one, but netted a loss of some $2,000. Mr. Schmitz re-
ported and asked to be allowed to resign. ‘“‘What for?” asked
Mr. Miller. “Well, it does not pay. I would not mind working
if I could see that it was a success,” he replied. “See here, Mr.
Schmitz, suppose you look after the work and let me do the
figuring,’ said Henry Miller.
When alfalfa proved the success that it did the solution of the
problem was in sight. After that it became a simple matter of
steadily enlarging the areas of irrigated lands, of alfalfa fields, of
cattle. Today on Mr. Schmitz’s division of Poso farm of 160,000
acres there are 20,000 acres of alfalfa. There are 25,000 acres of
irrigated native grasses. He cuts 15,000 tons of alfalfa hay. He
grows 50,000 sacks of barley and 5,000 sacks of Egyptian corn.
.His tenants grow some 100,000 sacks of wheat and 20,000 sacks of
barley.
Poso farm carries about 25,000 head of cattle. It has about
40,000 sheep and ships about 5,000 hogs each year.
Do those figures make you dizzy? Well, I will not deal much
in figures from this time on. You can get the idea that it is
not merely a ranch, a farm, but almost a state, certainly a prin-
cipality in itself. If there is anything like it in the world I
have not heard of it. We rode up the great weir in the San
Joaquin River, whence the canal starts that leads off westward
and divides the watered land from the dry. A lovely river is the
San Joaquin at this time of the year. Calm, neither hurrying
68 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
nor loitering, it sweeps on toward the bay, flowing under cool
shadows, stretching out wide over shallower reaches, and em-
bracing tree-embowered islands. It bears water enough to make
a garden of the entire valley, could it be held back until needed.
The canal is large enough for steamships at the head; it divides
after a time, and divides again and again as needed, until there
is a vast network of ditches, hundreds of miles, so much that
Mr. Schmitz declined to even guess the total length. Italian
laborers take the water from the ditches and spread it over the
land. Dikes, following the contours, make it spread over all.
The alfalfa fields are irrigated three times each season. There is
so large an area to water that it is not practical to get over them
oftener than that, yet it would doubtless be better if it could be
done. And the cattle graze the alfalfa, except that one crop is
taken from the field and made into hay for winter feeding.
Alfalfa grows rank over here. It is the best that I have yet
seen in California. The cattle thrive on it as a matter of course.
They are careful not to turn hungry cattle on alfalfa pasture.
They must be first filled up with hay or grass. After once be-
coming accustomed to green alfalfa they are never taken away,
so do not get hungry, gorge themselves and bloat. That seems
the explanation of it all. They graze it with many thousands,
yet lose hardly any at all. And sheep are treated the same way.
I never saw such lambs as these alfalfa lambs. They are born
early, in February generally, and they run on the alfalfa until
they go to the butchers. Often their mothers are fat enough to
go also in a short time after the lambs are taken away. The
herder merely restrains them from roaming about over the fields
and trampling down too much at a time. The alfalfa is not
grazed short, there is no chasing the sheep away after they have
eaten a little, there is no running them about to keep them from
bloating; they are simply gotten used to it and left alone until
they get fat. And the loss is very light indeed. Shropshire rams
are mostly used. The ewe flocks are largely kept up by purchase
of range ewes. The increase reaches as high as 120%. The
quality of the Miller & Lux cattle is very good—much better
than the average. Very many registered and more pure-bred but
unregistered Short-horns are used, but the California idea pre-
vails that a Short-horn is not good unless he is red. And, by the
way, there are no Short-horngs in California; there are only
“Durhams.” This term is also used in Utah and Nevada. At
present the cattle are kept until they are three and four years
old. The question of early maturity seems to have been little
considered.
I saw them dipping cattle as a preventive of Texas fever. The
HISTORY. 69
dipping vat is made exactly on the model of a sheep-dipping vat.
It is about 75 feet long and the cattle are put through very
rapidly and without loss. The lime and sulphur dip is used, to
which a quantity of crude petroleum is added. This certainly
destroys the ticks if any exist and for a time keeps off the flies.
As to the ultimate benefit, as they are put back on supposedly in-
fected pastures, I think it a matter of experiment. It costs about
five cents to dip a steer. It makes a few orphan calves, that is
the worst of the practice. About 3,000 can be dipped in a day
at one of these plants. The getting of the cattle to the dipping
vat is the main part of the work. As a matter of dipping, this
is entirely successful. None of the loss or difficulty that the Gov-
ernment dipping experiments reported are encountered here. And
I have no doubt that the dipping removes the ticks.
Winter feeding is carried on here in an immense way. There
is quite an elaborate plan of procedure. In order to understand
it you must consider two propositions: one that the hay has in
it more or less of “foxtail’ grass, which has on it disagreeable
barbs, and that it is desired to mix with the hay a very small
amount of grain. The problem is to get rid of the danger of the
foxtail, and to mix four pounds of ground barley with some 30
pounds of alfalfa hay and make a ration for a steer. All the hay
is cut through great Ross cutters, then it is put on the floor of
the great feeding barn and wet down. This barn holds no cattle.
Then the ground grain is mixed with it. It stands for about
forty-eight hours, until it becomes soft and slightly fermented,
then it is taken out and fed. It is in the same condition as
alfalfa silage. The cattle thrive better on 34 pounds a day of
this ration than on 50 pounds of uncut alfalfa fed out of doors
on the ground. That is what these men believe, and who will
argue against so much experience? But the amount of labor in-
volved would stagger an ordinary mind. Imagine handling 12,000
tons of alfalfa in this way, as Mr. Schmitz must do on his own
farm. The amount of grain fed in proportion to hay is very
small, it would seem. Yet the hay is of prime quality; it is as
rich as hay can possibly be.
The method of making hay on this ranch is interesting. It is
cut and raked with ordinary tools. It is then caught up by
large buck rakes on wheels that carry about 700 pounds to the
stack. It is lifted by a great sling, and swung over the rick by
a sort of crane. Or it is loaded on wagons and hauled farther and
lifted by a Stockton fork. These forks are 5, 6 or 7 feet long;
they take up enormous loads and are distinctly better than the
harpoon or grapple forks used East. I mean to have one on our
own ranch and one in Ohio. The ricks are not left sharp, and
70 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
in our wet Ohio climate would spoil badly. The haymakers are
largely Italians; the irrigators are Italians. Spaniards do some
of the work. Basques do some of it, Mexicans do a part, Portu-
guese do a part, Chinese do the cooking and gardening. Ameri-
cans do a little of everything, and are often foremen. Mr.
Schmitz speaks three or four languages, and finds them almost
indispensable. Things must go wrong very often on such a vast
ranch; there must be perplexities and vexations enough to vex
a saint. Think then how convenient to have three or four lan-
guages in which to express your disapprobation with things in
general and the case in particular!
This much for one man’s fortunes as built on al-
falfa roots. But other men were awakening to the
value of the plant.
Soon it spread over much of California, and
thence eastward into Utah where it was called Inu-
cerne and where it throve as well as it could thrive
anywhere on earth. In Utah were many small farm-
ers, careful men, keeping cows and horses and pigs
with poultry and bees. To these men alfalfa was a
god-send. The Mormon farmers began to cut alfalfa
for seed. From Utah seed nearly the whole west has
been planted. Colorado took alfalfa next; fields of
good size were being sown in 1886 when first the
writer traveled through that state.
for the available phosphoric acid than any other
source of phosphorus, and thus the lime is gotten
free. It is advised that from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds
per acre of basic slag be applied where alfalfa is
sown. The large surplus of phosphorus thus given
will not leach away, but will remain to feed the
plants for some years, while the lme will help
sweeten the soul.
Basic slag costs too much for use at present in the
ecornbelt states. Where it is ‘available is in New
Kngland, New York, and along the Atlantic sea-
board. The price is about one dollar per unit of
phosphoric acid; that is, slag analyzing 17 per cent.
available phosphoric acid would cost the consumer
about $17 per ton. At present writing the Coe-
136 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
Mortimer Co. of New York import most of the
Thomas phosphate.
I have seen astonishing results from the use of
this substance in England, where it is applied to
meadows and pastures. In May in England one sees
many manure distributers or fertilizer distributers
going over the meadows and pastures. If he will
take trouble to see what these machines are distrib-
uting he will find in most instances it is basic slag
that is being sown over the grass, sometimes with
an addition of nitrate of soda or potash. Where the
basic slag is put, very marked result is seen in the
clovers that spring up in the grass. Even when no
clover seeds are sown at all the result is often as
though it had been sown to clovers, since a rich
growth of them comes up and overtops the grass. The
explanation is that the clovers or their seeds were
already in the soil waiting for favorable conditions.
The coming of the phosphorus fed the little plants,
then the lime sweetened in a degree the soil, and the
plants shot up and overtopped the grass. Thus the
forage was much enriched, and later when the clover
leaves and roots decayed the soil was so enriched
that the grass was greatly thickened and strength-
ened. When one is applying annual fertilization to
his alfalfa meadows he may well consider the use
of basic slag.
Sour Soils —It may be asked, ‘‘How do soils be-
come sour?’’? Any vegetable matter decaying in the
soil will create an acid there. From sweetest apples
is made the sourest vinegar. Tea leaves put in a
CARBONATE OF LIME. 137
stone jug with water will make a sour vinegar, as the
writer tested in his ranching days. Soil acids accu-
mulate in soils that have no lime to neutralize them.
Some plants grow well in sour soils, but not many
useful plants. Wild things grow most in acid soils.
Useful legumes grow poorly, if at all, with some ex-
eeptions. And alfalfa refuses to grow at all with
the soil sour.
How is one to judge if his soil is sour? If he is
experienced in soils he ean tell by the character of
plant growth on the land whether it is sweet or sour.
Certain grasses betoken sour lands. Sorrel, or sheep
sorrel (Rumex acetosellan) is pretty sure to come
where there is lime deficiency, and sorrel and alfalfa
do not go well together. There is a simple test that
any one can make with litmus paper. This is a blue
paper that can be bought of the druggist, usually in
little slips, stoppered in glass bottles. One can take
a slip of this paper and some of the suspected soil,
having it moist, and insert half the length of the
slip in the moist soil and let it remain in contact for
half an hour. If there is any apparent redness in
the paper be sure that there is acidity in that land.
If the blue paper does not turn red the land is at
least neutral. To test whether the land is actually
alkaline with lime, which it ought to be to grow big
alfalfa, expose a slip of the paper in quite weak
vinegar only long enough to turn it red, then insert
it in the soil and leave it for an hour, having the soi!
moist and in contact. If it then turns blue again
you may be sure that you can grow it on that land.
138 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
This then is true: to get maximum crops of
alfalfa, to grow it as though you were growing a
weed, make your land alkaline with lime, instead of
having it acid. Then get it dry, add proper amounts
of fertility, and the only troubles you will have will
be in caring for the crops of hay and some day in
breaking your tough alfalfa sod.
Where the Lime Soils Lie-—Where probably
are soils already filled sufficiently with lime, and
where are they deficient from the standpoint of the
alfalfa plant?
In no part of the arid and semi-arid region has
there been found evidence of any need of lime in
the soil. Often there will be found from 114% to
4% of carbonate of lime in those soils. This would
be equivalent to from 30 to 80 tons of this substance
in the top foot of soil of each acre.
Coming eastward it is doubtful if any part of
Nebraska, Kansas or the Dakotas need lime, except
in their eastern portions or in especially sandy parts.
It seems certain that the western portions of these
states have lime enough already. Southeastern Kan-
sas needs lime, so doubtless do parts of Oklahoma
and the Indian Territory.
Texas has a great diversity of soils. Parts of
Texas are tremendously supplied with carbonate of
lime. There alfalfa is almost a weed, suffering only
from lack of sufficient rainfall. Eastern Texas, on
the other hand, needs lime very badly indeed to
make alfalfa thrive. Along rivers the alluvial soils
are usually well stored with lime.
CARBONATE OF LIME. 139
Arkansas needs lime badly, except in her alluvial
soils along the Mississippi River. There one sees
luxuriant alfalfa grown. Some of the ‘‘buckshot’’
soils of Arkansas have in them a great amount of
lime carbonate and are destined to be great alfalfa-
producing regions. The hill soils and uplands
mostly are in need of more lime. There are excep-
tional areas of upland that have already sufficient —
hme native in their soils, but these areas have not
yet been accurately defined.
Missouri grows alfalfa about in proportion to her
hme content. In Pemiscot county along the Missis-
sippi River on ‘‘buckshot’’ soil alfalfa grows glori-
ously. This soil contains about 14% of calcium
earbonate. Prof. M. F. Miller, of the Missouri Col-
lege of Agriculture, reports that where about % of
1% of carbonate of lime is in Missouri soils and
humus is supplied through use of manures, alfalfa
thrives.
At this time (1909) it is unknown how much of
Iowa would be helped by application of more lime.
A letter giving results from Scott County is pre-
sented on a preceding page. It is probable that
over much of the prairie section of the state a light
application, say one ton to three tons per acre of
ground limestone, would put the right condition
there for proper bacterial life in the soil. That 1s
about all there is to it; lime enough is needed to
make the earth swarm with the right sort of bac-
teria. Lime enough is needed to correct any toxic
principle exhaled from the alfalfa roots. _
140 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
All the region east of the Mississippi River will
be helped by use of ground limestone, with the ex-
ception of some favored spots where glaciers have
already ground the rocks to powder and mixed it
through the land. Anywhere that alfalfa fails to
thrive after the land has been made dry and fairly
rich one may know that carbonate of lime is de-
ficient. Especially may one be sure that all soils
along the Atlantic seaboard are deficient in car-
bonate of lime, and by supplying this lack their
eapacity for crop production may be immensely
increased.
The Chemistry of Lime.—In “‘The Breeder’s Ga-
zette’’ of July 14, 1909, Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins, agron-
omist of the College of Agriculture, University of
Illinois, sets forth clearly the chemistry of lime in
its relation to soil improvement. I quote his state-
ment complete:
The use of lime for soil improvement is a subject which is dis-
cussed with a great deal of misconception and confusion, due in
large part to the erroneous practice of referring to lime as though
it were a chemical element.
Lime is not an element and consequently is not an element of
plant food. It is an alkaline substance and is known in three
forms: the carbonate, the oxide and the hydroxide. The carbonate
is the natural form found in rocks and soils and it consists of
either calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate or a double com-
pound of calcium magnesium carbonate known as magnesian
limestone or dolomite. When highly heated these carbonates lose
their carbon dioxide as a volatile gas and the oxide or quicklime
remains. This substance takes up water either from direct appli-
cation or from the moisture of the atmosphere and changes into
the form of hydroxide or water-slaked lime. On long exposure
to the air the hydroxide will absorb carbon dioxide from the air
and give off water, thus reforming the carbonate compound. Thus
we may say that calcium carbonate (CaCO,), calcium oxide (CaO)
CARBONATE OF LIME. . a
and calcium hydroxide (CaO.H.) are ordinary forms of lime;
also that magnesium carbonate (MgCO,), magnesium oxide
(MgO) and magnesium hydroxide (MgO.H,.) are the correspond-
ing magnesium compounds, more or less of which are contained
in magnesian limes, of which the most common form is calcium
magnesium carbonate CaMg(CO,),. Any of these compounds
may be used for neutralizing acids and thus for correcting the
acidity of the soil.
If it can be kept clearly in mind that these are the naeindes
properly called lime, and that nothing else is lime, much confu-
sion ean be avoided. However, a compound properly named cal-
cium chloride (CaCl,) is often called chloride of lime and yet it
contains no lime whatever and does not possess the property of
lime. In other words, it is not an alkaline substance and has no
power to correct the acidity of the soil. It does contain the ele-
ment calcium which is also contained in the ordinary forms of
lime, but the element calcium is not lime.
Now let us turn to the subject of plant food. There are 10
essential elements of plant food and it is true that calcium is one
of these elements and that it is required to a greater or less ex-
tent by all agricultural plants, but it is not at all essential that
calcium as an element of plant food be applied to the soil in any
form of lime. It may be applied as calcium sulphate or as calcium
phosphate, and it even exists in many soils which are absolutely
devoid of lime which are even strongly acid and markedly in need
of lime, but which, nevertheless, may contain abundance of cal-
cium for plant food in the form of acid calcium silicates. Thus
the acid soils of Illinois which require an application of several
tons of ground limestone to correct their acidity contain several
tons of the element calcium in the plowed soil of an acre. In
some cases soils are found which are not only deficient in lime
but also deficient in the element calcium and on such soils the
application of any of the calcium limes would furnish both lime
for correcting soil acidity and the element calcium for plant food.
Summary.—Alfalfa is one of the most beautiful,
most valuable and most profitable crops in the
world. It makes the most hay. The hay is the rich-
est and best. It enriches the soi! on which it grows.
It endures for many years with one sowing. It has
redeemed the arid and semi-arid west. It is coming
into every state in the Union.
142 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
Many needless failures in attempts to grow alfalfa
have resulted in eastern states. Alfalfa need not be
a hard plant to establish. It is hardier than red
clover. It withstands any drouth. It withstands
cold better than any other clover. In some regions
alfalfa seems native to the soil. In other regions
all the nursing in the world fails to establish it. ey
is this difference?
All natural alfalfa countries have the soil filled
with carbonate of lime. There may also be other
alkalies in it, and sometimes injurious alkalies, but
carbonate of lime is the useful thing found. Wherever
the soil is well stored with carbonate of lime alfalfa
grows like a weed, if other conditions are good.
Where the soil is acid no amount of manure will
keep alfalfa alive very long.
Carbonate of lime is the sort that God put in the
soil when He made it. Burned lime is man’s at-
tempt at improvement. Burned lime may help and
may harm. Carbonate of lime, that is, raw ground
limestone, never harms soil. It cannot harm soil,
use it as freely as you like. One could put on 950
tons to the acre and do the soil no injury. It would
merely lie in the soil inert till it was required. Car-
bonate of lime is needed to make the bacteria of
alfalfa thrive. It is needed to free the soil from
poisons that destroy both bacteria and alfalfa. Car-
bonate of lime stops waste of fertility, makes vege-
table matter into humus, arrests fleeing nitrogen.
Ground limestone will make alfalfa grow without
fail, if a few other easily met conditions are com-
CARBONATE OF LIME. 143
plied with. The amount needed will vary; all soils
have already some lime in them. Where there is
marked deficiency apply 100 pounds of ground lime-
stone to the square rod for alfalfa growing. Always
leave a strip unlimed to note the result.
Here are the few simple rules needed to assure
alfalfa:
First, water let out of the soil and air let in by
drains.
Second, soil made alkaline, not neutral, with
ground limestone.
Third, soil with some humus in it, preferably from
stable manure. |
Fourth, soil with phosphorus and a little potash,
the phosphorus preferably from bone meal or basic
slag, though acid phosphate will answer. And use
enough of it. Alfalfa feeds heavily on phosphorus.
Fifth, good seed mixed with some soil from a
good alfalfa field or from a sweet clover patch, sown
on a deeply plowed, firm, fine seed bed, any time
between April and September.
Ground limestone insures vigorous alfalfa. Vig-
orous alfalfa is the most energetic soil enricher in
the world. When it has stood a few years if it is
then plowed and planted to corn the result is simply
marvelous.
A field well set in productive alfalfa will yield 5
tons to the acre. This is easily worth $10 to $15
per ton, as alfalfa hay is nearly of the same value
as a feed as wheat bran. Thus you note that it
yields good interest on a valuation of $250 per acre.
144 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
Common farm lands do not pay well. Invest in
limestone, manure, phosphorus, alfalfa seed, make
over that $75 land into $250 land and farming wiil
pay you.
Visiting a Stone Quarry.—A visit to a limestone
quarry is an interesting thing. These thoughts
came one day to the writer as he strolled with a
company of Ohio State University agricultural stu-
dents beside the quarries at Columbus, Ohio. A
great mass of limestone rock rises to within a few
feet of the surface of the soil. Here the Scioto
river, cutting its way through, has eroded a chan-
nel, exposing cliffs of lmestone; here have come
quarrymen seeking to mine the rock for building,
for road ballast and for grinding to put upon the
soil.
Upon this scene burst a class of students, eager
and curious to note everything, like happy children
out of school, climbing over the heaps of debris,
shouting merry jests and making exclamations of
surprise as they note the many curious revelations.
Here, by the railroad embankment, newly made,
spring up blue grass and white clovers, their roots
in the crumbling limestone of the ballast, eloquently
telling how waste soils may be restored and covered
over with vegetation where lime is. To our left a
tangled jungle of old dry weed stalks standing upon
heaps of limestone debris, and as we plunge within
this jungle we find the weeds are mostly sweet
clover, growing huge and lusty, laden last summer
- with flower and yet bearing seeds. Think of the
CARBONATE OF LIME. 145
myriads of bacteria on the roots of this sweet clover,
busily soil building, getting this waste land ready
for more useful things.
Now we stand at the brink of the quarry, a great
hole in the ground. Our gray haired teacher asks
us 1f we know what is the most durable of all man’s
work upon earth, and smilingly he tells us that the
most permanent thing that man has ever yet
achieved is a hole in the ground. But, think of
the human energy required to quarry and cart away
these millions of tons of limestone that once filled
this excavation; and think further than that, to the
time when this part of the earth was a shallow sea
where warm waves rocked endlessly and little shell-
fish swam and crawled, and dying one by one, be-
queathed their bones to make the limestone that was
one day to become this rock; and next, the quarry-
men, short, thick, brown men, hugely muscled,
pounding away upon the rocks as though they loved
it. They too tell the story of lime, for is not the
island of Sicily one limestone rock? Yes, and these
sturdy peasants tell another story, the story of the
vigor that may come from simple living. For cen-
turies their food has been macaroni and olive oil,
with, let us hope, an orange for dessert, and yet to-
day they can in physical energy far surpass the
meat-eating American. And what are they doing,
these swarthy Italians, with dynamite mightily shat-
tering this rock, with steam locomotives dragging it
to the crushers, and there dumping it into yawning
jaws that mightily bite and chew it until it is shaped
146 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
for railway ballast or for concrete construction?
And here is another machine, more interesting yet,
a machine of prophecy, a machine meaning great
things to the farmer, for in this machine, so small
and apparently insignificant, the rock is ground
rapidly into powder and this powder through end-
less carriers is loaded into cars, no man’s hands
touching it after it is first dumped, and from this
mill it goes forth by cars to the fields of Ohio. Think
what this means; somewhere an old sour clay field
refusing to grow clover, refusing to grow anything
rich enough to yield profit, sending no boys to eol-
lege, giving little hope to the owner, and now under
one shower of this ground limestone will come the
miracle. The sourness will disappear, clover will
grow, the bees will hum, the mower will click, the
boy will whistle, books will come into the home and
magazines, and let us hope some lad from that farm
will start to the university.
Building Soils to Stay Buwilt——My father was a
firm believer in the idea that a soil could be so en-
riched that it would afterward stay rich, that it
would gain momentum enough, so to speak, so it
would keep on caring for itself afterward. There-
fore he would apply manure in large amounts to
one spot of land after another, seeking to establish
this condition of things.
There is much basic truth in his theory and. his
practice was not far wrong. When much manure 1s
worked into sweet soil, a soil well stored with ear-
bonate of lime, there is set up there a laboratory
CARBONATE OF LIME. 147
where fertility is steadily manufactured. There
will be air in such a soil and bacteria in enormous
abundance, among them the useful bacteria that live
upon any sort of decaying humus in the soil and
gather nitrogen from the air, the new-found azobac-
ter. Thus there is a perpetual fertility-gathering
plant established right in the soil.
It all depends, after all, on the possession by the
soil of a large amount of carbonate of lime. If that
is absent the fertility put there in excess of the
needs of the plants soon leaches away and 1s gone.
The writer has traveled in lands very deficient in
lime, so deficient that the well water was almost as
pure as distilled water, and there has noted that not
only were the fields incredibly poor, but even such
places as barn lots had in them very little richness
indeed, though manure had been wasted therein for
a century or more.
Think how old the world is! And since the rocks
cooled and vegetation started to cover the earth
roots have been decaying in the soil and leaves fall-
ing thereon with stems and branches and all man-
ner of debris. Enough vegetable matter, enough
humus-forming material, has fallen to the earth and
become buried in the earth nearly everywhere, to
make the soil incredibly rich. Instead we commonly
find even wild soils rather poor. Why? Because of
the lack of carbonate of lime. That is the one thing
that can fix fertility and hold it for use in future
years.
- On the old farm at Arlington, near Washington, it
148 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
is said that manure enough has been applied since
it has been in possession of the United States to
cover the soil with a layer several feet deep, and
yet the land is of only very moderate fertility. Why?
Because it is so lacking in carbonate of lime.
Coming back to my father’s idea that land could
be given such an impetus towards fertility and pro-
ductiveness that it would ‘‘keep a-going’’ it should
be said that it is only a partial truth, after all.
Doubtless the nitrogen content of the soil can be
maintained. In order to do this leguminous crops
should come with somewhat frequent recurrence,
since legumes restore nitrogen faster than anything
else we know. And alfalfa is the most vigorous ni-
trogen gatherer at our command. No one can store
a soil with fertility and draw upon it with maize
or oats or wheat or timothy grass without rapidly
depleting his store. All these things are soil rob-
bers; they do not create or secrete fertility for the
soil.
Phosphorus Needed.—Nor can legumes or alfalfa
do impossibilities. The mineral elements are pres-
ent in fixed amounts. Of potash one may have a
great abundance and on many soils need never
worry nor concern himself, but phosphorus is usual-
ly a thing needed and not in sufficient supply. It must
be remembered that plants cannot build their tissues,
form their blooms and mature their seeds without
using in regular ‘‘balanced ration”’ ali the elements
of plant food. They cannot make use of an excess
of nitrogen profitably when phosphorus is in scant
CARBCNATE OF LIME. 149
supply. Thus on Woodland Farm, which is rapidly
becoming fertile—nearly as fertile, probably, as it
is profitable to make farm land—we find it wise each
year to purchase this one element, phosphorus. We
put it on when we start alfalfa. We put it on the
old alfalfa meadows. It pays largely in increased
yield and in increased vigor of the plants. This
makes the alfalfa able to resist weeds and rust and
all the enemies of it. And once on the farm much
of the phosphorus is retained, is used over and over
again. When we cut the hay we take up phosphorus,
and if we were to sell the hay this would be drained
away and lost, but when we feed the hay on the
farm, as we try to do with most of our crop, we
sell away only as much phosphorus as is contained
in the wool and mutton of the lambs and in their
bones, and what goes to the manure is pretty care-
fully saved and put back on the land. Thus our
store increases steadily.
MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL.
I have dwelt so long on the subject of carbonate of
lime that I must now take occasion to emphasize that
lime is not sufficient plant food. Lime promotes
bacterial life and saves plant food and makes it
available and helps it accumulate. After one has his
soil well filled with carbonate of lime, then he is
ready to begin to build it. If nature had filled that
soil with carbonate of lime ages ago she would have
gone on with the work and stored it with vegetable
matter, humus. Then there would be now in that
soil nitrogen and bacteria in abundance, and prob-
ably abundant phosphorus and potash as well, since
_ phosphorus is nearly always in pretty good supply
where carbonate of lime is plentiful in the soil.
Let us get clearly in mind here that liming is only
a step in the soil-building process; it is the founda-
tion of tings, as it were. And now again let us re-
peat that soils are living things. The productive-
ness of the soil is dependent upon the numbers of
bacteria found therein. Bacterial life is not abun-
dant in soils that are deficient in humus, vegetable
matter.
Stable Manure Best Source —The very best source
of humus is stable manure. If the reader has fol-
lowed the story of Woodland Farm, related in the be-
ginning of this book, he will have in mind the great
part that manure played in building the alfalfa
(150)
MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 151
fields. Early in our experience we learned that
wherever we applied a good coat of manure, there
we got luxuriant alfalfa. This led us to feed lambs
and cattle and to save the manure with care. Later
study of the use of manure showed us that there was
great waste when manure was let stand in the yard
till fall before it was hauled out. Therefore we made
practice of drawing it at once to the fields and
spreading it nearly as fast as it was made. This
practice we yet observe.
Manure in the soil does very much more ihe add
fertility. Probably we do not know nearly all that
it does. First, doubtless it directly feeds the soil.
There is nitrogen in manure, some small amount of
potash, and a httle more phosphorus, though not
nearly so much phosphorus as there should be to
make a balanced ration for plants. But manure
brings in myriads of bacteria. These bacteria aid
plant life and plant growth. Where manure is the
special nitrifying bacteria abound. The bacteria too
that attach themselves to alfalfa roots and clover
abound much more in soils filled with manure.
Manure Brings. Inoculation.—It is seldom if ever
necessary to inoculate land for alfalfa when it has
been well enriched with manure. I once saw a field
sown to alfalfa in Canada that was so well inocu-
lated that in six weeks after the alfalfa was sown
the tiny nodules were found on the roots, and this
field was the first sown in that neighborhood, nor
was it artificially inoculated. It had simply been
well manured. In other states I have seen the same
152 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
curious result. In Iowa on the experiment station
farm at Ames a field was sown in alfalfa. All the
seed was sown the same day and in no way was the
treatment of one part of the field different from
the treatment of any other part, yet there was se-
cured a fine stand of thrifty alfalfa on one side of
the field and very thin and poor alfalfa on the other
side. The explanation seemed to be that on a previ-
ous year one side of this field had been manured and
sugar beets grown thereon. Yet all the field seemed
very fertile and Director C. F. Curtiss thought that
planted in corn all of the field was rich enough to
grow 80 bushels to the acre. But that addition of
some stable manure a year or two previously made
one side of the field eminently fit for alfalfa, while
the other side remained in unprofitable condition so
far as alfalfa was concerned. From experience I
feel sure that I had rather take a rather poor piece
of land, well manured, for alfalfa growing, than a
naturally rich piece of land with no manure. In
truth some of the heaviest alfalfa I have ever seen
grew on Woodland Farm on soil naturally very in-
fertile, though well filled with lime, after the field
had been well coated with manure, the manure
turned under deep and alfalfa sown.
One day I was plowing in this self same field when
a curious thought came. A flock of black birds was
following the plow, hopping eagerly along and
keeping up animated discourse, meanwhile busily
searching for something. What they were after, of
course. was earth worms. The thought then came,
MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 153
‘Why, here is the best indication yet of whether
alfalfa will thrive in a field. If the black birds fol-
low the plowman it is sure to grow; if no black birds
come let him beware how he sows alfalfa.’’ It is
indeed a true indication for all eastern soils; there
may be lands in the South and West where the earth
worm is not a sure indication. Earth worms thrive
only where there is humus in the land. They doa
most useful work in opening the soil by means of
their tunnels to let in air and let out water. They
bury up vegetable matter and promote bacterial
life. Where earth worms are the soil is evidently
drained, although it may not be drained deep
enough. ;
Alfalfa Loves Rich Soils —The plain truth 1s that
thousands of men all over the eastern states of
America have tried to grow alfalfa on land, too poor
for it. Alfalfa loves fertile soil. In turn it adds
greatly to the fertility of any land on which it grows.
It is an energetic soil enricher, but it will not en-
rich poor soils. That may be a pity, but it is after
all in the order of Nature. ‘‘T’o him who hath shall
be given.’’ One must have fertility in order to trap
more fertility. No other available plant will gather
so much fertility as the alfalfa plant. A field of it
will gather nitrogen largely, the hay may be fed,
the manure saved, another field enriched and sown
to alfalfa and thus the fertility will spread from the
one spot of infection till all the farm is covered.
But only by beginning right, by making one field
rich and dry and sweet, getting it set in alfalfa,
154 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
then from the manure of that field spreading to an-
other, can a man succeed. It is easy once you get
started. The farther you go the faster the work
proceeds. I write now of rather poor eastern
soils. Of course there are soils already so rich in
all needed elements of plant food that it is idle to
add more, Men owning such soils are more blessed
than they probably realize.
Soils Devoid of Humus.—Will not alfalfa grow in
soils devoid of humus? It is an interesting ques-
tion. I feel that it will, under certain conditions.
There are desert soils that would seem to be almost
devoid of vegetable matter, yet fully charged with
mineral salts and in these I have seen the most tre-
mendous alfalfa that I have ever seen. Perhaps
there was more humus in that gray-colored lime-
impregnated alkaline soil than I thought, but it
certainly was as hard as brick when dry and of the
color of lime mortar. It is sure, however, that in
eastern soils humus is most desirable; how indis-
pensable it is remains to be worked out.
An Example of Farm Practice—On Woodland
Farm there is one 60-acre field commonly called the
Gill field. It has not long been a part of the farm.
The soil was clay, some of it white and some of it
black. A part of the field was low and peaty. For
many years it had probably not paid the cost of cul-
tivation. It had had little or no manure since the
forest was cleared away.
The first step was to get rid of surplus wick and
miles of ditches were laid, one of them to give out-
MANURES AND HUMUS IN’ SOIL.’ 155
let being for some distance 10 to 12 feet deep. The
usual depth was 3 to 4 feet. Then a very little stable
manure was spread over the field and red clover
was sown with beardless spring barley as a nurse
erop. With the clover was sown a fertilizer com-
posed of tankage and acid phosphate. The barley
was cut off for hay and the clover came on and made >
a fair growth. It was a good stand and had a
healthy look, which no one remembered seeing on
this field for many years. The clover was cut for
hay and seed, and a trifle more of manure spread
over the ground. It is evident that on a 60 acre field
one will not strew manure very thickly unless he has
access to a very large store, and only the farm barns
and feeding yards could be drawn upon.
The land was then plowed and planted to corn,
making about 55 bushels per acre. Its previous crop
had been about 20 bushels. On the corn stubble
more manure was spread in 1904 and again the land
was sown to clover with a nurse crop of beardless
spring barley. This time it was hoped that the field
might be dry enough and fertile enough to take al-
falfa, so a mixture of alfalfa was put with the
clover, about 10 per cent or a little more. Again the
barley was made into hay.
This time the clover was a glorious success, alee
ing more than double what it had yielded the first
year and the alfalfa came in strong for the second
eutting. It was vigorous over nearly all the field.
In the spring of 1906 the field was again sprinkled
somewhat with manure and plowed for corn. The
156 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
yield that year was about 90 bushels. Again with
a light coating of manure it was put in corn. This
time the yield was 85 bushels. For the corn crop a
dressing of 400 pounds per acre of raw Tennessee
rock phosphate was applied. Just what effect this
had we do not know, as we left no test strips. It
probably was of material benefit, however.
Once more a light application of manure was
made. In truth the applications of manure were all
light except on certain spots of exceptionally poor
white clay. The land was plowed again and seeded
(in April, 1908), to alfalfa with a nurse crop, as
usual, of beardless spring barley. With the seeding
was sown fertilizer, plain acid phosphate, analyzing
about 16 per cent available phosphoric acid, at the
rate of 250 pounds per acre.
1908 proved a very dry summer yet a splendid
stand resulted over the whole field. A crop of bar-
ley hay was cut and later a light crop of alfalfa
hay, probably not quite one ton to the acre. From
the window where I sit I look out afield across this
very stretch of land. It is (May 5, 1909,) a glorious
sight. Aside from a few wet pond holes there is not
a square foot of the land that is not covered with
green and growing alfalfa plants. That field should
make near 5 tons of hay this year. And every year
since the manure spreader started over the tiled
fields the land has paid well.
It is not probable that alfalfa would have made a
strong growth on this field without this slow bring-
ing-up process. The land was too run down, too de-
MANURES AND HUMUS IN SOIL. 157
pleted of humus. Could more manure have been
spared doubtless the field could have been gotten
ready for alfalfa earlier, but it was not available,
so red clover, which is less exacting, came in first
and paved the way.
Methods of Using Manure.—While there can be
no question of the value of manure for alfalfa yet
there are several ways of using it, some much more
successful than others. It is seldom good practice to
apply heavy coats of manure and at once sow al-
falfa. The trouble is from the strong growth of
weeds and annual grasses that will result and which
may in part smother the alfalfa. Manure is often
filled with weed seeds, has tendency to rush rapidly
all weeds that naturally spring up and these worth-
less things outgrow the little alfalfa plants. Weeds
may usually be subdued by mowing off the field
two or three times during the season, but there is
danger in mowing young alfalfa at the wrrong time
which sometimes destroys it. Briefly, alfalfa ought
not to be cut till little shoots appear on the bases of
the stems. These shoots appear as buds which de-
velop into new stems. Before these shoots appear
it sometimes quite destroys alfalfa to cut it off; this
is especially true the first season of its existence. So
one can not mow off weeds till these little shoots
come. The writer has more than once seen efforts
made to force alfalfa to grow by heavy manuring
when what it really needed was liming. The only
result was a worse crowding by weeds.
It is very much better to apply a heavy coat of
158 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
manure and plow it under the preceding year, then
plant a crop of corn and keep the crop absolutely
clean of weeds and grass so that no seeds will be
formed. This gives pretty clean land for alfalfa
sowing the succeeding year. Impossible to keep
corn land clean, say you? It is neither impossible
nor very difficult. On Woodland Farm it has been
found that about 5 plowings with two-horse culti-
vators followed with two goings through with one-
horse garden cultivators of the many shoveled type,
kept the corn almost absolutely clean, and men with
hoes rapidly completed the work.
m Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky or New York it often
failed. When it lived it was for some months or a
year or more a feeble, unhappy, sickly plant. After a
time perhaps it recovered and made wonderful
growth.
Why This Difference?—Why should it behave so
differently in different regions? Of course there
are several answers to this query. One is that some
soils are filled with lime and phosphorus, are dry
and filled with air. Alfalfa loves such soils. But
the other and more hidden and mysterious reason
is that of the nitrifying bacteria that help alfalfa
grow. These bacteria are naturally present in some
soils. They live on more species of legumes than
alfalfa alone. Burr clover (Medicago arabica or
Medicago denticulata) carries the same inoculation,
uses the same bacteria. So does sweet clover or
melilotus. Doubtless there are other wild legumes
growing in western arid soils that use the same bac-
teria. On the other hand, in eastern soils these bac-
teria were absent almost altogether.
One of the best illustrations of the lack of inoculat-
: (228)
224 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
ing bacteria was seen in Christian County, Kentucky.
A field of good limestone soil was well enriched
and sown to alfalfa in the fall. A fine stand re-
sulted and I visited it the next spring, some time
early in May. The alfalfa was short, stunted, of yel-
low color, clearly destined to be a failure. Careful
search revealed no nodules on the roots. One bunch
of thrifty alfalfa was in the middle of the field,
another at one edge, near where had stood a negro’s
eabin. I dug up these plants and found abundant
inoculation, the nodules being plentiful. I dug out
the soil around these spots and threw it over the
field. Rains distributed the bacteria still further,
so that in a year the whole field was inoculated and
yielded a heavy crop of hay, about six tons to the
acre. The land had been well limed.
Vital Relation of Bacterva—What is the vital re-
lation between bacteria and alfalfa? JI make no
pretense to exact scientific knowledge on this ques-
tion. As near as I understand it the case is about
as follows: Alfalfa is a legume. All or nearly all
leguminous plants are aided in their growth by bac-
teria that associate themselves with.the plants, living
on the roots or on the rootlets. With plants using
these bacteria existence without them is precarious
and often impossible.
Securing Nitrogen.—The problem of fertility, of
production of plants, of crop yield is a curious one.
Some elements going to make up plants are mineral;
these we find in the ash of plants. A large part is
water; this comes easily enough from the soil. A
INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 225
large part is carbon; carbon is taken from the air
by the leaves of the plant. There is plenty of car-
bon always for plant growth. There is usually
plenty of water. Mineral elements—potash, phos-
phorus, lime, iron and so on—are easily enough
added to the soil. The sole remaining element is
nitrogen. Nitrogen is one of the essential elements
in the proteins of food, the albumens. Nitrogen is
essential to nearly all life, animal and plant. All the
higher animals need much nitrogen in their foods.
All the grains have in them much nitrogen. Nearly
all crops taken away from the soil remove a great
deal of nitrogen. Soil waters leach it away. Since
the beginning of the world everything has preyed
upon the nitrogen of the soil. The rocks in the be-
ginning held little or none of it. Whence did the
soils then obtain their nitrogen supply?
Two Classes of Plants —There are two classes,
very broadly speaking, of plants in the world, the
nitrogen gatherers and the nitrogen users. Corn,
wheat, the grasses, potatoes, flax, oats, nearly all
farm crops use nitrogen and can not get it except
as it is already stored for them in the soil. That
at least is as far as we know now. At any rate
soils grow poor in nitrogen when crops of corn,
wheat, hay or almost any crop except clover or some
other legume is grown upon it. Certain crops are
soil builders. Certain other crops are soil robbers.
The legumes are the soil builders. They get nitrogen
in some way. How do they do this?
Abundant Nitrogen in Air.—Nitrogen exists in
26 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
enormous amounts in the air. Nearly 80% of the
air is pure nitrogen. Why can not the leaves take
it directly in as they do their carbon from the air?
That we do not know, but they can not do it. Plants
will starve and perish for nitrogen with their leaves
bathed in that substance, with their roots surround-
ed with it as well, for in all porous soils there is
much air.
About Bacteria.—Bacteria do the work. Bacteria
are very minute plants, sometimes almost like ani-
mals in having some power of motion. Yeast is a
bacteria. They are intensely minute. It would take
5,200 of them, placed in a row, to be an inch long.
Twenty-seven million could be on a square inch of
space. A farmer can not ever hope to see one; it
takes a powerful microscope to show one, yet any
farmer can see the work they do.
It is thought that there is really only one sort of
bacteria for all the clovers, but that habit has divided
them into varieties, similar yet unable to live on the
same plants. Thus there are the red clover bacteria,
the cowpea bacteria, the alfalfa bacteria, and many
more. Some bacteria live on several different plants,
just as the alfalfa bacteria thrive on melilotus, al-
falfa and burr clover.
These bacteria when they touch a tiny rootlet of
alfalfa have power to enter it and abide there. They
increase there and swarm in incredible numbers.
They are really parasites upon the plant, most like-
ly. The plant attacked puts out a protective cover-
ing, thus forming a swelling nodule on the little
INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 220
rootlet. This nodule is filled with these bacteria.
Nodules are not all alike; some look like httle seeds,
some like bunches of grapes. They vary in size and
shape very much. Nodules on alfalfa plants are
rather smaller usually than alfalfa seeds. They
exist only on the root hairs. Evidently these bac-
teria prefer the new fresh roots.
The Work of Bacteria—What do the bacteria do
for the plant? In some way they digest nitrogen
and assimilate it. In some way the plant gets it.
How? We do not know that. Maybe they die and
decay and the plant absorbs them. Maybe the plant
assimilates part of them before they get old enough
to die. Anyway we know that they get hold of the
nitrogen that exists in the air and that comes down
into the soil through its pores, get hold of it, use it
and give it to the plants. That is the miracle that
lets life exist on this world of ours. A happy chance?
Yes, or a thought of God. It is certain that were it
not for this ‘‘chance,’’ human life, and animal life as
well, would ultimately perish from the face of the
earth. On such tiny beings as these bacteria does all
life on the world hang for its ultimate existence.
Thoughtful men have long felt alarm over the state
of the world as far as the food supply of the people
was concerned, all because of this very drain of nitro-
gen from the soils by crop growing. Dr. Cyril G.
Hopkins says:
But a short time ago Sir William Crookes predicted that
within thirty or forty years England would experience a wheat
famine, due to the exhaustion of nitrogen in the soil, that would
be appalling in its effect; and Prof. Bela Korasey’s warnings to
228 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
Hungary have been even more emphatic. Indeed, Liebig, more
than fifty years ago, in speaking of one of the most common
methods of destroying sources of available nitrogen, said:
“Nothing will more certainly consummate the ruin of Eng-
land than the scarcity of fertilizers. It means the scarcity of
food. It is impossible that such a sinful violation of the divine
laws of nature should forever remain unpunished, and the time
will probably come for England, sooner than for any other coun-
try, when, with all her wealth in gold, iron, and coal, she will be
unable to buy one-thousandth part of the food which she has
during hundreds of years thrown recklessly away.”
To produce good crops of alfalfa without the nitrogen gather-
ing bacteria requires exceedingly rich soil and liberal applica-
tions of barnyard manure or other nitrogenous fertilizer. Hven
the rich black prairie soil of Illinois does not furnish sufficient
available nitrogen for maximum crops of alfalfa. No other crop
grown in illinois requires such large quantities of nitrogen as
alfalfa.
Applications of available nitrogen to Illinois soii produce
crops of alfalfa which yield from two to four times as much hay
as crops which obtain all of their nitrogen from the natural
supply of the soil. The inoculation of Illinois soil with the
proper alfalfa bacteria enables the alfalfa to feed upon the in-
exhaustible supply of free nitrogen in the air and the inoculated
soil produces just as large crops of alfalfa as soil which has been
heavily fertilized with commercial nitrogen. Nitrogen costs
about 15 cents a pound in commercial fertilizers, and about 50
pounds of nitrogen are required to produce one ton of alfalfa
hay and the weight of the free nitrogen in the atmosphere is
equal to about 12 pounds to each square inch of surface of the
earth.
In Summary.—Nitrogen is constantly being
drained out of the soil by growing crops. Wheat,
maize, oats, hay, nearly all farm crops take out nitro-
gen. It is gathered together in the grains; a grain
elevator represents the fertility of many a field. It
goes to the cities; it becomes the food of man. Ow-
ing to our wasteful practice, hard to reform in mod-
ern civilization, the nitrogen waste is poured into
the sea. Soon would the soils of the world become
INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 229
barren and mankind starve and perish if the Cre-
ative force of the world had not provided this means
of renewing the nitrogen of the soil. The tiny bac-
teria doit. All clovers gather nitrogen from the air.
Alfalfa gathers more than any other known clover
unless perhaps the sweet clover be an exception. Al-
falfa powerfully enriches the soil*on which it grows.
Bacteria make it possible to grow alfalfa. It will
not grow long without the bacteria.
How to Get Bacteria—How are we to get them,
how make them most healthful and vigorous? Many
schemes have been tried for getting the bacteria in
the soil. They ean be reared artificially in cultures,
and the seed treated with the culture, when each
seed ought to be coated with a film of these bacteria.
Each seed sown ought to produce a plant abundantly
inoculated. These are the so-called commercial cul-
tures. The theory is good. Unluckily some influence
that we do not understand, maybe the action of di-
rect light, usually destroys the vitality of the germs
and the cultures do not work. There is hardly any
evidence that these cultures are successful. It is
too bad that it should be true: the theory is so
plausible, the results, could they be secured, would
be so delightful. I believe the thing could yet be
brought to work, only that with the advance of
good farming it will not be long till the demand for
such cultures will cease, at least as far as alfalfa is
eoncerned. Curiously enough these bacteria are
very pervasive. Once a man begins to grow alfalfa
on his farm and to use manure from alfalfa hay,
230 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
very soon he has the land all inoculated so that he
can not sow a field anywhere that the bacteria do
not find the young plants. And when once alfalfa
has grown on a field the inoculation persists for
several years after it is plowed up. We do not.
understand these things yet. Maybe we never will.
It is mysterious that even the use of manure not
made from alfalfa hay, on a farm where alfalfa has
never grown, should often result in inoculating the
soil with alfalfa bacteria. There is no doubt of this
fact. I have seen it repeatedly.
Inoculation with Soi.—Soil from a field where al-
falfa has grown, or sweet clover (melilotus) has
grown, or burr clover has grown, distributed over
the new alfalfa field, is a safe and sure inoculation.
Some suggest the danger of infecting the new field
with weeds or with diseases by this practice. That
danger is remote. One hundred pounds of soil will
inoculate an acre quite well if it has good distribu-
tion. That much soil is taken from a small place
of only a few square feet. It would contain few
seeds. A few sweet clover seeds in the soil do no
harm to the alfalfa anyway. No other weeds are
likely to be found where good clover or alfalfa is
growing.
Method of Using Soil.—How to best manage this
soil inoculation? Take the soil from the surface
down as deep as the land is well filled with roots.
Dig it and carry it home and put it on the barn
floor. Spread it, not too thin, and work it over
from time to time to help it dry and make it fine
INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. Dom
for sowing. Do not let the sun strike it even for
a moment; sunlight destroys these bacteria. When
you have it fine enough for sowing you ¢an either
mix it with the seed and sow both together, say 100
pounds of soil and 15 or 20 pounds of seed, sowing
them on an acre, or you can sow the seed and soil
separately. If you have only a small field or plot to —
sow, do it late in the day after the sun has ceased
to shine, and then harrow it at once. If you must
spread it while the sun is shining let the harrow
follow immediately behind the soil sower.
One can put the soil in a fertilizer drill and drill
it into the land. That is an excellent way. Anyway
will do so that the inoculating soil is not exposed to
sunlight, but is covered up in the ground.
Coating Seed with Earth—tThe Illinois experi-
ment station has developed a very successful way of
inoculating alfalfa seed, requiring comparatively
little soil for its complete success. Water is heated
and enough glue dissolved in it to make the water a
trifle sticky. It is then cooled and the seed is well
wetted with this water. Earth taken from a good al-
falfa field or sweet clover patch 1s made fine and run
through a sieve to take out lumps, roots and stones.
It is better if the earth is dry, but it ought to be dried
in a dark place, at least not exposed to sunlight. The
earth and seed are mixed together till each seed is
eoated with a film of this dry and inoculated earth.
No surplus earth need be used, so each seed is coated.
The seed is immediately sown and covered as fast as
sown in some manner. Perfect inoculation seems to
232 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
result. Some farmers who have adopted this plan
maintain that it is not even necessary to add glue to
the water, though that would doubtless make it some-
what more effective.
Conditions Favorable to Bacteria—Now to make
those bacteria most ‘healthful, most active, consider
their tastes. Acids in the soil promptly kill them
off. Much lime in the soil makes them very vig-
orous and active. So make the soil sweet with lime,
alkaline with lime, not sour. And they feed on air.
So let the water out of the land and the air into it.
Drain and subsoil or plow deep. Then the soil is
ready to work miracles for you.’ Then one sees com-
ing from the land rich crors of alfalfa, many times
as much nitrogen as was originally in the soil, feed-
ing his animals, feeding the soil if the manure is
put back.
Inoculation in Advance.—lf one plans to sow al-
falfa in a year or two he should begin by getting a
source of inoculating soil on his own farm. Let
him prepare a narrow strip of land across a field,
lime it, drain it, enrich it, inoculate it and sow it
to alfalfa. Do not say, ‘‘I will experiment: here
with alfalfa.’’? Alfalfa is no experiment any longer.
It is sure to grow on sweet dry rich soil with in-
oculation. There is no chance of failure. But on
this strip you will get indication of the readiness of
your field for alfalfa. If it grows there vigorously
all along, and stands the winter quite well, you
know that your soil is dry enough, sweet enough and
rich enough for alfalfa. And from this land you
INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 233
will get inoculating earth for all the rest of the
farm. It may perhaps be necessary to ship in
enough for the first strip, though it is today a rare
neighborhood that does not have in it either some
sort of an alfalfa field with inoculated plants or a
sweet clover patch. Once you have the strip of in-
oculation on your farm you are independent; you
can go on and enlarge as fast as you please. An
acre of inoculated alfalfa would give soil enough for
inoculating at least an entire county.
Searching for Inoculation.—It is astonishing how
few farmers have ever seen a nodule on a clover
root. They are easily found, especially on some
sorts of clovers. One can pull up almost any thrifty
red clover root and find nodules in place, looking
like little white seeds. On the red clover they are
found on the larger roots, as well as on the finer
root hairs. The little creeping white clover has
nodules in plenty and they are easily found. Alfalfa
has nodules only on the smaller finer root hairs.
Thus they are not to be seen when one pulls vio-
lently a plant from the soil, especially if the earth
is hard and clayey. The little nodules remain in
the earth. They are very easily dislodged from their
hold on the roots. One must take the roots out with
some care and perhaps will need to wash the earth
away to find the nodules the first time. After he
has seen them once and knows what to look for he
will find them more easily the next time.
Appearance Reveals Inoculation—After one
knows alfalfa well he can tell at a glance whether
234 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
a field or plant is imoculated! 9 If it is of a rieh
green color, if it is growing fast, if it looks healthy
and happy, be pretty sure that it is inoculated,
whether you did it or Nature did it. If, on the other
hand, it looks pale and yellow and unhappy and 1s
erowded by weeds and altogether miserable, be sure
that it is not inoculated.
Inoculated Soil a Fertilizer Laboratory.—Consider
what is doing in an inoculated soil where conditions
are right and alfalfa is growing thereon. Take the
yearly growth at only 4 tons per acre. Four tons
of alfalfa hay contain about 176 pounds of nitro-
gen, 40 pounds of phosphorus and 128 pounds of
potash. Nitrogen is sold for about 15 cents per
pound in various forms, often for a much higher
price. Phosphorus is sold at a low price for 5 cents
per pound. Potash is worth about the same price.
Thus in the crop of 4 tons of hay we find nitrogen
largely gathered by the bacteria worth $26.40,
potash worth $6.40, phosphorie acid worth $2—all
these from one acre yielding only 4 tons of alfalfa
hay. The total is $34.80. The manurial value of
this yield is vastly more than this amount, since the
humus contained is worth more to the soil than one
can well estimate. And the value to the soil is nearly
double this estimate since we take no account of the
root growth, also stored with nitrogen. Prof. Voor-
hees estimates the fertilizing value of an acre of al-
falfa well grown to be about $65, in comparison of
course with commercial fertilizers bought.
Soil Building with Alfalfa—One must not rashly
INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 935
conclude, however, that alfalfa used in any way is
a soil builder. There is reason to suspect that al-
falfa is one of the most energetic searchers after
potash and phosphoric acid known to the soil. The
roots go deeper, penetrate more, dissolve more than
those of most plants.
Thus if the alfalfa is all sold off from the farm
it may become steadily poorer and poorer. It is
certain that it would be poorer in mineral elements.
There have been instances under the writer’s ob-
servation where the land ‘has grown alfalfa continu-
ously for some years and nothing returned, where
after a time it would not grow alfalfa any longer,
nor anything else very well. Exhaustion of avail-
able phosphorus would seem to be the most rea-
sonable explanation of this phenomenon. In some
instances where alfalfa has grown well for some
years and then failed it has been impossible to re-
establish it on the same land. This has occurred
where hay ‘thas been sold off and nothing returned
to the soil.
Alfalfa is a vigorous soil enricher, provided the
forage is fed on the farm and the manure religiously
returned to the land, not necessarily to the very field
where the alfalfa grew, but to some adjoining field.
Thus the one field builds another, the two may be
set in alfalfa after a time and they will build a third
and in this way through the magic of alfalfa roots
a whole farm may be redeemed from the scourge of
poverty and barrenness. Thus may vast stores of
nitrogen be gathered. One may need to buy phos-
236 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
phorus, possibly potash, often lime, but nitrogen,
that most costly and most vital of all soil ingredi-
ents, he is getting every day in immense amounts by
the magic of alfalfa roots and their tiny allies the
alfalfa bacteria.
ALR ALPA IN CROP ROTATION.
With some men alfalfa is the best money crop
that can be grown. Naturally these men desire to
keep their land continuously in alfalfa. They prac-
tice something like the following system: After the
last crop of hay is cut in the fall the alfalfa stubble
is plowed deeply and fitted and sown back to alfalfa
in the spring. Or the alfalfa is mown off nm May
or early June, again in July, and is at once broken
and sown to alfalfa in late July or early August. In
some parts of Maryland alfalfa winters well the first
year but kills the second winter. Thus they sow it
each year and declare that no crop pays so well as
forage for dairy cows.
There may doubtless be instances where this is
good practice for a time. It is true, nevertheless,
that soils are better off to have a change of crops
now and then, and crops are certainly better for
fresh soils. While alfalfa is a soil enricher in the
sense of adding stores of nitrogen it is a soil deplet-
er so far as phosphorus and potash and lime go.
More than that, there are hidden influences that we
do not understand that make soils unfriendly to
plants that have grown in them too long. It is not-
able that some of the very oldest books on agricul-
ture in referring to alfalfa say: ‘‘It endures for
many years and afterward may be plowed up and
the land sown to corn: Land should not be sown
(237)
238 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
again to lucerne (alfalfa) till it has rested for some
seasons.’’ It is safe to assume that the ancients
had seen signs that alfalfa best liked fresh land.
Alfalfa culture is too new in America for us to
know much about this question. It is the practice
on Woodland Farm to grow alfalfa for four years
on a field, sometimes for a longer time, then to plow
and plant twice to corn (maize), after which the land
is sown again to alfalfa. Some of our fields have
had alfalfa on them for about 12 years all told. We
do not think that we see any signs yet of deteriora-
tion. In some instances we see that the alfalfa is
much more vigorous than it ever was. We feed the
sou, however, with phosphorus when growing alfalfa
and with manure when growing corn. It is doubtless
better to let a crop of some cereal or roots intervene
between the crops of alfalfa and if two years inter-
vene it may be wiser; we do not know.
There are yet no serious diseases of alfalfa preva-
lent. On soils well stored with carbonate of hme
alfalfa seems so vigorous and healthy that it resists
disease most markedly. Yet there are illusive and
hard to determine causes that make soils sicken of
plants of one order and produce more vigorously
of plants of a different order in rotation.
Alfalfa in the Rotation.—lIt is often objected that
alfalfa does not fit well into a rotation, that it is too
long in getting established, too feeble an infant, and
demands too long a use of the land.
On land well suited to alfalfa growing it establishes
itself as soon as does red elover. The following
ALFALFA IN CROP ROTATION. 239
year after being sown it will make a half more hay
than will red clover and the hay is of better quality.
It may then be plowed under as red clover would be,
or it may continue another year with more profit,
while red clover can not, since that plant is almost
biennial in its nature. So it is certainly not true
that alfalfa can not fit into a rotation, no matter how
short it is.
Even as a catch crop in corn I found when I
mixed red clover, alfalfa and crimson clover to-
gether and sowed at last cultivation that I got more
plants through the winter of alfalfa than of either
of the other clovers. Doubtless on good lands, filled
with lime, alfalfa as a manuring crop to be sown in
corn would be more profitable than almost anything
that could be sown. The difficulty in the way of
this use is that usually the seed is too dear and when
one gets a stand of alfalfa he sees too much profit
in leaving it to let him desire to plow it under.
How Long Should Alfalfa Stand?—This is very
much a local question. We have instances of alfalfa
fields 10, 20 even 40 years old that have never been
re-seeded. I have walked over fields that were said
to be 40 years old and they were yet in vigorous pro-
duction. This was in Texas, near San Antonio.
This book is not written for men who can grow al-
falfa in that way; they need no books save pocket-
books. The fact that alfalfa is such a long-lived
plant in dry regions with well drained soils and dry,
warm winters has worked to mislead men living far-
ther east or north. If they could forget that alfalfa —
240 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
in some countries lives ten or a dozen years or more
the men of Iowa, Illinois, Ohio or New York would
be better off. The simple truth is that after the first
year alfalfa is in its prime. It may yield as much
the third year or may not. It will often begin to de-
cline somewhat on the fourth year and may be not-
ably less productive on the fifth year. By the sixth
year the owner begins to wonder whether, after all,
alfalfa is as valuable a crop as he had supposed and
his neighbors begin to say ‘‘I told you so!’’
Now ‘had this man turned under his alfalfa after
it had given him 3 or 4 years of cuttings he would
have had some twinges of conscience and pangs of
remorse at what he was doing, and his neighbors
would have called him a fool for ‘‘killing the golden
goose,’’ but he would have in the long run made more
money and alfalfa would never have gone into dis-
repute.
Suggested Rotations—In Ohio, Indiana and IIli-
nois maize (corn) is king. Nothing else pays so
well as corn and alfalfa, with animals to eat the stuff
they pile up. Hence the most profitable rotation
here will likely be, corn two years, alfalfa with bar-
ley one year, alfalfa alone three or four years, ac-
eording to soil, then corn again, two years, and thus
on around in regular rotation.
Rotation for a 300 Acre Farm.—Corn two years,
barley and alfalfa one year, alfalfa three years,
means a 6-year rotation. Let us see what one would
get in that rotation each year. Say the fields are of
40 acres each; then he has 80 acres in corn on alfalfa
ALFALFA IN CROP ROTATION. 241
sod, after the rotation is once under way. This corn
ought to yield at least 85 bushels per acre, and may
yield more than 100 bushels. One field will be on
alfalfa sod simply, the other field will be corn stubble
heavily manured. Thus there will be about 7,000
bushels of corn, shelled measure. The next field will
be a 40-acre field sown down to alfalfa with barley,
either fall-sown alfalfa on barley stubble or spring-
sown alfalfa with barley asanurse crop. In the one
ease there will be about 1,000 bushels of barley grain,
maybe more, and no hay from this 40. Then there
will remain three fields of 40 acres each in estab-
lished alfalfa, one of them sown last year, one the
year before, one the year before that. These fields
will yield about 4 tons of hay per acre, maybe more,
or say 450 to 500 tons of hay.
We have left about 60 acres for permanent pas-
ture, orchard, barn lots, woodland and so on. Now
let us sum up what we have as a yield from the
300 acre farm: corn, 7,000 bushels; barley, 1,000
bushels, or else, barley hay, with some alfalfa in it,
00 to 75 tons; alfalfa hay, 450 to 500 tons. Pasture
left 60 acres, which will keep the work teams, cows
and pigs during summer and give a good place for
animals to run and exercise in cold weather when
it will not do to let them step on the alfalfa field.
A's working horses need little or no grain in winter
when they have good alfalfa hay it seems clear that
the 7,000 bushels of corn will about balance the 450
tons of hay. If there is need of more corn to feed
out the pigs it can be bought. If cattle or sheep are
242 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
to be fed, or dairy cows kept, one can hardly have
too much alfalfa.
The cash value of these crops would be about as
follows: ‘he farmer could not sell all of the 7,000
bushels of corn since his horses must be fed. He
could sell 6,000 bushels, for say 50 cents per bushel or
$3,000, or he could sell of his hay, 400 tons, by feea-
ing his corn stover to his cows and work teams; the
hay would be worth about $8 per ton as an average
low price, or $3,200 or more. The 1,000 bushels of
barley would be worth say 60 cents, or $600. The
gross returns then from the 300 acre farm devoted
to corn and alfalfa would be around $6,800. And if
one bought what phosphorus his crops took out of
his soil it is probable that he could keep on selling
off these crops for some years. It would certainly
be far better to feed the crops, and the profits ought
to be larger in proportion.
Crop Failures —‘Hold on!’’ I hear the reader
say, ‘‘do you not allow for crop failures in this esti-
mate of yours?’’
One has occasionally a poor year in corn growing.
A crop failure in corm grown on well drained, well
enriched land, on alfalfa sod, has yet to be recorded.
A crop failure with alfalfa has not yet been recorded.
Certainly some years produce more than other years.
Alfalfa is the safest and surest of all crops when
established on kindly soil. The risk is very slight,
only one has always the labor of harvest, not the
labor of preparing the land each year, of eternally
seeding.
ALFALFA IN CROP ROTATION. 243
Saving of Labor Cost m Alfalfa Growing.—Note
in this example that on the 320-acre farm only 80
acres are plowed each year for corn, and 40 acres
more plowed and sowed to alfalfa, only 120 acres
of plowing in all. The rest of the land needs neither
plowing nor planting; 60 acres of it in permanent
pasture, 120 acres of it in alfalfa, already sown,
already set, needing only the sun and showers to leap
into joyful harvest. The saving of labor is tremen-
dous on an alfalfa farm rightly managed.
A Shorter Rotation—One can use this rotation
with corn and alfalfa; Corn one year, wheat one
year, the stubble plowed and sown to alfalfa, al-
falfa two years, then corn again. This takes four
fields and is in many ways a good rotation, and a
labor saver, too. How would it figure out on a 300-
acre farm?
Sixty acres are devoted to corn and as this is al-
ways on alfalfa sod and must also have manure, we
ean not well escape a yield of 90 bushels per acre, or
anyway 5,000 bushels. Corn stubble well prepared
is a good place for wheat. The 60 acres of wheat
then we will say produces 25 bushels per acre, or
1,500 bushels. The wheat stubble is plowed instantly
when the wheat is harvested and sown to alfalfa
which is mown for two years. This gives 120 acres
in alfalfa each year which will produce 480 or 500
tons of hay. Then there are 60 acres of pasture,
orchard and woodlot, as in the preceding example.
Summing this up we have 5,000 bushels of corn, and
* selling 4.000 bushels at 50 cents gives $2,000. The
244 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
1,500 bushels of wheat may bring $1 per bushel and
may not; eall it that and we have $1,500. By utiliz-
ing the corn stover the alfalfa hay could mostly be
sold; say we sell 400 tons of it at $8, we have $3,200.
Adding up we have gross sales in this instance of
$6,700. The thing works out about the same. In
some ways this is the better rotation. For one thing
corn following corn, even for two years, suffers
somewhat from insects. In this rotation corn 1s al-
most absolutely sure as it 1s always on alfalfa sod
and is manured as well. It should never yield less
than 100 bushels per acre under such treatment.
Work for this Rotation.—In this rotation one finds
this amount of work to do each year: 60 acres of
alfalfa sod to break. This should be mown off four
times as the late mowing for some reason makes the
roots easier to break. One good three-horse team
of heavy horses will break the 60 acres, taking it in
a leisurely fashion from October till spring, when-
ever there is open weather. Alfalfa sod fits easily
for corn. The wheat is sown in the clean corn
stubble by simply disking and drilling in. It should
have additional phosphorus to start it vigorously
off before cold weather. The wheat stubble should
be plowed very swiftly after the wheat is taken off,
and here is the worst feature of this scheme; at the
same time one may need teams in the corn field and
in the alfalfa meadow. It may be necessary to ar-
range to ‘hire additional teams at this time to get this
seeding well and promptly done. It will greatly help
if the wheat stubble is thoroughly disked the mo- ©
ALFALFA IN CROP ROTATION. 245
ment the wheat is cut and shocked; this will conserve
moisture and make the plowing easier. Or on some
soils and in some climates the disking alone will be
all that is needed for alfalfa seeding, so it 1s very
thorough. And again there are places where when
the land is once well inoculated with bacteria alfalfa
may be sown in the wheat in the spring with first
rate stands resulting. If this is done the seed
should not be sown early; the land should get dry
enough to harrow and in April should be thoroughly
harrowed, not enough to destroy the wheat, but
enough to make a good seedbed, and the seed sown
and dragged in. This often increases the yield of
wheat and is pretty sure to result in a good stand of
alfalfa. It is not safe to try this method of seeding
except where wheat stands up well and where the
land is thoroughly well inoculated with bacteria.
What Is Alfalfa Land Worth?—Carrying these
two examples to their conclusion, what is good al-
falfa producing land in the cornbelt of America
worth as an investment?
Everything depends upon the management. Here
is an estimate of the cost of carrying on this farm:
EXPENSES.
IDeloore Gre CY TeaverayIKoye Bh SKEBHES G5 onddoodses cHdooe bobdsoUedondobdoS $1,600
Interest on and deterioration in farm teamMs................. 500
Extra labor in harvest, threshing Dill................. ..5-- 400
Depreciation in machinery. repairs, fertilizer............... 400
Taxes and repair of FENCES. ........- 0.002. eee ee ewww er eee 500
“NOK. Sodooodadeacneoeodouuboud) GuBoobdesodoUDsoonoGORG YooOKd $3 ,400
INCOME.
From sales of corn, wheat and alfalfa..... ............. eee, $6,700
From colts, pigs, poultry, veals, (pasture)................... 300
Ml Mop relies eth as Lia hm are EN ae SURNAME A PAA PME Sts ECHO a $7,000
IDRIS) GXQHANEE, coocedoododueoocsgusoodddoudasooboo daKDbdoObS 3,400
INAH HACOIO®. Saocuo dobogueoddes oun dudecesed joo0s0 cougbona0dde $3,600
246 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
This is 6% interest on $60,000. Thus the land
yields return on a valuation of $200 per acre.
Are these fanciful figures? Not at all, but plain
matter of fact business. And while we are estimat-
ing profits by sale of hay and grain, we do this only
because it is the easily-done thing, urging all along
that the hay and grain be fed on the farm and the
manure returned to the land, when net profits will
often be much greater than indicated above.
Such Profits in Actual Practice-—And are there
many farms now ready to yield corn and alfalfa in
this fashion? No. Most farms need thorough un-
der-draining first. Hardly any of Illinois is well
enough drained for alfalfa, neither is much of In-
diana or Ohio. Jowa has more dry land, perhaps.
Nearly any farm that a man might choose to make
into an alfalfa and corn farm would need much work
before he could safely expect any such returns. He
can find an acre, or a field that is all right; let him
then determine that ere he is through with the thing
it will all of it be good enough. Make it a legacy to
the children to leave them a farm so well under-
drained, so well limed, if lime is needed, so fertile
that they can realize these results. It is easy; there
is no step to be found out; the way is clear and plain
and the land will pay for the work as you go on.
Rotation in the Dairy Region.—In northern Ohio,
Illinois, Wisconsin and New York dairying is a great
business. Here alfalfa is especially desirable and
so 1s silage corn. Here also potatoes thrive and are
ALFALFA IN CROP ROTATION. 247
profitable. Let us see what sort of rotation is
adapted to this region.
A considerable amount of land will naturally be
devoted to permanent pasture. Supposing we take
160 acres of land to be put under the plow. We will
begin with a field of potatoes, 40 acres, planted early,
thoroughly well cultivated, dug early and marketed,
say 200 bushels per acre. This is 8,000 bushels at
50 cents, or $4,000. Alfalfa is sown after the pota-
toes. This remains two years after the first year,
thus 80 acres will be mown, or 320 tons of hay.
Forty acres will be turned under each year for corn,
part for the silo, part for the crib. On the alfalfa
sod the corn will need no manure; this may all be
applied to the corn stubble and the land planted to ©
potatoes and thus back again to alfalfa.
How Many Cows?—Fifty cows will consume in six
months about 100 tons of alfalfa hay. Letting them
have a ration of it, as is wise, at milking time during
summer, spring and fall they will get away easily
with 150 tons. Horses will take a lot more and there
will evidently be a surplus unless some good heifers
are raised. Fifty cows will consume 200 tons of si-
lage in six months. That will take the corn from 20
acres or less of the 40 devoted to it and leave approx1-
mately 20 acres to be ripened and put in crib.
Profit from the Cows.—As to the profit of keeping
the 50 cows I prefer to let the experienced dairyman
make the estimate. There are cows that yield as
much as $125 in a year, and even much more than
that, and others that drop far below $100. It is safe
248 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
to leave the question with the dairyman, merely
pointing out to him that with corn and alfalfa he
needs buy no protein; all that the old cow gives him
will be his and will come from his own soil. And
steadily, if he cares for the manure, will his farm im-
prove in fertility.
The Labor Cost.—The labor cost of this farm will
not be very heavy, aside from the dairy work. Forty
acres of alfalfa sod will be plowed each year for corn,
40 acres sown to alfalfa after potatoes; the rest of
tillage work will be simple and easily managed.
Should more than 50 cows be kept more of the corn
will be made into silage, which may cause a need of
some dry grain not produced on the farm, mainly
for horse feeding,
MIE) OF ALHALE A.
I desire to raise no hopes in the reader’s mind
that can not be realized and I have thus sought to be
moderate in my estimates of what alfalfa would
yield per acre. It is a most interesting question to
study, the possible yield of alfalfa in various soils.
In California, with a very long growing season, we
are assured that as much as 12 tons of dry hay has
been harvested per acre. This of course was done
by irrigation in a soil peculiarly well fitted to alfalfa
growing. It may fairly be taken as the extreme
limit of possibilities. There are alfalfa fields that
because of unfitness of soil, do not yield more than
one or two tons per acre. What then, ought we to
get?
Moisture the Limiting Factor—Given plant food
in the soil and proper bacterial relations alfalfa
ought to grow about as well in one place as in an-
other. The limiting factor in almost all crop pro-
duction is water. Alfalfa usually does not have
moisture enough to make a maximum crop. [Even
on wet soils, and chiefly on undrained soils, it does
not have water enough. That is because its roots do
not work in undrained soils so it must forage only
on the surface. All plants drink their food; they do
not eat as animals do. Given water enough in a deep
pervious soil that the roots can use, and plant food,
alfalfa will do its best.
(249)
250 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
There is hardly any other plant that will so thor-
oughly pump the moisture out of soils as alfalfa.
Its roots reach down deep, its leaves transpire a
vast amount of water every day. For that reason
alfalfa is not usually very beneficial to a young
orchard, as it dries out the land too much. The
writer has seen a thick stand of Kentucky blue grass
so dried out by the alfalfa growing with it (the grass
an intruder) that it killed it out, root and branch.
This of course is most unusual; as a rule the grass
lives long enough to choke the alfalfa.
Amount of Water Used.—Unfortunately no one has
determined the amount of moisture used by alfalfa
in making a pound of dry matter. Taking the red
clover plant as a guide we may assume that it re-
quires from 400 to 500 pounds of water for each
pound of dry matter made. Guessing that it takes
450 pounds of water to make one pound of dry mat-
ter we reach the conclusion that to grow six tons of
alfalfa hay will require about 2,500 tons of water.
That is equivalent to about 25 inches of rainfall, if
none of it were lost. There is beside a considerable
loss by evaporation from the soil. To balance that
we know that we have a store of subsoil moisture
gathered during the winter and early spring rains.
Now, the rainfall during the 18 weeks that alfalfa
makes its hay crops (in the cornbelt region) is sel-
dom more than 18 inches and is often very much less
than that. So it is clear that lack of moisture is
often the limiting factor in alfalfa growing. For
that reason the writer, while he has grown six tons
IN YOUNG ALFALFA UP TO THE HUB.
th
i
)
YIELD OF ALFALFA. 251
on one acre on Woodland Farm repeatedly and has
known of much heavier yields elsewhere, has not
estimated that even good alfalfa would yield more
than five tons to the acre, and in fact advises grow-
ers to be grateful if they get four tons—grateful,
but not satisfied, as they should begin at once to con-
sider in what way they can bring up their average
wields
It is unfair to the alfalfa plant to assume that it
has no greater producing power than red clover,
given the same amount of moisture. It probably
makes much better use of its water than does red
clover. And some varieties of alfalfa can do more
with a given amount of water than can other varie-
ties. Unfortunately we do not yet find any variety
specially adapted to dry soils and hot climates that
is at home in a rainy land or will do as much there
as common alfalfa.
Increasing Water-Holding Capacity—In what
way can the water-holding capacity of the land be
increased? By deep draining, first, since that lets
the alfalfa roots feed down deep. By deep plowing
next. By use of the subsoil plow. The latter is in
many soils a very potent factor in increasing the
yield of alfalfa in dry years.
Yields Under Irrigation—In irrigated regions
rainfall is of course not a limiting factor. There
soil fertility, length of season and systems of man-
agement control the yield very largely. I feel cer-
tain that I have grown nearly 10 tons of dry alfalfa
hay per acre on good land in a valley of Utah, under
252 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
a very hot sun, with abundant water and a long
growing season. The practice was to flood the land
immediately before mowing off the crop; this made
the alfalfa start vigorously into new growth as soon
as it was raked off. In a week another flooding was
given, the earth taking all the water it could absorb.
As this land was beautifully drained by being under-
laid with sand and gravel of great depth and no un-
derlying moisture it never suffered from too much
moisture; thus growth was extremely rapid.
Furthermore, in that arid region the subsoil is
quite as fertile as the top soil. There is little differ-
ence in texture or soil content whether one takes soil
from the surface or from a depth of 20 feet or more,
and doubtless the alfalfa roots penetrated quite 20
feet in that soil.
I. D. O’Donnell once pointed out to the writer
near Billings, Mont., an irrigated farm of exactly
160 acres, all in alfalfa except a small lot around the
house and barn, maybe two acres in all, and from
which he had bought the hay one year. It amounted
to fully 1,000 tons, or a little more than six tons per
acre.
Irrigation is impractical under eastern farm con-
ditions, as a rule. There are farms, however, near
the mountains, in what might be called the Piedmont
sections of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Virginia and the Carolinas, where irrigation would
be quite easily arranged and some day this will be
done. Irrigation would pay richly in the Kast as well
as in the West. It is much practiced in humid Kng-
YIELD OF ALFALFA, 253
land, in France, Italy and other lands where farm-
ing is carried to a high pitch of perfection. Irriga-
tion of alfalfa is only practicable where soils are
permeable so that any excess of moisture will read-
ily sink away, or else are thoroughly well under-
drained.
Poverty of Soil a Factor.—After all the most fre-
quent limiting factor in alfalfa production in the
eastern states is soil fertility. There is not enough
phosphorus in the land, or it lacks humus and bac-
teria, or it lacks abundant carbonate of lime. On
Woodland Farm I once applied phosphorus to an
alfalfa meadow set about three years, using acid
phosphate at the rate of about 250 pounds per acre.
Strips were left with no phosphate to test the effect.
Where additional phosphorus was given the land the
yleld of hay was nearly doubled. Thus about $2
worth of fertilizer made a growth of about two tons
of hay per acre. This astonishing profit from the
use of phosphorus on alfalfa was the beginning of
regular use of phosphate fertilizers on new meadows
and old on Woodland Farm.
The plain truth seems to be that along the 40th
parallel, in the region of the corn belt we ought to
mow at least four tons of alfalfa hay per acre and
could, by making our soils right, get six tons with
favoring seasons.
DISKING AND GULTIVATING,
In some regions it is a practice to disk alfalfa once
or more each year. In Kansas and Oklahoma it is
often practiced to disk once in the spring and again
after each cutting as soon as the hay can be removed
from the ground. It is believed that disking con-
serves much moisture and otherwise promotes the
growth of the alfalfa. It has often been asserted
that the disking splits the crowns and thus thickens
up the stand. This is as though one were to split
down the tree trunks in his orchard ‘‘to thicken the
stand.’’ The splitting of alfalfa crowns can do noth-
ing but harm and often starts a decay of root that
ends in the death of the plant. However, the result
of disking is often beneficial when done in early
spring, before growth sets in. It certainly deters
weed and grass growth and lets air and water into
the soil. Later diskings help in some regions and
soils and do mischief in others. The main beneficial
effect of disking is the conservation of moisture and
destruction of weeds or grasses.
In Louisiana disking alfalfa seems beneficial on
the whole. In Kansas it is much practiced and some
think it very helpful, while others declare that ex-
cessive disking materially reduces the yield. On
Woodland Farm disking when fertilizer was sown
at the same time has done wonders; disking alone
has in some instances decreased the yield.
(254)
DISKING AND CULTIVATING. 255
Disk with Care.—Disking of alfalfa must be done
with care and discrimination. If alfalfa roots are
cut off by a disk harrow or any other instrument
the plant dies. Old and tough roots are not in much
danger of being cut off. Young alfalfa, with more
slender roots, is easily enough injured or killed.
Thus the disks should not be sharp as knife edges
and should be set straight enough not to cut off the
erowns. It is well for the owner of the field to drive
the disk. Dig up the land as thoroughly as you
please, but do not cut off many crowns. One may
disk and immediately cross-disk in early spring,
burying up the alfalfa crowns somewhat, and no
harm will result as they will come through pretty
soon. After this disking I think it much of a local
question whether one should disk more or not. If
blue grass has run in, or any perennial grass, it may
be wise to dig it out or it may be wiser to turn it all
under, plant corn, then re-seed.
Prevention of Grass Best.—As a matter of fact, a
dollar spent in buying carbonate of lime and phos-
phorus, with drainage, will do more toward keeping
weeds and grass out of alfalfa than two dollars
worth of labor spent in disking. Where plantains
come and weedy growths the soil is wrong; remedy
that and the alfalfa will smother all else. Where
erab grass troubles, as it does in the South, an abun-
dant supply of carbonate of lime in the soil will
make the alfalfa too much for it, unless perhaps it
may come very late in the season, when it is not
worth noticing.
256 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
The Alfalfa Harrow—tThere is a special alfalfa
harrow made like a disk harrow only with circles of
sharp spikes that are supposed to penetrate the
ground and loosen it, throwing out the grass
roots without injuring the alfalfa. The theory of
this implement is good but in practice it does not
work so well. There is difficulty in getting it to
penetrate deeply and if it throws out grass it is
speedily wound up on the axle so that I am not at
all certain that the machine will supersede the ordi-
nary disk harrow.
The Spring Tooth Harrow—Where Kentucky
bluegrass is coming in, or bermuda or other grasses,
after all the best thing probably to rake them out is
the spring toothed harrow. One needs a strong har-
row, not too. wide, and weighted well, when if the
alfalfa is well established and strongly rooted it
will be relieved of its encumbering grasses without
being materially harmed itself. Or the spring tooth
harrow may be used after the disk harrow.
A Deep Tilling Machine——The Spalding deep till-
ing machine is the invention of a Californian and
was first used there in plowing heavy adobe soils. It
is essentially a very large and strong disk plow hav-
ing two 24” disks set to run in the one furrow. With
this plow one can readily plow 12” to 16” deep. The
forward disk throws down the upper surface soil,
with its trash and weed seeds. The following disk
throws over this top earth 8” of the subsoil, bring-
ing up earth free from weed seeds. All the soil
turned is very efficiently pulverized. In certain soils
DISKING AND CULTIVATING. 257
where the subsoil is well stored with lime and the top
soil somewhat lime-hungry this machine will do in-
ealeulable good. It is probable that in almost any
soil meant to. be devoted to alfalfa this machine will
very greatly increase the yield. It is easy to get a
stand in the clean earth thrown up from below. The
deep stirring, the aeration, the reservoir for moisture
all help make the land fit for alfalfa. To deepen sud-
denly the plow furrow to 16” might on many soils be
injurious to corn, but it could hardly be anything but
helpful to alfalfa and corn after the alfalfa would
reap the benefit.
The three good purposes secured by use of this
machine are first, the loosening and aeration of the
soil, next the turning up of a fresh and unexhausted
supply of carponate of lime (which would not be
found in all subsoils), and third, the making of a
clean seedbed of fresh earth from the subsoil and the
burying deep down of weed and grass seeds.
WEEDS AND GRASSES.
Much ado is made over the fact that in some
regions weeds and grasses trouble alfalfa. It has
been proposed to plant it in rows and cultivate it in
order to subdue these intruders; indeed, this very
thing is practiced in some regions. In alfalfa grow-
ing sections little thought is given to the question of
weeds or grasses in the fields. The alfalfa seems
able to subdue almost every intruder. There are a
few exceptions; some weeds persevere in even good
alfalfa soils. It is true, however, that when the soil
is made right and a good stand of alfalfa secured
one need give weeds little thought. It is ten times
better to spend effort making soil conditions right
than to spend it in fighting weeds.
Some Troublesome Weeds.—Some of the weeds
that trouble in certain sections and not in others are
erab grass (an annual grass), wild cress, chickweed,
(an annual that makes most of its growth in winter),
lamb’s quarter, pigweed and ragweed. Crab grass
and sheep sorrel seem never to trouble alfalfa seri-
ously when the land is full of carbonate of lime. Not
that the lime kills the crab grass, but when there is
lime enough in the land with fertility, the alfalfa is
so vigorous as to distance and smother the crab
grass. Cress comes only in winter and usually
makes no trouble except in fall-sown alfalfa when it
may injure the first cutting if intended for market.
(258)
WEEDS AND GRASSES. 259
Afterward, if the soil is right, it will not be seen.
Chickweed is not a serious disturbance to alfalfa and
when present may be harrowed out with a spike-
toothed harrow in early spring. Lamb’s quarter
succumbs to mowing, as does pigweed, both being
annuals. The same is true of ragweed, which totally
disappears from a field with soil made right and
sown to alfalfa. Sheep sorrel, that vile pest of old
eastern farms, disappears the instant alfalfa is sown
among it on land filled with carbonate of lime and
made rich. So disappears that pest ox-eye daisy;
nothing is surer to take it out than alfalfa, if the soil
is made right. Wild carrot is out when alfalfa
comes, and the Canada thistle retreats, to be seen no
more.
The terror of many eastern farms is found in
sheep sorrel, wild carrot, daisy and Canada thistles.
If alfalfa would do no more than to exterminate
them it would be richly worth while. Very great ef-
fort is yearly expended in fighting these weeds. Ifa
httle more effort was put with that already spent,
and wasted, in unavailing conflict, in the way of put-
ting the soil right, making it dry, filling it with ecar-
bonate of lime, filling it with humus, giving it phos-
phorus and then alfalfa seed, the battle would be
won, the weeds exterminated and at no cost at all, as
the alfalfa alone would far more than repay the
farmer for all his effort and expense.
There are other weeds that are exceedingly
troublesome that alfalfa causes to disappear. The
bindweed or morning-glory, sometimes called wild
260 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
sweet potato, an exceedingly troublesome pest in
corn fields in the Middle States, 1s exterminated al-
most completely when the land is put into alfalfa.
So of many other troublesome things that might be
mentioned.
Weeds that Kill Alfalfa.—There are weeds, how-
ever, that get the best of the alfalfa. Quack or
couch grass is one of these. This grass fills the soil
with a dense mat of roots, each one a burrowing,
creeping underground stem armed with a sharp
point. Wherever it gets a good foothold it is usual-
ly too much for the alfalfa and I am unable to out-
line any good and easy system of destroying it.
When it first appears upon the farm it should be
fought and exterminated before it gets much foot-
hold. It is possible that alfalfa could be sown in the
fall and so stimulated with phosphorus that it would
start very vigorously in spring and thus get ahead
of the grass and smother it out. It is well worth
experiment at any event. And it may be that by vig-
orous use of the disk harrow, followed with the
spring tooth harrow the roots could be so disturbed
that they would give it up, and the alfalfa yet re-
main practically unhurt.
Kentucky blue grass is another grass that is too
much for alfalfa. It ereeps in and thickens up till
after a time the alfalfa is seriously weakened. It is —
hardly worth while to fight so good a thing as blue
grass though it can be torn out with a spring-tooth
harrow. Blue grass does not usually come in before
three or four years, and by that time it is well to
WEEDS AND GRASSES. 261
plow the alfalfa in regular course of rotation any
way. Later on I will tell of what good may come
‘of using blue grass and alfalfa together. |
Plantains are a serious annoyance in alfalfa fields.
Drain the land where they appear, enrich, and if need
be lime, re-sow and plantains will be a thing of the
past. Canada thistles have been mentioned; alfalfa
is the best known eradicator of these.
Sweet clover is often mentioned as a weed in al-
falfa fields. It is usually introduced through the
presence of sweet clover seeds in the alfalfa seed.
Often the unfortunate seedsman is blamed for this.
Sweet clover is not often intentionally added to al-
falfa seed. Sometimes, in fact, melilotus seed sells
higher than alfalfa seed. ‘The seeds are nearly ex-
actly alike; only an expert can tell them apart, and
no machine in the world would separate them. The
sweet clover seeds get in when the alfalfa seed is
harvested, through accidental admixture in the west-
ern fields, where it quite frequently grows along the
edges of the fields. A seedsman who is quite care-
ful to get the best western seed is very likely to sell
a small amount of sweet clover seed, quite against
his desire.
Sweet clover in the alfalfa, however, is not at alla
serious pest. At first it makes its bravest showing;
the frequent mowings cause it to disappear and
being a biennial it is soon gone with no harm done.
Russian thistle comes in new seedings of alfalfa
from western sourees. This promptly disappears
with mowing. Docks in alfalfa will probably persist
262 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
till they are taken out with the spade, though some-
times the frequent mowings exterminate them.
Spearmint disappears with cutting.
Foxtail grass is really the vilest weed that
comes in alfalfa in the cornbelt region. It is an an-
nual grass that comes up each spring or some time
during the summer. It loves an alfalfa sod. Mow-
ing it does not destroy it, and it wiil seed if no more
than an inch high. Fortunately the seeds readily
germinate and one can take advantage of this fact
to eradicate it practically the year before the alfalfa
is sown. If he will put the land to corn or some
other cultivated crop and so carefully cultivate all
the season that not one head of foxtail grass goes to
seed, the thing will be eradicated from that field. It
does not seem to have power to carry seeds over 1n
the soil as do so many weeds. They all seem to ger-
minate in one year if lying in the soil or in contact
with it, and if the seedlings are destroyed without
chance of maturing seed again that weed is eradi-
eated from that field. This has been the experience
of the writer and his brother on Woodland Farm,
where a 60-acre field once alive with foxtail grass
was made clean in one year except some places along
the margins where cultivation was not so thorough
as it should have been. In order to accomplish this,
however, one must go through the field with the hoe
at least twice after cultivation has ceased, else there
will be estrayed plants maturing seed to become cen-
ters of future infection.
Yellow trefoil is a small, low-growing clover witb
WEEDS AND GRASSES. 263
a small yellow bloom. Its botanical name is Medi-
eago lupulina. It would not be classed as a weed
only that it is so often used to adulterate alfalfa
seed. It is a cheaper seed than alfalfa and much
imported seed is adulterated with this, and some
unscrupulous seedsmen bring the seed over espe-
cially for purpose of mixing with alfalfa seed. It
is a good pasture plant and in Europe is often sown
with other clovers to make a good bottom for cattle
to bite. It has no especial value with us, but is in no
sense dangerous... It is a biennial.
We have reserved the worst for the last. Dodder
is the arch enemy of the alfalfa grower. Dodders
are parasitic plants that begin life from seeds
dropped on the ground, developing slender, nearly
leafless twining stalks. These stems wherever they
touch plants of their liking send out roots that pene-
trate the host plant and suck its juices. Afterward
the parasite does not again send roots into the soil,
but twines from stem to stem of the unfortunate host
plant until it is tied together in a tangled mass. Ulti-
mately the host plants are usually destroyed. Dod-
der has usually bright yellow or orange colored
stems, nearly leafless, with very small flowers close
to the stems and many seeds. There are dodders
that attack various species of plants, including red
clover and alfalfa.
Dodder always starts from seed which is found
mixed with clover and alfalfa seed. At first there
will be a very small spot infected at each center
where a seed dropped; later it will be a spot as big
264 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
as one’s hat, then soon it will be 2’ across, and thus
rapidly it spreads till there is a circle of dodder sur-
rounding a devastated and dead center, the circle
rapidly enlarging. Prevention is the best remedy,
and is easy enough, since by exercising care one can
buy alfalfa seed free from dodder. The seeds are
not impossible to separate from alfalfa seeds and
eareful seedsmen do not send out badly infected
alfalfa seed. It may be possible, however, with the
best intentioned and most careful of seedsmen that
an occasional dodder seed will get through. There-
fore the grower should be on his guard and nip the
threatened evil in the bud as soon as it is seen.
Eradication of dodder is easy if it is taken soon
enough. Remembering that as it has no root system
of its own it is only necessary to cut down the alfalfa
at this spot, cutting close to the ground, leave the
stuff lie where it grew and as soon as it is thoroughly
dry place an armful of dry straw on it and set on
fire. This will usually destroy the thing completety.
There will not be any loss worth mentioning. ‘Tlie
fire may kill a few alfalfa plants, but it is probable
that they will start again from their roots. Under
no conditions should the infected patches be raked
and the dodder put in with the hay. This distributes
seed over the farm, and besides one forgets the exact
location and size of the patches if they are raked.
If through buying inferior alfalfa seed one gets
a field badly infested with dodder he may find it
best to plow it up, grow a cleaning crop for a year,
and then re-seed.
WEEDS AND GRASSES. 265
It is little less than a crime to cut seed from a
dodder-infested field and put it on the market.
While it is true that most of the dodder seed can
be taken out, yet unfortunately most seedsmen are
too careless to do this and thus the pest is wide-
spread and immense damage results.
There is a clover dodder that operates just as
does the alfalfa dodder, another one seen on mint,
and one on flax. I do not think these dodders able
to grow on other plants than the one species they
select.
To avoid dodder get samples of alfalfa seed from
your dealer and submit them to your experiment
station, or to the Department of Agriculture for
examination for dodder. If it is present in any-
thing more than an infinitesimal amount inform
your dealer and choose seed from another bin. It
may not help to choose another seedsman, and then
again it may.
ALFALFA DISEASES.
Mention has frequently been made to the appear-
ance of rust on alfalfa leaves. It will appear in
almost all parts of the humid states after alfalfa has
grown about 40 days. During hot and humid
weather it will be worst. On poorly drained soils 1t
will be worse than on dry soils. When alfalfa suffers
lack of inoculation it will be worst of all, and incur-
able till inoculation has been given. There is no cure
for the disease unless one ean remove the inducing
causes. If the land is wet, drain it. If it needs in-
oculation, attend to that. Lack of lime is an inducing
cause. When the soil is fit rust troubles hardly at
all. It appears on lower leaves slightly at time when
the crop should be cut and made into hay. By the
time rust appears again it will be cutting time again.
It is worth mention again that too early mowing in-
duces rust.
Alfalfa Root Rot—Alfalfa roots can not endure
submergence in water in warm weather. If the land
fills up and stands full of water for a time when the
sun is hot the alfalfa will die. If it stands not quite
full, but with the subsoil full the roots will decay at
the water line. Thus the field will suddenly begin
to fail and the owner may wonder why. I have had
fields on Woodland fail in this manner when tiles be-
came obstructed and rainfall was excessive. I have
observed similar instances in Louisiana and other
(268)
ALFALFA DISEASES. 267
states. This is not the true roo rot.’ It is not
contagious; drainage will stop it, but once rotted the
field had better be plowed, planted to other crops
or resown.
The Cotton Root Rot.—This is a most. gerious
proposition, fortunately not yet widespread. It is
found to some extent in Texas, Mexico and some
other cotton-growing states. When root rot attacks
cotton the plants die in a circle, ever widening. If
alfalfa is planted in a field infested with this disease
the plants die in similar manner, all dying, usually,
leaving a round spot of dead alfalfa.
There is no known available remedy. If a field is
badly infected with root rot it should be plowed and
devoted to other crops for a time. It is not now
known how long the land will remain infected. Land
known to be infected with cotton root rot should not
be sown to alfalfa.
ob E DING GRASSES.
Usually alfalfa grows best to be alone. There is,
strictly speaking, no other plant that matches it very
well to be sown with it. Nothing else matures at
just the same time or makes so many cuttings as
alfalfa. However, there are places where it is well
to mix other seeds with it.
Red Clover and Alfalfa.—In some parts of the
eastern states red clover is sown with alfalfa, about
5) lbs. of red clover to 15 lbs. of alfalfa per acre.
The result is said to be very good. Where the red
clover is sown there are heavy crops of the mixture
for one year or more after seeding, then when the
clover has died out the alfalfa is said to grow with
more vigor than on adjoining plots where it was
sown alone. I have seen this mixture in use in
France and with it some grasses—I think rye grass,
orchard grass and perhaps timothy. Certainly the
wealth of herbage yielded by this mixed meadow in
France was astounding. It was not intended to re-
main long, being in a scheme of comparatively short
rotation.
It has already been mentioned that alfalfa ought
at all times to be added to red clover when sown on
land that may be suspected of having quality enough
to permit its growth
Timothy in Alfalfa—tn some instances when al-
falfa is meant for horse feed it is not a bad plan to
(268)
SEEDING GRASSES. 269
sow a small admixture of timothy with it. This
may be done in the fall, not at the same time that
the alfalfa is sown, but later, in September, when
the timothy may be lightly harrowed in. Timothy
takes very readily in alfalfa, if sown the first fall
or at any later time. When fields are established,
if there happen to be any thin places where from
wetness of soil or any other cause the alfalfa does
not thrive or is not thick enough, timothy may be
sown there and will grow well. The first cutting of
hay will be a mixture of mainly timothy and alfalfa,
the succeeding cuttings will be nearly pure alfalfa.
It is astonishing the burden of timothy that will
result when alfalfa is mixed with it. Red clover in
timothy is usually a detriment, since clover is some-
what dusty for horse feed; alfalfa and timothy make
a mixture hard to equal, since the two balance each
other.
In cutting this mixture attention should be given
to compromising times for cutting the first crop. It
will not do to cut the crop when the alfalfa is per-
fectly ready, since that will be too early for the
timothy, nor will it do to wait till the timothy 1s
just right, since that will be too late for the alfalfa.
Timothy cut early is far more nutritious and diges-
tible, in any ease, than when cut, as it usually is, with
seed formed.
Alfalfa and Alsike Clover.—l have seen marvelous
fields of mixed alfalfa and alsike clover. This mix-
ture makes especially good pasture. When alfalfa
is sown for mowing, or for enduring several years,
270 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
it is doubtful if this admixture is good, but when
alsike clover is sown for meadow or pasture it is
evident that on suitable soils, well drained and sweet,
alfalfa makes a good ally. A mixture of equal parts
of seed will give a stand of alsike with a lesser pro-
portion of alfalfa plants. Or the mixture may be
in proportion of 2 of alfalfa to 1 of alsike clover,
which will give a pretty evenly divided meadow.
Cattle and pigs love to graze on such a field as this.
Alfalfa and Brome Grass.—Brome grass (Bromus
inermis) is a good grass for pasture and in some
places makes pretty good meadow. It is a cold-re-
sistant, heat-resistant, drouth-resistant grass, very
vigorous on good soil. It makes a dense growth of
leaves down close to the earth and the stem or top
is not very important, being light and feathery.
Animals like brome grass exceedingly well as a
pasture grass. The writer knows of no other grass
so palatable to sheep and cattle. It is probable that
it is the best pasture grass yet introduced into
America, where it is adapted to the soil. It likes
rich land and when grown alone with no clovers in-
termixed it seems soon to suffer for nitrogen and
falls off greatly in yield of forage. When mixed
with alfalfa or red clover it seems to receive fer-
tilization from association with its sister plant and
yields very much more heavily.
Brome grass loves to grow in alfalfa. It is prob-
ably the best plant to sow with it when the alfalfa
is to be grazed with cattle or sheep. Alfalfa is not
always a safe pasture for cattle or sheep when sown
SEEDING GRASSES. — Qk
unmixed with grasses. In some regions it is almost
deadly in it effects. It causes bloat or hoven. In
other regions it seems a safe enough pasture. It is |
very noticeable, however, that where it is safe pas-
turage there is usually found a considerable admix-
ture of grasses with the alfalfa. Animals grazing
alfalfa get a superabundance of protein in their diet.
This makes them long for some grass or other car-
bonaceous diet. When grasses are mixed with al-
falfa the animals will eat alternately of each. Thus
a more healthful ration is compounded by the very
instincts of the animals.
In using an alfalfa pasture that had in it a con-
siderable admixture of brome grass I never had a
serious case of bloating with either cattle or sheep.
On other alfalfa pastures with no grass I had more
or less trouble and some loss from death. Further-
more, | saw very remarkable results in growth and
fattening of animals grazing these plants, better
than I had ever seen on any other pastures in the
world, considering the areas of land used.
Brome grass is not broom sedge, as some southern
readers might infer; it is a grass coming to us from
eastern Hurope. 7
Brome grass thickens up fast by underground
stems or roots, very much as Kentucky bluegrass
does. A thin stand of it soon becomes a thick stand
if the soil is fit. It ultimately crowds out alfalfa,
yet for a few years they grow well together and
make an: immense amount of grazing. All animals
relish it exceedingly. Even Kentucky bluegrass is
ae ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
untouched if brome grass is available. For that rea-
son it does not thrive when sown in mixed pastures
with other grasses. So far as I know there is no
other grass that animals will eat as readily as they
will brome grass.
Seed of brome grass is often seriously adulter-
ated and of low germinating quality. Fresh seed
grows well. Seed may be grown in any northern or
middle state; it seeds right heavily. The usual
sources of good seed are the Dakotas. Brome grass
seed ought to be sown in the spring. To get it in
an alfalfa pasture one can either sow with the alfalfa
if that is spring sown, or he can harrow the fall sown
alfalfa in April or earlier and sow the brome seed
then. If it is a thin stand at first no matter; it will
presently thicken up. It must be sown by hand,
broadcast. Twenty pounds of seed is enough for
an acre when used as a partner with alfalfa.
Brome Grass as a Pasture Grass—After alfalfa
and brome grass have grown together for some
years there will remain little else than brome grass.
Ultimately the yield of forage will be much de-
creased because of depletion of soil nitrogen. Then
it may be disked vigorously in the spring and more
alfalfa seed, or seed of one of the clovers sown in,
with a liberal application of phosphorus. The re-
sult will be to quadruple the yield of forage. This
grass is destined to come into wide use on the better
soils of the eastern part of the United States. It
is an efficient soil binder and stops erosion. It is a
little hard to get out of soils but not especially so.
SEEDING GRASSES. Qs
The writer and his brother have worked with it for
more than twelve years with no especial difficulty in
its eradication when the land was plowed and
planted to corn and well cultivated.
Winter Grain in Alfalfa Fields —J. M. Westgate,
of the Department of Agriculture, is sponsor for
the subjoined:
In the Southwest the mild winters and the occurrence of
much of the rainfall during the colder months make it possible
to seed wheat or barley in a stand of alfalfa after the last cutting
and harvest it at the proper stage for hay the next spring with
the first cutting of alfalfa. The presence of a crop of small
grain during the winter months prevents the growth of trouble:
some weeds, which sometimes almost ruin the first cutting of
alfalfa. This practice has the further advantage of giving a
mixed crop of alfalfa and grain hay, which is regarded as superior
to pure alfalfa, owing to the scarcity in that section of feeds rich
in carbohydrates or starchy matter. This method is also com-
mendable when for any reason the stand has become thin, as
through the action of field mice. The amount of grain to be
seeded and disked in depends on the thickness of the stand of
alfalfa. This practice has been followed for many years in cer-
tain parts of the Southwest, although its value does not appear
to be recognized to the extent that it apparently deserves.
Alfalfa and Kentucky Bluegrass.—Kentucky blue-
grass (Poa pratensis) loves alfalfa exceedingly well.
When soil is made right for alfalfa, it is just right
for bluegrass. Both love lime, both love fertile
soils, both love well-drained soils. Alfalfa also
fills the land with nitrogen, thus the bluegrass
erowds in. Usually it is classed as a weed. In a
meadow devoted only to mowing it is a hindrance,
though it will make a very heavy cutting of hay at
the first cutting. The mixture also makes exceed-
ingly good hay, especially for horses or cows.
After bluegrass has run into the alfalfa it makes
274 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
wonderful pasture. Perhaps it does not yield as
much forage as does the mixture of brome grass
and alfalfa, but it is a close second, and bluegrass
is indigenous to a large part of our country. Thus
it comes in usually of its own accord because of the
seed latent in the soil.
Of this mixture Robert Giltner, of Henry Co., Ky.,
wrote:
I find that alfalfa thrives well with us when we have used
enough lime and have sown it on fairly well drained land, made
fertile. After a few years the bluegrass comes in thick and I do
not know but we get the most profit from it then. It makes the
most wonderful pasture that I have ever seen. It is little less
than marvelous what fat lambs come from these pastures and
how the calves thrive and the colts grazing on it. After the pas-
ture has been used about two years it is nearly all blue grass,
thicker and richer than ever seen before on the land. Then we
plow it, put it to corn and resow to alfalfa again.
Some men have exploited alfalfa and bluegrass
pasture and have made great profit from the use of
this mixture of plants. It seems especially desirable
as a cattle pasture. Very great gains from such
pasture are reported. When it is desired to improve
an old bluegrass pasture hardly any better plan
could be suggested than to plow 1¢ in fall or winter,
setting the furrows on edge, harrowing in April and
sowing to alfalfa. If the land needs lime it should
be given; in fact everything that alfalfa likes should
be done and the instructions previously given should
be carefully followed in order to get a good stand.
The grass will come thinly the first year and thicker
the next. The yield of forage will be quadrupled
by the addition of the alfalfa and when ultimately
the grass has again regained possession of the soil
SEEDING GRASSES. 203d
it will be much more vigorous and productive than
before it was plowed.
This is a most practicable scheme that deserves
wide application. There is plenty of profit in good
pasture. England is a land of grass and grazing;
there is found more profit in grazing than in grain
growing. The same conditions are rapidly ap-
proaching in America. Millions of acres of our best
lands will be laid down in permanent pastures be-
cause of the failure of the pastures of the West and
the advancing prices of beef, mutton and horses.
Then should be remembered that the way to stimu-
late bluegrass is to associate with it a legume, and
alfalfa seems the best one for that purpose on the
best soils. It is very easy to get a stand of alfalfa
on a bluegrass sod. One can plow, disk, sow the
seed, harrow and the thing is done, though it will be
safer to sow some inoculating soil with the seed and
immensely profitable to sow some phosphorus with
it as well.
Lime usually helps bluegrass and carbonate of
lime or unburned ground limestone is the best sort
of lime to choose when it is to be had.
Alfalfa and Orchard Grass.—Orchard grass grows
well with alfalfa and the mixture of the two makes
much forage and good hay. It is not so palatable
a grass as brome grass, but is easily established and
really its forage is better than men believe. When
using orchard grass pasture animals should not at
the same time have run of a pasture of a different
grass; then they will eat the orchard grass very
276 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
well. The taste of alfalfa gives them more appetite
for orchard grass too. Orchard grass does not run
and thicken up as does Kentucky bluegrass and
brome grass and will not so soon crowd out the
alfalfa.
English bluegrass (Festuca elaitor) is the tall
fescue grass growing from 2 to 4 feet high, and is
a nutritious grass, and animals like it. It mixes
admirably with alfalfa when it is to be grazed. It
does not spread rapidly and in fact is not in its
prime for several years after sowing. It thrives on
the dry prairie lands of Kansas and Nebraska. It
may be that there is no better grass for mixing with
alfalfa than this. It has no bad qualities that the
writer has seen.
GROWING BY IRRIGATION.
Alfalfa is a desert plant and thrives best when un-
der desert conditions—dry, clear air, plenty of sun
and much moisture applied by means of irrigation
water. All the greatest alfalfa growing regions in the
world are irrigated countries. The great civilizations
of the world first grew up in arid regions where men
must irrigate or perish. It is a curious fact that civil-
ization, and especially organized communal civiliza-
tion, did not first spring up in rainy lands, where
one weuld think that life would be easiest, but in
the dry, burning, half-desert lands, such as Persia,
Babylonia, Egypt, and in our own land in Arizona
and New Mexico and Colorado. In these old dry
lands where men must toil to make dams and canals,
to distribute water and rescue plants from death by
thirst, there grew up cities and civilizations per-
taining to cities; there stood the farm house of sun-
dried bricks, alike in Babylon and in Arizona; there
stood the communal mass of dwellings, the palaces;
there developed written language, priesthood, civic
conscience, communal spirit and the genius of
organization that brought to its present-day develop-
ment has girded the world with steel bands, built
great cities, canals, railways, steamships and all the
modern machinery of a complex life of civilization.
The forest-dwelling man in a land where it rained
seemed to have things all his own way. He dwelt
(277)
278 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
apart from his fellow men, he learned independence,
nor ever developed much of the spirit of. interde-
pendence that came with the man living where ir-
rigation was practiced.
After all, in the long run, the forest-dweller over-
threw the civilizations developed by irrigation, and
now in the marvelous shifting of peoples of these
frantic days we find Dane and Norwegian, Scot and
Yankee, all jostling each other in the arid West,
learning the ancient and honorable art of guiding
water over a thirsty land, learning to redeem des-
erts, to replace sage brush with alfalfa, cactus flow-
ers with roses; to make grapes grow where thorns
were yesterday.
Fertiity of Irrigated Lands.—Irrigated lands
have all the advantages after all, for they are so
fertile. Lands where rain falls have been leached
for centuries of their lime, of their potash, of their
phosphorus. Desert lands have all their mineral
wealth yet untouched. No matter if they look gray
and infertile, just moisten them, sow the seed, and
watch the miracle unfold. Soon overspreads the
arid dusty plain a tender green. Little shining
streams course between furrows, the hard clods melt,
the earth gives up of its treasures, the green deepens,
thickens. A meadow has come; it blooms, bees hum,
butterflies play in the sunlight, humming birds seek
the nectar of the bloom, along the cool depths of the
placid canal trees spring up, a little house is soon
hidden with fruit trees, alfalfa stacks hide the corral,
the desert is forgotten.
GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 279
Irrigation is the modern miracle of the West and
Southwest. It has built railways and towns and
cities and states. And the first thing to follow the
irrigator’s shovel is the alfalfa plant.
Alfalfa Loves Desert Sois—Alfalfa loves new
desert soils. They are not always fertile to the
touch of wheat or maize or potatoes. Sometimes
indeed they spurn such things and the poor settler
would be in sorry plight were it not for alfalfa.
Nearly all desert soils love alfalfa. After it has
grown for a time, then will grow grain or beets or
vines or orchards or any other good things.
The only desert soils that refuse to grow alfalfa
are those that have in them too much of a good
thing, too much alkali—that is, too much of sulphate
of soda, carbonate of soda and other salts. Even
these soils can be brought into alfalfa by right man-
agement. Drainage with tiles laid deep under the
ground will drain off the excess of alkalies; some-
times they can be freed of injurious excess by flood-
ing over the surface and dissolving and washing
away the excess of alkalies that have risen to the
surface by the evaporation of the soil water.
It is simply marvelous what desert land will do
after alfalfa has grown on it. The writer has seen
potatoes grown after alfalfa in the valleys of Utah
yielding as much as 1,000 bushels per acre. Wheat
on alfalfa sod in the San Luis vallev of Colorado
has yielded more than 100 bushels per acre.
Alfalfa m Arid Agriculture—Alfalfa is the
foundation stone of all the agriculture of the arid
280 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
West. Alfalfa hay feeds the teams, the stock mares
and foals, the: family cow, the calves, pigs, bees,
poultry. In Utah at one time half the Mormon
population in certain southern valleys was saved
from starvation by the use of alfalfa greens in
early spring, before gardens could be grown, and
after a season of grasshoppers the year previous.
The writer can testify that alfalfa greens are good;
nothing is any better, cooked as one cooks spinach,
taken when fresh and tender and growing rapidly.
Starting Alfalfa by Irrigation.—There are various
soils in the irrigated sections and each may need a
somewhat different treatment. Soils differ im-
mensely in their physical character and in their
slope, and regularity of slope as well. I can not
here give all that I know should be given to the sub-
ject of irrigation of alfalfa. Alfalfa should be pre-
pared for irrigation in such a way that the water
can be put on in large volume, the more the better,
so that it will run quickly over the field and then all
of it drain away. This can be accomplished in one
way on one soil and with one slope, another way on
a different soil and on a different slope.
Irrigation by Contour Levees.—There are lands in
California so level and irregular in contour that the
most practicable system is to flood them all over.
To do this long dams or levees are built up, running
along contour or level lines. Each levee is so high
that when the water is turned in above it fills that
part of the field till it has backed up to the foot of
the next levee above. Thus it makes a little lake all
GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 281
over the field. When it has soaked for an hour or
day, according to the soil and the season, the gate is
opened and all the water not absorbed by the soil is
rapidly run off to the check below which is filled in
like manner. After this is soaked well the water
passes in rotation to the next lower check, or if a
number of them are filled at one time passes again
into the canal and on down to another field at a lower
level.
_ This is the system of irrigation by contours. It is
not a good system when the land has a strong slope,
as it is evident that all the levees would have to be
very high and very close together, thus the field
would be much cut up and of irregular shape. But
where there is slight fall, say of 6” to 100’ and where
the land is not of a very smooth surface it is a very
good way.
Land may be irrigated very rapidly and at slight
expense and labor when once laid out in contour ter-
races or checks. One laborer can turn the water, no
matter how large the volume, into the upper check,
may watch it until that has soaked long enough, then
may open the way for the water to flow into the next
check below. It is the best system when the land is
infested with ground squirrels or gophers. They
are all forced to leave their burrows and come out
where they can be destroyed.
There are a few well-defined principles that ought
to be borne in mind in laying out land with these
contours for flooding. The contours should not be
too far apart, else the dams or levees will need be
282 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
too high and strong and the water will be ponded too
long in a check. There ought to be no more than
about 12” difference in the levels of the upper and
lower sides of these contours. The earth for mak-
ing the levee should all be taken from below it. This
will avoid making the inequality of the land more
than it need be. The levees ought to be strong, high,
at least 6” higher than ever needed, and better if 12”,
and of easy slope so that the mower can run over
each one and thus save what alfalfa may grow
thereon and at the same time prevent weeds growing.
There should be large volume of water, so that
the checks may be rapidly filled. A small stream
will not serve at all since it will put water on the
lower parts of the checks long before it will reach
the upper sides, and thus one part of the field will
get too much water while the other part will get not
enough. If only a small stream of water is available
the land should be prepared for flooding rather than
for ponding, or preferably be irrigated by the fur-
row method, if the stream is very small.
Irrigation by the Furrow Method.—This is
adapted to certain types of soil that soak well. On
coarse, sandy or gravelly soils it will not serve,
since the water sinks and will not penetrate side-
ways very far. Nor will it serve well in hard clays,
‘since there it penetrates too slowly. It is in good,
loamy soils that the furrow method works best.
There furrows 6’ apart, or even at wider distances,
will moisten all the land between them. The furrows
ought to flow nearly in a direct line down the slope,
GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 283
since if they run in a direction across the slope there
will be danger of their filling and the water fail
of reaching the points aimed at. The furrow method
will do more with a small amount of water than any
other except subirrigation by means of tiles.
The Flooding System.—The most common way of.
irrigating alfalfa in our West is by flooding. To
prepare land for this system one puts in ditches on
contour lines, the upper one to bring water to the
field, below another to catch the waste water and
eollect it for the part of the field below.
The distance apart of these head ditches, as they
are called, is determined by the nature of the soil,
slope and the amount of water to be had. Usually if
they are from 400’ to 1,000’ apart it will be well,
with an average distance perhaps of abeut 500’.
Much here depends on the nature of the soil. There
are soils where it is well to have these ditches as
near as 200’ feet or even closer together. Much
of course depends upon the head available. If there
is not much head the leading ditches should be closer
than if there is a flood of water. The ditches while
following contour lines rather closely ought to have
enough fall so that the water will flow freely in them.
Preparing the Land for Flooding.—The contour
ditch is made first, strong, with a good bank. Be-
low it a lesser ditch, close up; this to distribute the
water. The field should be leveled as well as pos-
sible. Upon this leveling will depend a lot of the
later success or failure of the alfalfa. Work in mak-
ing the land level is work well spent. It should next
284 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
be plowed deeply and made mellow. It is then laid
off in furrows parallel to each other and spaced ac-
cording to the soil from 12” to 2’ or 3’ apart. Vari-
ous implements are in use for opening these furrows.
It is often done with a common plow, making rather
shallow furrows as close together as may be neces-
sary, or a special implement with several large
shovels affixed to a frame is used; this opens fur-
rows exactly parallel. A roller with ridges turned
to fit the furrows sometimes follows these plow
shovels and makes very smooth, even furrows down
which water may flow very nicely.
The reader may wonder why these furrows are
made if the land is to be flooded. It can not be
flooded until the alfalfa is well established.
Sowmg Alfalfa on Irrigable Land—The next
thing to consider is sowing the seed and getting a
stand. Here one may as well forget all that he has
known of alfalfa in the East. None of the condi-
tions are the same. In the arid regions one need not
trouble to inoculate; as a rule inoculation comes of
itself, we do not know how. He can sow in the early
spring to good advantage; later the sun is rather
hot and irrigation more difficult, though if that can
be effected it is as well to sow late as early.
Fertilization is unknown, as the desert soils are
rich already in lime, some of them having in them
as much as 4 per cent of carbonate of lime, or as
much as 75 tons to the acre in the top foot of soil
alone. They are also rich in phosphorus, in potash,
in nearly everything that alfalfa desires.
GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 285
In hard alkali clays, however, I found it very use-
ful to mulch the land carefully with a thin layer of
manure when starting alfalfa. This shades the land
and prevents the forming of an alkaline crust that
would destroy the young seedlings. After the al-
falfa had become strong enough to shade the land it
erew well with numerous irrigations, needing water
oftener to keep it thrifty on these clays than on more
open sandy soils.
After the land is leveled it is well to soak it thor-
oughly. This may be done by making temporary
furrows which need not be so carefully made as the
permanent ones will be. It may be filled with water
before it is plowed, and again watered after plowing,
if it has much dried out. Then give the final level-
ing and make the last set of permanent furrows.
These furrows should go straight down the slope.
The seed should now be sown broadeast. If sown
at once as soon as the furrows are made it is likely
that it will need no covering, since the wetting will
make the earth crumble enough to cover the seeds.
Or if it is a soil that will not crumble the land may
be brushed with a brush harrow which will cover
the seeds deeply enough.
Next the water is turned in, and here les all the
secret of success after all. Can any man tell another
on paper how to irrigate young alfalfa for the first
time? If now one can find an old experienced Mor-
mon irrigator he will find him worth nearly his
weight in gold.
The First Irrigation.—The principle of the thing
286 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
is to turn out a part of the stream in the large cross
or head ditch, letting it into the lesser ditch below.
This ditch has been carefully opened into each fur-
row. Now the water is to be carefully divided, so
that each furrow will have its share and not a drop
more. There is needed the least trickling stream in
each furrow. If too much is turned in the land will
wash, the seed be carried away, the land spoiled for
later irrigations. If too little is turned in it will not
reach through the rows. Thus the lower end of —
the field will make a poor stand. It should be so
regulated that in about 24 hours water will be
trickling through each row at the lower end and run-
ning clear, with no cutting or washing anywhere. In
some hot countries it is well to leave the water flow
till the plants are germinated ana rooted. In other
lands to soak well once will suffice to bring the al-
falfa up, and it will root and grow for some weeks
with the water already stored in the soil.
Nurse Crops in Irrigated Regions.—As a rule it
is better to use no nurse crop when sowing alfalfa
in the dry country. I have sown with oats, however,
and secured a fairly good stand. I have known it to
be sown with spring wheat with good results. It is
usually better, however, to sow alone.
How Often to Irrigate—Usually once the alfalfa
is up well it is good to let it get somewhat dry
before giving the second irrigation. This sends the
roots down well and to a degree deters the growth
of weeds. The alfalfa ought never to suffer seri-
ously for water before it is given, however.
GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 287
The second irrigation is much more easily given
than the first. More water may be used and there
will be less danger of washing. The little alfalfa
plants check the flow of the water and distribute it.
The land soaks better too. When it needs the third
irrigation usually a good deal more water may be
turned in with no danger of wasting. Finally when
the plants are strong and branched and the crop has
been once mown off one may turn a young river over
the field with no harm.
The practice then is to turn out all in one place a
strong stream, and let it flow till it has reached the
eross ditch below, then shutting off the flow at that
place to open it a little further along the ditch. It is
allowed to flow in at this point till that strip is
soaked, when it is again moved farther across the
field, and so on till all the land is wet.
These heavy irrigations cause the furrows to level
up a great deal, so that a field that seemed rough
and ridged for mowing will be all right after being
flooded a time or two and one will even wish that
he had made his furrows deeper and the ridges more
pronounced if he has not his land well leveled. This
is the system in almost universal use in our western
states.
When to Irrigate—Alfalfa should never be al-
lowed to get very dry in winter time. It is well to
irrigate thoroughly late in the fall, when it will go
through winter in good condition. Watering it in
winter will not do any harm if the soil is pervious,
and any excess of moisture can readily drain away.
288 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
In fact winter irrigation is often a very good thing.
It saves water, for one thing, that might otherwise
be lost for lack of storage, and no one ever heard of
there being enough water to satisfy all needs in
summer time.
Care must be taken, liner. not to let the alfalfa
be flooded in cold weather, which might cover over
the crowns and freeze into a solid sheet of ice which
would destroy the plants entirely. In truth in ir- —
rigated regions there is no easier way of destroying
alfalfa than to let it be flooded in winter and freeze
solid to the ground. This makes it much easier
plowing in the spring.
Alfalfa does not want to be too wet when growth
starts in spring, since that makes the ground cold
and retards growth. One or two waterings will
usually be sufficient before the first crop is cut.
It is usually well to water alfalfa shortly before
cutting, as this starts off the second crop promptly
and vigorously. In irrigated lands one should get
the hay off the land as quickly as he can, since
growth is usually very prompt and very rapid after
cutting. One watering when the crop is about half
grown is usually advisable. Here, of course, one
must be governed by his soil and water supply, and
somewhat by climate as well. There are soils that
respond to double the water that other soils require.
’ Loose sandy or gravelly soils will use vast amounts
of water, and when this can be given the yield may
be splendid.
Asa rule the yield of ee is nearly proportioned
GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 289
to the amount of water available. A yield of 6 tons
per acre actually needs 30 inches of water and cer-
tainly there will be some loss by evaporation from
the surface of the soil and by percolation through
into the subsoil. The Utah Agricultural Experi-
ment Station in co-operation with the United States
Department of Agriculture made numerous tests of
water used, with varying amounts and varying fre-
queney of application. Briefly, it was learned that
frequent applications gave much larger returns than
infrequent, and that the yield was somewhat directly
in proportion to the amount used.
RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS IN IRRIGATING ALFALFA IN UTAH.
Inches of water Number of Yield per acre,
applied. irrigations. in tons.
17.058 3 3.125
17.33 4 f 3.468
24.97 4 5 5.017
25.002 2 1.55
61.465 12 6.243
Penetration of Roots im Irrigated Soiws.—Soils in
the arid regions are quite unlike those of humid
regions. There is often little difference in physical
texture or fertility between the surface soil and sub-
soil. Furthermore they are usually more permeable
than soils in humid regions; both water and air can
enter them readily. Thus alfalfa roots penetrate to
great depths in such soils. Roots have been traced
to a depth of 30’ and even farther. And all down
in that soil will be found air, nodules, bacteria; it
is a vast factory of nitrogen-gathering, wonderwork-
ing plant life. No wonder the ‘‘deserts blossom as
the rose’’ when water is applied to them.
—Grassing the Ditch Banks,—It is a convenience to
290 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
have ditch banks covered with sod. This prevents
their washing away from too great heads of water
and facilitates irrigation. Brome grass is good for
this purpose, or Kentucky bluegrass.
Alfalfa Growing and Irrigation in Meaxico—The
following letter from Alf Kessler, once of Utah,
now of southern Coahuila, Mexico, is interesting as
showing the progress of alfalfa culture in our sister
Republic:
When I was very young, in the small seventies, about the first
things that happened that made an impression on my mind were
the Chicago fire, the killing of Jim Fisk and the planting and
growing of alfalfa in Utah (and as everybody knows, Utah was
the first territory to be successfully reclaimed by irrigation). lL
have been in the thick of the conflict from the beginning to the
present time, and since I have become grown, have traveled all
over the principal western country from Kansas City to the
Pacific, and from northern Alberta to Southern Coahuila, Mex.,
where I am at present engaged in raising alfalfa. I have care-
fully studied alfalfa conditions wherever I have been and this
beats them all for raising the weed, as the natives call it.
First in selecting a locality for raising alfalfa here, be sure
that you have plenty of water; then pick land that is on the
order of a nice deep sandy loam with not too much alkali; it
all has enough lime; then plow it good and deep, level nicely,
and be sure it is level to save future trouble, but should have
a gentle slope, and sow 16 Ibs. of seed per acre broadcast with
machine. ‘This we find sufficient. Then we irrigate in the fur-
row system. To make these furrows we have what we call a
drum roller. The drum part is about 36” high, and with two
plows (Center Busters) 26” apart from center to center, at-
tached just ahead of the roller. It has also two flanges the
same distance apart which fit the plow furrow and leaves your
small drills or ditches 26” apart up and down over the whole
field. Then we cross-ditch the field and leave these small ditches,
or irrigation furrows, 600’ long and you are ready for the water.
This takes some patience for the first few irrigations, or until
the alfalfa is up about 6” high and well started all your trouble
is at an end. In your first few irrigations be careful and not
use too much water, in fact, just as little as will run through
GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 291
the 600’, and it should come out below clear. If muddy, you
are cutting the land somewhere down the line, and losing some
of your seed, besides putting the land in bad condition for your
mowers. The land should be irrigated until it looks black, which
it will with sub-irrigation from one furrow to another; then
keep it nice and moist so that the seed will all sprout and come
up. If old iand is used there may be trouble with weeds, which
IRRIGATING ALFALFA IN MEXICO.
will have to be mown off, and if this is not sufficient, they will
have to be pulled out by hand. In irrigating always irrigate
enough to keep the leaves wide and a beautiful green color.
Should they look a dusty color and a little pinched, they lack
water and the alfalfa will soon bud and bloom, perhaps 6” or
8” high, where if given sufficient water your alfalfa will grow
at the rate of an inch a day, and be ready to cut when about
one-fourth or one-half in bloom, about every thirty-five or
292 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
forty days after the alfalfa gets into the producing stage. A
mistake may be made and too much water given it. In that
case it will stop growing, turn yellow and have small brown
spots on the leaves. Stop irrigating; cut once in eight or ten
days for two or three times; irrigate quickly and not let the
water stay on too long and it will come out all right again.
We have about 400 acres in alfalfa here and it is doing fine
except wnere we have dry spells and run short of water. We
have had some of the leading men of the Republic here to look
at our work, besides Prof. Alfred Burbank of California and
others. They all congratulate us on our success, and have no
fault to find. In curing the hay, we cut it one day, rake and
cock it the next, then leave it in the field to cure a day or two
according to the weather. We put it in the stack just a little
moist and use a little salt, about-10 lbs. per ton. This keeps
it a nice green color, and it holds its leaves when baling. But
should the weather be damp or misty, we put it in the stack
dry.
These Mexicans all want to irrigate under the contour sys-
tem, but by so doing they flood the entire surface of the ground,
and the sun.is so hot here that the land bakes hard so that the
young plants cannot come through, or very few of them. Then
they want to continue ponding the water, which should always
be avoided, for the hot sun soon makes the water warm enough
to scald the plants and kill them, or the water stands too long
and drowns them, and turns the meadow into grass and weeds
and then they say, the peons, “We don’t want alfalfa anyway.”
But people here with energy do want alfalfa, and everything
else.
About here this alfalfa will grow 36” in thirty days, and start
to bloom nicely if cut at that stage. It can be cut eight or nine
times a year, but if let stand a little longer or until it gets a
little more firm it will have more food value, and produce more
tons of dry hay. By doing this it can be cut easily six times
a year, and the plants can rest through the months of Decem-
ber, January and February. In the first instance we cut a little
over a ton, and the second about two tons per acre, each cut-
ting. The hay is baled on the ranch. We have an engine and
steel press, and the hay is sold in Torreon, Monterey and the
different cities and is usually worth about $40 or $50 per ton
(silver) by the car load, but recently it brought $75, single ton
at Filipinas.
TIME OF CUTTING,
Alfalfa ought to be cut whenever it needs cutting,
whether in meadow or pasture. It is the life of al-
falfa to cut it now and then. It disappears and is re-
placed by other plants in eastern soils when not cut
occasionally. In the west this is not so true, yet in
almost any region alfalfa is healthier and better to
be cut now and then.
Time to Cut.—One knows that alfalfa needs cut-
ting when he sees a cessation of growth, an appear-
ance of bloom, a dropping off of the lower leaves and
especially when he notes shooting out near the sur-
face of the ground small new sprouts or buds, as
though the plant was about to make a new growth.
As soon as these shoots appear, cut the crop as
promptly as possible. The earlier it is cut after
these shoots start the better the hay will be and the
more nutritious, also the stronger will be the new
growth. Thus the total amount of forage produced
by. a field of alfalfa is very directly proportioned to
the promptness with which it is cut after it is ready.
It has already been pointed out, however, that it
is dangerous to mow alfalfa too soon. To cut it
before these basal shoots have started may weaken
it and in the case of newly-sown alfalfa may also
destroy it.
Bloom not a Test.—One can not safely judge of
(298)
294 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
the fitness for mowing by the state of bloom. Usu-
ally when alfalfa is ready to be cut it will be partly
in bloom. Sometimes it will be much more ad-
vanced in blooming than at other times. Some-
times there will be few blooms showing, and yet a
pronounced condition of readiness to be mown off.
Whenever it is ready to make new growth, cut it as
promptly as you can, regardless of the state of
bloom.
It is better, however, to cut it a few days too late
than a few days too early, that is, better for the al-
falfa. |
Late Cutting Damaging.—There is another law |
that sometimes collides with this: alfalfa ought nev-
er to be cut late in the fall anywhere east of the
Missouri River. It very seriously weakens it to cut
it late in the fall. There ought always to be left a
growth of alfalfa at least 12 inches high to serve as
protection to the crowns. Therefore it is well to
cease cutting by the first week in September, or
earlier, according to climatic conditions. It takes
some nerve to do this at first. One may leave in
the field a ton of hay to the acre sometimes. He
will get so much finer alfalfa with so much less
death of individual plants in it the next year that he
will be glad however.
— The First Cutting—Along the 40th parallel one
ean cut alfalfa usually about June 1 and find it in
prime condition; sometimes it may be cut a week or
two earlier, It is essential to get this first cutting
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TIME OF CUTTING. 295
off as promtly as possible when once it is ready.
I. D. O’Donnell, Billings, Mont., is so impressed
with this truth that he mows down 400 acres at one
clip when it is time to mow it down for the first
eutting. As he has little or no rain to trouble him
he ean do this without fear. Once cut down he
hustles to get it off the field as soon as he can. Thus
his second crop comes on quickly.
The Second Cutting.—Supposing the first crop to
be mown off June 1, the next crop will be ready in
about 30 to 36 days. When weather conditions are
good it will be ready in 30 days. Say the second
erop is taken off July 4, the third crop will be slower
to mature because of hot and dry weather; it may
come off in 45 days or by Aug. 20. It is probable,
however, that if there is a large amount of alfalfa
to make into hay one will not find it possible to do
it all as promptly as he would like, so that it will be
the first of September or a little later when the
third cutting is taken off. This will not permit a
safe removal of a fourth cutting.
No Unwersal Rule—No rule of universal appli-
cation can be laid down. Almost anywhere in Amer-
ica it can be cut three times. In Ontario it has
been eut four times, though it is probable that to cut
it three times would be better. There are situations
where it will make but two crops, where the altitude
is high. In the state of Coahuilla, Mexico, where
I was instrumental in establishing a large alfalfa-
growing hacienda, it may be cut every 30 days, dur-
296 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
ing which time if it has had water enough it will
have grown 36 inches. It may there be cut eight or
nine times in a year, but even there it is better to cut
it only about six times in a year, letting it rest during
the months of December, January and February. In
that climate on suitable soil the yield is about a ton
to each cutting.
Let me repeat with all possible emphasis, in re- —
gions where alfalfa is not very strong and is apt to
winterkill, do not cut too late in the fall. Leave al-
ways a good growth to protect the crowns and to
catch snow. Do not graze late in the fall.
Western readers will wonder at this caution. I
have had 2,000 cattle on a 90 acre alfalfa meadow
most of the winter, coming and going, and have seen
no injury in Utah. There the soil was dry, no ice
formed on alfalfa crowns and alfalfa was markedly
at home. A similar treatment in Ohio would have
spelled certain ruin to the alfalfa.
Keep off the Fields in Winter.—Anywhere east of
the Missouri River it is very bad practice to go on
the fields at all in winter with animals or wagons.
Wherever horses tread or wheels go will be lines
of dead or dying alfalfa plants. The alfalfa field
should be a sacred place after October and until
May, no animal should be permitted to set foot
within it.. No matter just what it is that kills or
weakens the plants, the truth 1s so well proved that
it admits of no argument; so let us emphasize the
rule never under any avoidable circumstance go
TIME OF CUTTING. 297
into an alfalfa field with wagon or animals in late
fall or winter time. Especially do not let hogs run
on the alfalfa in winter.
Winter-killing of Alfalfa—There are several
things that destroy alfalfa in winter time. One is
the freezing of ice over the crowns. If this lies
close and for some time it will destroy the plants.
It is more apt to do this if the alfalfa was late
mown. It is not known just why this ice destroys
the alfalfa. When snows suddenly melt in Minne-
sota and Wisconsin, finding the earth hard frozen
the water can not sink down and so freezes into a
glare of ice that may destroy the alfalfa. In that
case it is best to plow, plant to corn or some other
erop and re-seed. There is no loss in one sense; it
only interferes with a man’s rotation.
There is another form of winter-killing, that in
clay soils not well drained when the repeated freez-
ings and thawings lift the alfalfa roots out of the
soil. This may happen on very good alfalfa land.
On Woodland Farm it is a common occurrence for
a good deal of alfalfa to be lifted the first winter.
If it goes through that it will be too well rooted to
be lifted very much the second season.
The remedy is good drainage, deep plowing, and
probably subsoiling. These things will take out
surface water and also let alfalfa roots penetrate
deep enough to be strong enough to escape this lift-
ing.
Spreading with Manure,—There is another thing
298 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
that will help and that is to run the manure spreader
over the land and cover it lightly with manure. Do
not bury it too deep, though alfalfa will in the
spring come up through quite a little litter. This
mulching should be done in November, though it
may be done later if itis not done then. ‘This is the
one permissible intrusion into an alfalfa field, to
spread lightly over it manure for protection of the
crowns. When I say lightly I mean a layer thick
enough to cover the land about so that one can not
see the earth through the litter. Some men’s ideas
of a light covering are airy in the extreme. This
manure will do no harm in the hay next season.
The rain will have washed it clean, it will have lost
most of its weight and anyway will have settled
down so close to the earth that the rake will not
gather very much of it. What is taken up will not
damage the hay.
BARVESTING HAY IN THE WEST.
To make alfalfa hay a man needs wide-cut mowers,
a supply of rakes, forks and men, then unlimited
faith and hopefulness. Especially is this true in the
humid East. In the West it is not so much a matter
of dodging showers as it is of economizing labor. In
the East it is a struggle to get the hay dry enough, in
the West a struggle to keep it from getting too dry
and thus losing its leaves.
When Ready to Cut.—Before starting the mowers
the farmer should get down on his knees in the field
and examine the stage of growth of the plants. It
is not possible to judge accurately by the state of
bloom or any other external sign. He must part
the stems and look down close to the earth to see if
the little shoots have formed, the shoots that sucker
out from the bases of the stems and that are to make
new growth. If these shoots, some call them ‘‘buds,”’
have not appeared, then one takes risk of injuring
his second crop by cutting. He had better as a rule
wait a few days. It is hard to explain the injury
that sometimes comes to alfalfa when mown off too
soon. The succeeding crop may be lessened by half
or more if the alfalfa is mown off too early.
Nor can a man delay long after these buds ap-
pear without injuring his alfalfa. This injury
comes from two sources: for one thing the stems
become woody and the leaves are lost; then the
(299)
300 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
shoots if they get long will be chpped off by the
mower and thus growth retarded again. So as soon
as these basal shoots appear one should begin cut-
ting. Thus several mowers may be a good thing.
The keynotes of success in making alfalfa hay in
the arid West are to mow off promptly when it is
time to mow; to rake before the hay is dry enough
to lose its leaves; to let it dry somewhat in the
windrow and then cock in large cocks, or bunch with
the rake if labor is too dear or scarce for hand cock-
ing, and then to hurry it into mow or stack.
Alfalfa leaves are worth about the same as wheat
bran, a little more, in truth, and one must struggle
always to manage so as to save them; therefore the
early raking, and also careful handling afterword.
In the arid West one can bale alfalfa hay right
from the fields if he so desires. This he can seldom
do in the East. ?
Curing for the Mow.—A simple test of dryness
will seldom lead a man astray. It is to take a wisp
of the most moist hay he ean find in the windrow or
eock and twist it hard as one would niake a hay
rope, twisting it nearly to the breaking point. If
he can see no moisture whatever exude from the
stems he may put the hay up, no matter if it is
tough. If any visible moisture exudes he had better
dry it further else it may mold.
Making Green or Brown Hay.—In the West it is
often possible to cure hay that will come from the
mow or rick with a lovely green color, as fresh and
HARVESTING HAY IN THE WEST. 301
green as it had when growing in the field. This
eolor can not often be secured in the Hast. When
hay is so dry before put in mow or stack that it does
not heat nor steam the green color will be preserved.
In order to have this in its perfection the hay should
not be cured altogether in the sunlight, nor ever ex-
posed to dew or rain, but should be cured in part in
the swath, raked before the leaves crumble, cured
somewhat in the windrow (side delivery rakes are
best for this purpose) and the curing oes fin-
ished in the cock.
This green hay has a distinct market value. There
is a demand for it for horse feed; it has no mold on
it, has not been heated, is not dusty and is no doubt
the best that could be found for horses. It is in
favor among eastern dairymen because they con-
sider it the real alfalfa. It is really no better for
cows than the brown alfalfa, but it often outsells it in
the market.
For making into alfalfa meal the green alfalfa is
far better than the brown, because it looks better in
the bag and is recognized in the market as being
the true alfalfa meal. Thus it is made up into cow
feed and poultry feed by grinding and perhaps mix-
ing in some other ingredient.
Also, and this may seem like a jest, green alfalfa
hay ground into very fine meal has been used to make
into bread, sweetecake and muffins for classes of col-
lege boys. They have eaten of it and declared it good,
have subsisted upon it and done athletic feats.
HAYING TOOLS.
The helps of the western man who makes much
alfalfa hay are the wide-cut mowers, the side deliv-
ery and wide two-horse rakes, the sweep rakes that
gather the hay together and carry it with no handling
to the stack or mow and the big forks or slings that
by the aid of derricks or pitchers lft the hay to the |
stack top or put it in the barn with no fork handling
whatever till it comes to hand of the man in the mow,
or the stackers on the stack.
The Side Delivery Rake—This is a tool not in
universal use as yet. It has indeed its limitations
and imperfections. It is slower to gather the hay
than the wide two-horse sulky rake. It is more com-
plicated, so more apt to get out of order. It costs
more. On the other hand it can do many good things
that the common rake cannot do at all. It can sin-
gle out and rake the driest hay, and can turn it up
loosely so that air can penetrate it and yet further
dry it. It can be used to turn these windrows over
if need be to dry them further. Hay may be cocked
after the side delivery rake to good effect, or it may
be taken up with the hay loader. On the whole, the
writer does not see how a farmer making much al-
falfa hay can avoid using each of these machines.
The side delivery rake when everything is working
nicely, weather, men and tools; the wide two-horse
(302)
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HAYING TOOLS. 303
rake to hurry with when showers are coming and
much hay needs to go at once into cock, or for
gleaning the field after the hay has been taken off.
The side delivery is not a good rake for gleaning.
The Hay Loader.—Concerning the usefulness of
the hay loader in the alfalfa field there may easily
be two or more opinions. It saves labor, sometimes.
It may crumble and waste the leaves. It may cause
the hay to be left in such shape that it is ready to
take every drop of sudden springing showers. This
is indeed the worst difficulty with the hay loader.
It cannot take hay up unless left in the swath or
windrow. It is not practicable to leave hay in the
swath for it loses its leaves if exposed too long to
the hot sun. Windrow loaders do not sacrifice so:
many leaves, but the hay is ready to be wet by every
passing shower. On the other hand if one wishes
to use ignorant and unskilled labor to put hay on
wagons he may find the hay loaders an economical
way to get it there.
There are various types of hay loaders. For al-
falfa hay the best have endless aprons or strap car-
riers to take up the hay. The ones that push it up
by aid of spiked wooden strips are not very effi-
cient and knock off many leaves.
Sweep Rakes.—A better thing in nearly every way
is the wide sweep rake for gathering the alfalfa to-
gether and conveying it for short distances to the
barn or stack. These sweep rakes are operated
each by one man. He goes afield, gathers his load
304 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
whether in swath, windrow or cock, brings it un-
aided to the mow or rick, leaves it there and with-
out waiting for it to be unloaded goes afield for an-
other load. Thus one man with a pair of horses
will bring as much hay to the barn or rick if the
haul is short as would four men and four horses
with the hay loader. Furthermore these rakes
gather the hay with the least possible loss of leaves
since it is simply lifted up, pushed together and
carried to the unloading place.
Hay Sleds—The eastern farmer may not have
use for either hay loader or sweep rake, because of
the small size of his fields. He can use a simple
hay sled to good advantage. These sleds are best
made of boards 14’ thick of some hard wood if in
the hard wood country, or they may be of ordinary
7%’’ stock boards. __—_—__5
SUGAR BEETS ea ed ee
DIGESTIBLE PROTEIN PER ACRE.
_ ALFALFA
OATS & PEAS} 550
r
CORINNA SO O8 eee ae
RUTABAGAWI 279) eer
MAING EES Mil iCS 28 perenananioceean!
TIMOTHY 228
SUGARIS BEM) NC Sis [ane]
Kansas Experiments —J. T. Willard, of the Kan-
sas experiment station, has done most interesting
work in investigation of the nutritive qualities of al-
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 365
falfa and also of the loss of nutritive properties
through exposure to the weather. We quote him
from Bulletin 155:
COMPOSIPION OF ALFALFA HAY.
Nitro-
: : Crude Pure | Crude is Crude
Water./ Ash. | -otein.| protein. | fiber. penis
First stage, about ten per
cent in bloom........ .. 8.77 | 9.54 16.88 13.56 29.38 34.01 1.42
Second stage, about one-
Jogwhi shay (MloYoaayAgodooooouds 7.71 | 9.49 15.88 12.63 31.44 34.23 1.25
Third stage, full bloom....| 8.29 | 7.75 13.23 10.62 33.11 86.34 1.30
As the amounts of moisture present in a hay are variable and
not a characteristic of the stage of maturity of the green plant,
a calculation of the results to a water-free basis is often advan-
tageous in making comparisons. Doing this for the three sam-
ples of alfalfa hay we get the following:
COMPOSITION OF ALFALFA HAY CALCULATED TO A WATER-FREE BASIS
Nitro-
Crude Pure Crude Crude
Ash, saliises ya gen -free
| protein. | protein. | fiber. eesuever, 3
MUGS TISTAS Ce Naccieietieleeersie cies 10.45 18.50 14.86 82.20 27.29 1.56
Second stage .............. 10.28 eel 14.18 35.37 34.00 1.05
AMaowyRol SRE Suan Godecood se 8.45 14.43 11.58 36.10 39.62 1.41
Without going into the details of a discussion of the charac-
teristics of the groups of feed principles named in these tables
it may be useful to remind the reader of certain elementary
facts.
The ash of a feeding-stuff is the residue left after burning all
combustible substances. For the most part this is derived from
the soil, though it may contain carbon that was secured from
the carhon-dioxid in the air.
The crude protein embraces all organic compounds containing
nitrogen and may even include some inorganic nitrogenous sub-
stances.
The pure protein is the crude protein minus certain nitrog-
enous substances that are less complex than proteins proper,
and possess a lower food-value. The proteins, by reason of the
nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus which they contain, are en-
titled to greater esteem in a feed than are fats and carbohy-
drates. °
The crude fiber consists of cellulose and substances more or
366 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
less like it chemically. The toughness and firmness of forage
plants depend largely on this constituent. Cotton and linen are
nearly pure cellulose. Obviously the crude fiber is of inferior
nutritive value; indeed, there is good reason to believe that in
many cases such of it as is digested by animals is utilized at an
expenditure of more energy than is yielded by the digested fiber.
The nitrogen-free extract includes starch and the sugars as
well as other less well known carbohydrates. In some tables
this sroup is listed as carbohydrates, without due regard, how-
ever, for the fact that the cellulose of the crude fiber is a car-
bohydrate.
The crude fat extracted from hay, or from other materials,
obtained by drying the green parts of plants, includes some
chlorophyl, the green substances of leaves, and other compounds
that are not fats, as well as any fat in the feed.
The water of a feed possesses no nutritive power and is not
different from water taken by drinking.
Studying now the table showing the percentages of the sev-
eral constituents of the water-free hay, it will be seen that there
are progressive changes as the plant becomes more mature. It
must not be suppowed, however, that there is an actual decrease
in the total amount of any food principle in the crop, but only
that as maturity takes place certain constituents are produced
in greater proportion, thus adding to their percentage amount
while correspondingly reducing the percentage of the constitu-
ents produced at a slower rate.
The hay produced by cutting when the alfalfa was about ten
per cent. in bloom is seen to be richer in ash, protein and fat
than that produced by later cuttings, while the crude fiber and
the nitrogen-free extract increase in percentage as the plant
matures. The especially valuable protein is present to an extent
more than one-fourth greater in the hay made at the first stage
than it is in that made at the third stage, while the questionable
crude fiber is more abundant in the later stages.
Digestibility of Alfalfa—While it is true that a certain residue
of indigestible matter is necessary for animals, and especially
for ruminants, which are accustomed to bulky feed, we seldom
need to give attention to this in practice, as feeds are ordinarily
excessively supplied with such indigestible substances. Quite
the reverse, we are justified in prizing more highly those feeds
which show a high degree of digestibility. A proper apprecia-
tion of alfalfa hay thus requires consideration of its digestibility.
The digestibility of the hays referred to was ascertained and
the foilowing table shows the results. It gives the percentages
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 367
of the several constituents of alfalfa hay digested, first crop,
three stages of growth, calculated to water-free basis:
Nitrogen-
Crude Pure c Crude
Ash. | protein. | protein. | Fiber: nce fat. Total.
MSGS tase cece ctee 6.69 14.51 11.94 14.51 28.52 0.98 65.21
Second stage......... 5.78 12.89 9.90 ienlele 26.96 0.42 63.16
Third stage.......... 5.16 eye 8.57 17.43 80.72 0.75 65.43
Here it is seen that the digestible protein diminishes marked-
ly as the alfalfa matures, while the digestible carbohydrates in-
crease. A calculation of the nutritive ratio in each case brings
out this fact in a concise way. The nutritive ratio of a feed
is the ratio of the energy of the digestible nitrogenous sub-
stances to the energy of the digestible non-nitrogenous sub-
stances. Making the necessary calculations, the nutritive ratios
are found to be as follows: First stage, 1 to 3.11; second stage,
1 to 3.49; third stage, 1 to 4.38. These are all narrow ratios
but widen as the alfalfa matures.
A full appreciation of the feeding value of alfalfa cannot be
had without comparisons with other feeds. The average per-
centage of digestible constituents in certain well known feeds is
shown in the following table:
Carbohy- Fat. Nutritive
FEED. Protein. drates: ratio.
(CORO seca Sots Ora EEO Hae eRe 7.14 66.12 4.97 1:10.8
OIE aero Cre ey Ct NCR De etre a Pne tir or 9.25 48.34 4.18 136.2
VV OVSE HS As SiG clic pec tar ae MIC Uae DO gS nae 10.28 69.21 1.68 tS Yak
TEEN AW Se aes Py On EPMA ate ee mat 12.01 41.23 2.87 1: 4.0
SS) BVOVE SY Gib a Bi oes Oey co TRC PUI ea 12.22 49.98 3.83 1: 4.8
hina O Ginvallaiyyne ea ee awe i ea Obes aul 2.89 43.72 1.43 1:16.2
US GM CHO MGI raya aati ee as angealataae ae clo Moraes 7.38 38.15 1.81 18 Byer
It will be seen that alfalfa cut at the first stage gave a hay
that had a higher percentage of digestible protein than any of
the feeds named in the table, and that the digestible carbohy-
drates (fiber plus nitrogen-free extract) of alfalfa compare favor-
ably with those in the feeds cited, and in some cases exceed
them. The nutritive ratios bring out clearly the value of alfalfa
as a source of protein, and its great availability in balancing
rations.
Many analyses of alfalfa made at other experiment stations,
with such digestive experiments as have been performed, show
the same general results as are exhibited in the foregoing. The
earlier cuttings are richer in protein, but a high and nearly
368 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
equal degree of digestibility for the protein present is possessed
by all cuttings, so that their relative feeding value is prac-
tically indicated by their composition. Nearly three-fourths of
the protein of alfalfa and about sixty per cent. of the carbohy-
drates are digestible.
Composition of the Different Parts—The statements made thus
far apply to hay from the entire plant. It is, however, well
known that there are great differences between the stems and
the leaves. The most detailed analyses in this connection have
been made at the Utah station. From a mass of data concern-
ing cuttings made at different dates and upon different crops,
those concerning the first crop, cut in the early bloom, have
been selected and placed in the tables shown below. The first
one shows the yield of dry matter in pounds per acre, and also
the weight of the stalks, leaves and flowers separately. It also
shows the composition of each of these parts and of the whole
plant:
Yield, Nitrogen-
PART OF PLANT. per acre,| Ash. |-Protein.| Fiber. free Fat.
pounds. extract.
S Cahir ce edee eae ele nate alae 28.38 9.01 10.74 42.17 37.14 0.94
TMICAVES Re aise Gkrseleaaras 18.56 14.33 24.05 13.81 41.82 5.99
MMOW ETS Renee cunse esis 1.36 10.56 26.18 15.58 46.00 1.68
Witroletplanttirecscasneecc 48.31 11.10 16.30 30.53 39.23 2.92
From the above table we see that the leaves and flowers are
far richer in protein than are the stalks, while the reverse is
true in respect to fiber. Nitrogen-free extract does not show
so great a difference but the stalks are notably inferior. In the
next table the data are presented in a different form. It shows
percentages of ash, protein and fiber in each of the different
parts of the alfalfa plant, to total amount of that constituent
in entire plant:
Yield ; k Nitrogen-
PART OF PLANT. per Count Ash. Protein. | Fiber. free Fat.
: extract.
RSH ire WW ich rete te can aT rete 58.75 47..€9 388.73 81.17 55.68 19.03
WCAV ESN seinen ane 38.43 49.62 56.74 17.39 41.01 79.34
NOW ERS asta ae ee 2.82 2.69 4.53 1.44 Bioaul 1.63
The above table shows that of the total yield 58.75 per cent.
is in stalks, but that of the total protein only 38.73 per cent. is
in them, while they contain over 81 per cent of the total fiber.
On the other hand the leaves, constituting but 38.43 per cent.
of the yield, contain 56.74 per cent. of the protein of the entire
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 369
crop and only 17.39 per cent of the fiber. The nitrogen-free ex-
tract is not so disproportionately divided between the stalks
and the leaves. Over four-fifths of the fat is furnished .by the
leaves and flowers, though they make up but little over two-
fifths of the weight. We see from this the exceeding import-
ance of so handling the crop as to preserve the leaves and
flowers. By the loss of all of these the feeding value will be
impaired much more than the loss in weight would indicate.
Loss by Weathering.—It is apparent.to all that alfalfa hay is
greatly damaged by rain. This is due not only to fermentations
that may accompany the process and to mechanical losses, but
also to the fact that soluble substances are dissolved out and
removed. Observations have been made by the Colorado ex-
periment station upon a hay which was exposed in the field for
fifteen days, during which time it was subjected to three rains,
amounting to 1.76 inches. .The following table shows the per-
centage composition of the damaged and of the undamaged hay:
Nitrogen-
Ash. Protein.| Fiber. free Fat.
extract.
Orel einer seers rap va oyens cals ascterere exsisiotele eiciaels 12.2 18.% 26.5 38.7 3.9
MD ATINA RC Cater iorenacis co seine serie poise seas 12.7 11.0 38.8 83.6 3.8
The above figures as given show that the damaged hay is
considerably inferior to the undamaged, but like many other
percentage statements is liable to be misunderstood, or at least
not completely understood. It must not be supposed that the
protein and nitrogen-free extract have been converted into crude
fiber, although the damaged hay contains nearly 39 per cent.
of crude fiber, where the undamaged hay had 26.5 per cent.;
at the same time the protein and nitrogen-free extract are pres-
ent in much smaller quantity in the damaged hay. The facts
are that undoubtedly portions of all these food principles have
been lost from the crop as a whole, but that the protein and
the nitrogen-free extract have suffered much more _ propor-
tionately than the crude fiber, this being almost insoluble and
not subject to rapid fermentation.
A much more instructive view of the actual losses is ob-
tained by additional calculations. The loss sustained by the
alfalfa naturally fell most heavily upon the soluble and more
easily decomposed substances. The most resistant of the con-
stituents was the fiber, which probably suffered but little. Tak-
ing the crop as a whole then there would be as much or nearly
as much fiber as there was before, excepting that which was lost
370 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
mechanically. We may use this figure as a measure of the
minimum losses by others. In every 100 pounds of the original
hay there were 26.5 pouncds of fiber, and after it was damaged
there could not have been any more, and in fact there must have
been less. If we make the most favorable assumption, viz.,
that there was no loss of fiber, then the 38.8 per cent. of fiber
in the damaged hay is really the fiber that was 26.5 per cent.
of the original hay. The apparent increase in the percentage
is due entirely to the loss of other constituents. The figures
representing the percentages of the other constituents as given
above are all correspondingly too high for comparison with the
percentages of those constituents in the original hay. In the
following table the weights of these constituents accompanying
26.5 pounds of fiber in the damaged hay have been calculated.
These are to the percentages of those constituents in the
damaged hay as 26.5 is to 38.8:
Nitrogen-
Ash. Protein.| Fiber. free Fat Total
; extract.
Orlein ali sete sae ae 12.2 18.7 26.5 38a 3.9 100
DAMaredi ee sk onenae 8.7 7.5 26.5 23.0 2.6 68.3
Poundsvlostass eee ond 11.2 Se ibe 1.3 31.7
Pericentlostuyy. scan 28.7 60.0 Sak 41.0 33.3 31.7
Comparing these figures, it will be seen that of the original
100 pounds of hay only 68.8 pounds remained; that 60 per cent.
of the protein was lost, one-third of the fat, and 41 per cent. of
the nitrogen-free extract. As the assumption in reference to
fiber was more favorable than the facts, so this calculation in
respect to protein, fat and nitrogen-free extract gives figures
that are more favorable than was actually the case.
Startling as the losses indicated by the preceding calculations
are, the actual damage is even greater than is indicated by
them. Since the materials lost obviously consisted of the most
soluble and easily decomposed parts, and hence the parts most
easily digested, a smaller percentage of the protein remaining
was digestible in all probability than would have been the case
with the protein that was lost. It is quite reasonable to assume
that one-half of the feed values of the crop had been lost from an
exposure to rain that was not excessive in quantity and fell in
three different showers.
Westgate’s Bulletin—From J. M. Westgate’s ad-
mirable bulletin (F'armers’ Bulletin 339, Department
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. By iL
of Agriculture) we extract the following useful and
instructive tables:
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF ALFALFA AND OTHER
FORAGE CROPS.*
Number Nitrogen- | Ether
Sain of analy-| Water. Ash. | Protein. cause free extract
Z ses. i extract. (fat).
Per cent|Per cent|Per cent|Per cent] Per cent |Per cent
Fresh alfalfa.. 23 71.8 2.7 4, le eo Nt
Fresh clover.. 43 70.8 2-1 4.4 8.1 13.5 1.1
Alfalfa hay... 21 8.4 7.4 14.3 25.0 42.7 Dar
Clover hay.... 38 15.3 6.2 12.3 24.8 38.1 3.3
Timothy hay.. 68 13.2 4.4 5.9 29.0 45.0 2.5
Cowpea hay.. 8 10.7% 7.5 16.6 20.1 42.2 2.2
*In part from Henry’s ‘‘Feeds and Feeding,’ Appendix.
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF DIGESTIBILITY OF ALFALFA AND OTHER
FORAGE CROPS.
(Experiments with ruminants.)
Number of ‘ Crude | Nitrogen-free|Ether extract
TSIDSED) OR) IONE Er experiments. Protein. fiber. extract. (fat).
Per cent; Per cent Per cent Per cent
Fresh alfalfa........ 2 81 45 76 52
Fresh clover........ 2 67 53 78 65
PAU TAN PATNA ees sce cle 28 73 43 66 54
Clover hay... <<... 46 55 49 69 53
Timothy hay........ 26 48 52 63 57
Cowpea hay........ 2 65 43 71 50
DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN ALFALFA AND OTHER FORAGE CROPS.
DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN
Dry matter in 100 LBs.
KIND OF FORAGE, 100 lbs. LER | ae
: arbohy- ther
Protein. drates. extract.
HIRES Sabena bays aprer ceaetioac to jareee aed io stairs 28.2 lbs. 3.9 Ibs. 12.7 1bs. 0.5 1bs.
ME SHCLOMVE Reaction cieete cle clsislere ot oets 29.2 lbs. 2.91bs. 14.8 lbs. 0.7 lbs.
PAM Abe uN ay aereicr ciceses cis o.8) overa euciono seasatevecsts 91.6 lbs 11.0 1bs. 39.6 lbs. 1.21bs.
ClOW ED WAY ieee iiss ais nc oe cisiere sels ie 84.7 1bs. 6.8 1bs. 35.8 1bs. 1.71bs.
Mim Obthiye arya aemescweeceas ats 86.8 lbs. 2.81bs. 43.41bs. 1.41bs.
Wonmpcahayiemanaes oeeieeretcns seoecn 89.3 lbs. 10.8 1bs. 38.6 lbs 1.11bs.
WG CaT ORAM te ac evaictaece tae 88.1 lbs. 12.2 lbs. 29.2 lbs. 2.71bs.
7.9 lbs. 66.7 lbs. 4.31bs.
Shenedieomntreeene eee eee eine 89.1 lbs.
The following table indicates the actual feeding value of
eight different kinds of feed, based on the amount of digestible
nutrients contained in them. These values are calculated from
the figures given in the table just preceding. The values per
pound assigned as the basis of calculation are protein, $0.0674;
carbohydrates (starches, etc), $0.0064; ether extract (fats),
$0.0112. These figures are merely relative, as the prices of the
372 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
food elements vary in the different sections and from year to
year. It will be noted that the value of alfalfa hay is slightly
more than double that of timothy.
ACTUAL FEEDING VALUE OF DIFFERENT FEEDS BASED ON AMOUNT OF
DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS.
Feed. Value per ton.
Mires hy alltel taps yee. aie ola see ee A Ee Rue ee INE $7.00
PEST CLO MS Leiria aa Ae ave cebs arate aia ea a sie e een ieee ase aT Aen: 5.96
7 SE doh fel alee ian Gel ae ae ae eT eR SE oS TEI CM Oa EES OS A Ame 20.16
CUO VST BY ieee iN ae Oe Loe ST 14.12
ER rT OC ya Vk EOF Nala ciare ts are eo sutoraea aie ere an orator urine Cie eee 9.80
COW DEE TVR rae ear tears sia tru eu mi Rianne coma UI aes 19.76
ATWMaLSteh Hal ONaAb alee rem Ri Anmecle ee ea Nal SERIALS SP BIE Reet er MEPS ay 22.80
SHES COM eres sels sta retel sens orctalsl ore clatetole ea eee eas late mlcing 20.16
4 G Si &
ALFALFA FOR HORSES.
The place of alfalfa as a horse feed has not yet
been settled beyond dispute. Most men who have
not used it are opposed to its use and bring forward
very good arguments against it. On the other hand
in alfalfa-growing countries are found some of the
best developed and most healthy and useful horses
in the world. I have seen in the alfalfa pastures of
California wonderful young horses, weanlings and
foals, that never ate any other food than their
mother’s milk and alfalfa, with what little wild
grass might be mixed through the field. These colts
running all summer on the alfalfa meadows and be-
ing fed alfalfa hay during winter reach a magnificent
development and are often as large and well finished
at two years as they would be at three in a land |
where they ate timothy hay instead of alfalfa.
In France quite a little use of alfalfa is made in
the horse breeding districts and has been from time
immemorial. In England always, so far as history
tells, progressive farmers have grown alfalfa and
fed it green in summer time.
Personal Experience.—The writer has had experi-
ence with seeding alfalfa to horses since 1887. He
began it on the Utah ranch and has continued it
on Woodland Farm in Ohio since his return. In
Utah the horses were most of them used under the
(373)
374 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
saddle. The country was extremely rough and the
going bad. A horse must have endurance, speed,
bottom. It is charged that alfalfa makes a horse
soft, lacking in endurance, sweating easily. There
is truth in the charge; we will explain it later. The
fact is no horses could have worked better under
the saddle than did these alfalfa-fed range horses.
They had no other hay and for grain they had corn;
we had nothing else for them.
And yet it is true that the horses worked best
when they were worked regularly and worked hard.
If they were idle for a long time, meanwhile eating
much alfalfa hay, they did get soft and sweated
considerably when suddenly put to work. I do not
attempt to explain this fact. I think that the reason
is that the idle horses ate too much alfalfa hay,
took into their systems several times as much pro-
tein as their bodies needed or could use, and thus
induced some sort of unhealthful condition of the
body cells. It did not take them long to get hard
under work. But it is assuredly true that idle-
ness and excessive alfalfa feeding will make a horse
soft. Idleness and six eggs a day will make all sorts
of things wrong with a man, for that matter.
That alfalfa will develop a hard horse 1s evidenced
by the fact that not a few splendid race horses have
been developed in California and elsewhere on a
diet almost altogether composed of alfalfa hay and
pasture.
No Heaves nor Colic—At Woodland Farm for
ALFALFA FOR HORSES. 375
many years no other hay has been in use. In truth
the horses refuse to eat timothy hay, having become
accustomed to alfalfa. Before alfalfa came into use
there was nearly always one or more horses with
heaves, but since we have had alfalfa hay we have
not had one case of this disease. Colic among
horses is the bane of the farmer and horseman. Once
the veterinary bills were a considerable item on
Woodland Farm. Now colic is a rare thing, and
would probably never occur again if the men did
not occasionally feed injudiciously of corn, or over-
feed with alfalfa hay.
Less Grain Needed.—We have learned that very
much less grain is required where alfalfa is fed, not
much more than half the usual ration. Why should
not this be true? Alfalfa itself is as rich, very
nearly, as wheat bran, itself a good grain food for a
horse. Alfalfa is nearly as rich a food as oats.
Horses will do a great deal of hard work with no
grain at all if they have first-class alfalfa hay, but
I do not recommend this. The horse has a small
stomach and not much time for masticating his food.
A small grain ration with his alfalfa hay is right.
Action on Kidneys.—It has been urged that the
foundation for this rumor or belief is that when a
horse unused to alfalfa is fed it for the first time
it does stimulate its kidneys so that there is a
noticeable increase in the amount of urine voided.
I think this never really injures the animal and
the symptoms disappear in a short time. If al-
376 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
falfa was fed in moderation, less than the animal
desired, it is not likely that it would ever so affect
him, It is only nature’s way of throwing off pro-
tein which has been consumed in excess of what the
animal could use.
On Woodland Farm are horses that have grown
up on alfalfa and have never eaten any other hay
in their lives. Their kidneys are sound. They do
not urinate more frequently than is normal, nor
void an excess of urine. Further, their urine is
clear, not cloudy nor muddy. The fact is the trou-
bles arising from alfalfa feeding are usually ex-
perienced by men having little or no alfalfa to feed.
Ask a man who really grows it and feeds it and he
will almost always reply that there is no better
feed for horses and no bad results arise from reg-
ular and continued feeding of it.
Alfalfa for Young Horses—There is certainly
nothing else so good for the draft colt and its moth-
er. Here one seeks size and development. Alfalfa
will surely give it. Let the mare have the run of an
alfalfa field in summer with a grass lot adjoining,
or have grass mixed through the alfalfa. Feed her
and her colt alfalfa hay in winter and as much
development can be had at two years old-as will be
had at three by the usual feeding of timothy hay.
And there is nothing yet discovered to show that
this early growth is not as good as though it eame
later. In truth it is certain that the later develop-
ing colt will never reach the size and conformation
ALFALFA FOR HORSES. 377
that the one attains that has had the right food from
the beginning, and enough of it.
Alfalfa for Brood Mares.—As to the effect of al-
falfa hay on the breeding of mares, opinions differ.
Alfalfa-fed mares are apt to be fleshy. It is very
possible that in some instances they may become
too fat to conceive well. It may be that during the
breeding season the mares should have less or pos-
sibly no alfalfa hay. We need further evidence
along this line. Certain it is that after the mare is
safely with foal a diet composed chiefly of alfalfa
is very good for her. I know of no injury that can
follow feeding her alfalfa and pasturing her on al-
falfa till her colt is foaled. Certainly all mares
are better to work up until that time, not hard but
regularly, and no pregnant animal should live a life
of idleness or stagnation, nor become too fleshy.
Making Horse Hay.—I think the first cutting
makes as good hay for horses as any. It ought to
be on the side of over-ripeness rather than to be
too green, though one can err in letting it become
too woody. It ought to be well cured and put into
the barn as dry as possible. Then there will be no
mold nor dust on it. Alfalfa leaves and stems are
free from the small hairs that abound on red clover
leaves and stems. These hairs make hay dusty and
irritate the bronchial passages of the horse. That
is one reason why one can feed alfalfa safely and can
not feed red clover so well.
Fattening Sale Horses—Many owners of sale
378 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
stables now use alfalfa hay almost exclusively, find-
ing that the animals gain in weight much more rap-
idly on an alfalfa diet than upon any other. Many
eastern horse breeders who have not learned to
grow alfalfa are sending their colts to be pastured in
western alfalfa fields, there to develop.
Over-feeding with Hay.—R. J. Kinzer and G. C.
Wheeler of the Kansas experiment station have pub-
lished the subjoined observations on feeding hay to
horses:
A majority of horse owners are inclined to waste hay in feed-
ing horses, i. e., they feed more than is necessary for the main-
tenance of the horse and more than he can economically take care
of. This is true of other kinds of hay as well as of alfalfa.
Either heavy or light horses that are doing regular steady
work should not, if one wishes to feed economically, have more
than one pound of hay per hundred pounds of live weight.
That is, a thousand-pound horse should receive 10 pounds of
hay per day and a 1,500-pound horse 15 pounds per day. A 1,500-
pound horse that is doing steady work should have about 4 lbs.
of hay with his morning feed, the same amount at noon, and
about double the amount at night. Many horses will eat 30 or 40
pounds of hay a day if they have free access to it. If a horse is
allowed to eat such quantities half of it is wasted, and if he is
eating that amount of alfalfa hay it is worse than wasted, for it
does the horse an injury. From two to two and a half pounds of
digestible protein is all that an ordinary horse can utilize in a
day, and in 100 pounds of alfalfa there are 11 pounds of digestible
protein. This fare of alfalfa, if too heavily fed, is likely to cause
kidney disorder; and may even be responsible for abortion in
pregnant mares that are fed too liberal a ration of it. If it does
not cause abortion, weak unhealthy foals will be the result.
Have alfalfa fed judiciously to pregnant mares, heavy or light
work horses, and it is beneficial and should be used wherever it
is obtainable, but it should never be used as the exclusive rough-
age. Some objection is made to it on account of causing loose-
ness of the bowels and making the horses soft and easy to sweat.
This is due to their having it in too large quantities. Alfalfa
hay should be fed as part of the grain ration rather than a
ALFALFA FOR HORSES. 379
roughage. If fed in this manner its use will be found very
satisfactory.
I think the danger of over-feeding exaggerated,
yet it is assuredly a waste to over-feed it, and it
must do more or less harm to the horse. In fact
it is one of the greatest lessons of modern times that
mankind may increase its energy and usefulness very
greatly by limiting the accustomed intake of rich
nitrogenous food, taking merely what is needed to
repair waste and rebuild the body, instead of taking
‘fall it ean hold,’’ merely for the pleasure of eating.
Developing Draft Horses—When will we cease
sending to France, Belgium and Great Britain for
our draft stallions? When we have wide alfalfa
fields and plenty of them. There are men finding
the way to produce splendid draft animals at low
cost in America. J. W Robison of Kansas is
growing Percherons in alfalfa pasture. It is said
that his three-year-old colts average 1,700 pounds
and his four-year-olds 1,900 pounds. Alfalfa is al-
most the only food given either mares or colts. Be-
fore foaling no grain is fed, only alfalfa hay or pas-
ture being given, and the colts come strong and the
mothers free from feverish tendencies and full of
milk. Colts so developed have action and quality.
Safety of Alfalfa Pasture.—There is more or less
danger in depasturing alfalfa with sheep or cattle.
With horses I have never seen or heard of any
trouble resulting from this practice. They seem to
know instinctively how much to eat and when to
cease eating. Horses are not so subject to bloat.
ALFALFA FOR GATTLE FEEDING.
Experienced men say that whatever alfalfa may
or may not be adapted to it is certainly in its
place as a food for cattle. It is the natural food of
all ruminants. They greatly relish the taste of it.
They chew it well and almost completely digest it.
They are in little danger of eating too much of it.
Cattle thrive exceedingly on a diet of good alfalfa
hay. Many years ago the writer stacked alfalfa hay
in Utah, and in winter time fattened steers on it with
no grain at all. They made good beef. It would
have been better, no doubt, to have fed them some
grain in connection with the alfalfa hay, but grain
was not to be had. The beef sold well on Denver and
Salt Lake City markets in the spring. It killed well.
Alfalfa alone is better as a maintenance ration
than as a complete ration, however. It is full of
protein, and deficient in carbohydrates and fat. It
will grow animals or maintain them beautifully.
With a little grain added it will grow them and finish
them at the same moment.
Trials in Colorado.—Prof. W. L. Carlyle and C.
J. Griffith of the Colorado experiment station went
- into this matter quite carefully in 1905, comparing
alfalfa hay alone and in combination with sugar beet
pulp and ground corn. Unfortunately the alfalfa
hay used was much below the average, being very
coarse, cut too ripe presumably, and was seriously
(380)
ALFALFA FOR CATTLE FEEDING. 381
injured in curing. With good alfalfa hay the results
would have been more favorable to alfalfa feeding.
The average weekly gain of these steers was as
follows:
Lot 1—Fed beet pulp, hay and ground corn (maize)........ 19.0 lbs.
Hot 2—Med hay an@ ground Gorn... 22.005... cleccc ce ccc sce cues 12.6 lbs.
ot 3s—KMed beetipulprang May ce. oh cs oe el deine oasis donee 13.1 lbs.
WOtA—HedcaltaltarDayroulliy ess dsm. ae ceycmae cui cree nice oes 10.5 lbs.
It will be noted that the gain was only 2.1 pounds
greater when corn was fed than when alfalfa was
fed alone. The cattle were fatter however and thus
brought more money per pound in the market.
AVERAGE AMOUNT FEED REQUIRED FOR ONE POUND OF GAIN,
AND COST OF THE SAME.
FOOD FED.
SST Sh IG isa DEN A SNE ve ee a een Fe Cost.
Alfalfa. Pulp. Cornmeal.
TOG hE Oe cee oo] {E59 Ibs. | 85.45 Ibs. 2.511bs. | 4.22 cents
WSO rca pars tat re tsccic Vag eats ice ayateve evens A MSD Seite avait 3.76 lbs. 7.63 cents
MU OU pol ae sale tie Onan Potter Ronee 11.89 TBE HAS NOES <1) Goabeocoss 4.28 cents
TOG CEG AR SG ae es eet toa praeiet are ne r QOee OOS Sa | loser Geta nits alte pokes 7.04 cents
Here is given the data showing the amounts of the various
kinds of feed required to produce a pound of live weight gain on
a rather rough bunch of steers rising three years old. From this
table it will be seen that in case of Lot IV it required 28.29 lbs.
of alfalfa hay, below the average in quality, to produce one pound
of gain. With an average lot of good feeding steers, and alfalfa
hay of good feeding quality, the indications are that one pound
of gain would be produced for each 25 Ibs. of alfalfa hay on
the average.
Lot 1. Lot 2. Lot 3. Lot 4.
Weight at beginning of experiment (1bs.)..... 951 9 941
968
Value at 3 cents per pound..................--- $28.53 $29. 04 $28.23 $29 04
Cost entire period, 100 days..................... $12.95 $13.44 $7.90 $10.39
Cost of feed for 100 HDS po Abia eee tare seuis evorecnenacs $4.60 $7.63 $4.29 $7.04
Costoflaborin feeding ses. sek ese eesti k oe ks $3.25 $3.25 $3.25 $3.25
Weight finished steer at feedlots (lbs.)........ 1,214 1,144 1,125 1,115
Sale weight of steer at Denver (lbs.).......... 1,157 1,088 1,050 1,062
Shrinkage in shipping (1bs.).................... 57 56 75 53
Selling price perwO00 MOS). cho. ecesc eee cece eisiee $5.15 $5.06 $5.00 $4.73
Walueatiselling priGes.. ietecucs odes ceaeiine $59.58 $55.05 $52.25 $50.25
Costothmariketine ne csi cetieien oe Uh aveaatu thie $2.15 $2.15 $2.15 $2.15
IE [ORO oagoues aude noonDsoRboSHONuGeosdobods $12.70 $7.16 $10.97 $5.44
382 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
In the foregoing table is given a complete summary showing
the average of each steer in the various lots. This table contains
very complete data covering the various points of comparison in
the results obtained with the average steer in each lot.
The conclusions drawn are thus stated:
1. An average feeder steer two years old will make a gain of
1.5 lbs. per day on alfalfa hay alone, and will require approxi-
mately 28 lbs. of hay to make one pound of gain.
2. The addition of ground corn to the ration of alfalfa hay
will increase the daily gain, increase the market price of the steer
by finishing him better in a given time, and will add to the profits
if the corn can be procured below 90 cents per hundred pounds.
3. A pound of ground corn is equal in feeding value to 2.8
Ibs. of alfalfa hay and to 9 pounds of sugar beet pulp for feed-
ing two-year-old fattening steers.
4. Sugar beet pulp at present prices is a cheaper and better
feed than ground corn when fed with alfalfa hay for fattening
mature steers.
5. That 3.22 of beet pulp is equivalent in feeding value to
one pound of alfalfa hay, when fed in conjunction with the hay,
giving two-year-old steers all they will eat of both feeds.
6. With alfalfa hay at $5 a ton, it will pay to feed a light
ration of ground corn with the hay, provided the corn can be
purchased at from 85 to 90 cents per hundred weight.
7. With poor alfalfa hay at $5 per ton, sugar beet pulp is
worth $1.50 per ton to combine with hay for fattening mature
steers.
8. Fattening steers will gain approximately a pound a day
more on a ration composed of alfalfa hay, ground corn and beet
pulp than they will on a ration made up of alfalfa hay and
ground corn or on a ration composed of alfalfa hay and sugar
beet pulp, and they will gain almost one and a half pounds more
each day on the above ration than when fed alfalfa hay alone.
Experiments im Kansas.—Showing how alfalfa
hay in the ration cheapens the cost of beef produc-
tion, we quote from Bulletin 132 of the Kansas ex-
periment station, relative to work done at the Fort
Hays branch station:
A inatter of this experiment of considerable interest, especially
to the western farmer, is the part that the various roughages play
in beef production. A ration of alfalfa hay, at $4.00 per ton.
ALFALFA FOR CATTLE FEEDING. 383
with corn and cob meal produced 100 pounds of gain for $5.13;
but when Kaffir-corn hay at $3.00 per ton was substituted for
alfalfa hay, the cost of 100 pounds of gain was increased to
$7.32, While with sorghum hay at $3.00 per ton substituted for
the alfalfa hay the cost was increased to $9.06. In other words,
one bushel of corn-and-cob meal fed with alfalfa hay as rough-
age produced 11.8 pounds of flesh, while the same amount of
corn-and-cob meal fed with sorghum hay as roughage gave in
return only 6.25 pounds of flesh; thus, a difference of 5.5 pounds,
or 88 per cent in favor of the alfalfa hay ration.
Tests in Other States—A summary of trials in
beef making with alfalfa is thus presented by J.
M. Westgate, of the Department of Agriculture:
Alfalfa forms probably the best roughage for fattening cattle,
as its lack of bulkiness enables the animals to consume suffi-
cient quantities for rapid gains. It is also very valuable for
young growing stock before the fattening period commences.
The Utah Agricultural Experiment Station conducted an ex-
periment extending over a period of five years to determine the
quantity of beef produced to the acre from alfalfa hay cut in
the different stages of maturity. It was found that hay cut when
in fuil bloom produced 562 pounds of beef annually to the acre,
while that cut in early bloom produced 706 pounds. The hay
that was not cut until half the blooms had fallen produced only
490 pounds of beef to the acre. At the Nebraska Agricultural
Experiment Station 2.41 pounds of beef were produced daily on
a full ration of corn and alfalfa, while only 1.48 pounds were
produced by a ration of corn and prairie hay.
The North Platte Substation of Nebraska has given, in Bul-
letin No. 105, some valuable data on the great value of alfalfa
in growing and developing beef cattle. The first test compared
alfalfa, prairie hay and cane in wintering calves where all lots
received two pounds of grain daily per calf. During the winter-
feeding period of the experiment alfalfa produced 143 pounds
of gain per head; prairie hay, 76 pounds; cane, 46 pounds, and
half-and-half alfalfa and prairie hay, 133 pounds, and half-and-
half alfalfa and cane, 120 pounds of gain.
The year following the same cattle were wintered as yearlings
on the same rations, except that no grain was fed. The alfalfa
lot gained 81 pounds per head in 120 days; the prairie-hay lot
lost 18 pounds; the cane-hay lot lost 64 pounds; the half-and-
half alfalfa and prairie hay gained 62 pounds and the half-and-
384 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
half alfalfa and cane gained 92 pounds each. The amount of
hay consumed or wasted about the racks daily per steer ranged
from 18.7 pounds in the prairie-hay lot to 24 pounds in the
cane iot, 20.2 pounds being eaten daily per head by the steers
receiving alfalfa alone. From the fact that the half-and-half
ration gave equally good gains with straight alfalfa, it would
seem to be economy to use some of these cheaper roughages with
alfalfa for wintering steers.
While no accurate data have been kept, it has been the com-
mon practice to winter the breeding cows of the pure-bred herd
of the Kansas experiment station upon alfalfa hay and corn-
stover, the alfalfa being fed in racks and the stover fed out on
the pasture as much as possible. This method of feeding has
kept the cows in splendid breeding condition, and the use of the
stover has resulted in cheapening the cost of their maintenance
from that of straight alfalfa feeding.
Results at Woodland—On Woodland Farm the
best and cheapest beef ever produced was from
young cattle given all the alfalfa hay they would
eat up clean, corn silage and a small ration of ear.
corn.
Meeting Competition—In Argentina where alfalfa
erowing is assuming large proportions it is becom-
ing a common thing to finish cattle with alfalfa hay
and corn maize. Better beef is thus produced and
a better price secured for it. Argentina, that young
giant of the Southland, is our most formidable com-
petitor in the business of furnishing England with
bread and meat. The use of corn and alfalfa there,
although already assuming large proportions, is yet
in its infancy. We in America must awaken to our
possibilities. We can grow alfalfa. We can grow it
in practically every county in the United States, cer-
tainly with greater ease in some places than in
others, yet almost any of us can grow it. We grow
ALFALFA FOR CATTLE FEEDING. _ 385
corn with greater success than the Argentine. Our
eattle are better. With abundant alfalfa all over
our land we will be able to more than hold our own
against this competition.
That is the dream of the writer, that he may has-
ten the day when alfalfa meadows will be common
in nearly every township in the United States, mows
filled with alfalfa hay, stacks standing in the fields,
yards and corrals filled with good cattle, abundant
supplies of manure made available, fields becoming
richer rather than poorer, and country people hav-
ing wherewithal to live as country people ought to
live, in comfort, sending their sons to agricultural
colleges and their daughters as well, both to come
back to the farms and there continue the labor of
soil-building, field-beautifying and home-making.
ALFALFA FOR DAIRY GOWS.
Here is found best of all uses for alfalfa. Dairy
cows are machines for making milk. Mulk is a ma-
terial requiring large amounts of protein for its
manufacture. Dairy cows are machines and they
are somewhat delicate machines. They require
large amounts of protein, but they thrive better
when that protein is furnished them in the shape of
forage than if it 1s given them in concentrated form.
One may buy protein; he can get it in cottonseed-
meal, linseed-meal, gluten meal or other form, and
by feeding the right amount get the proper nutrients
in the feed, but that does not at all equal in effect
the feeding of a ration mixed ‘‘as God mixed it’’—
that is, a forage such as alfalfa, delicious in flavor,
rich enough, not too rich, bulky enough, not too
bulky.
Stimulating Flow of Milk.—In truth there is no
artificial blending of foods that will give the results
that feeding alfalfa will. An illustration of this is
furnished by the experience of a Pennsylvania
breeder of Guernsey cattle. This man bought some
alfalfa hay from Woodland Farm. After using it
for a few weeks he wrote:
‘‘Our Guernsey cows are entered in the official test
for position in the advanced registry. Naturally
therefore we have been feeding them as well as we
knew how to feed them. Since they had your al-
(885)
ALFALFA FOR DAIRY COWS. 387
falfa hay they have increased 20 per cent in their
milk flow.”’
This man is now growing his own alfalfa, and his
neighbors are learning from his example. In his
region the plant was unknown until he began its
eulture. ‘The secret of growing it there was the use
of plenty of lime in the soil, then manure, phos-
phorus and mid-summer seeding.
Value to Darymen.—There is not a dairyman liv-
ing who is not at too high an elevation who should
not make effort to grow alfalfa, as no one else needs
it so much. He can stop the purchase of protein.
He can keep cows in perfect health and vigor. He
ean get the most milk that they are capable of giving
if he has alfalfa. And he can, and should, feed it
nearly day of the year. Let him begin early in
spring by cutting it green and soiling; let him feed
dry alfalfa hay when pastures are too lush and there
is danger of cows scouring in June; let him feed it
green when pastures fail in August and September;
let him feed alfalfa hay and corn silage after frost
comes, or before for that matter. Thus the milk
comes freely the year around, and all from feed pro-
duced on his own farm.
A Inttle Grain Needed.—With alfalfa and corn
silage nearly a balanced ration is found. Very little
grain need be fed in addition, though it is economy
to feed a small amount, since cows need a little less
bulk than it would take to furnish nutrients enough
in alfalfa and silage alone.
388 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
Maintains Vigor.—One thing that should be well
emphasized is that where alfalfa hay is fed liberally
cows keep in splendid health and strength. They
may be made to give as much milk by feeding other
feeds. Cows will give milk liberally and be phys-
ical wrecks, and when fed on the forcing process
with what must be classed as artificial foods they
frequently go down in vitality so that they are prey
to any sort of malady that may happen to overtake
them. When fed liberally on alfalfa they give as
much milk or more, they carry more flesh, they have
better tone, more abundant vigor, breed better, drop
stronger calves, the calves grow into better heifers
and make better cows. There is nothing else so
good for a dairy-bred heifer as alfalfa hay though
she may need to be limited somewhat in amount if
she shows a marked tendency to overmuch body
plumpness.
Findings of Experiment Stations —The New York
station reports the results of feeding home-grown
rations, consisting of alfalfa hay and corn silage,
feeding four cows for sixty days, in comparison
with a purchased feed ration for the same number
of cows for the same length of time. These rations
cost respectively $30.03 and $47.05, or 12.5 cents and
19.6 cents per cow per day. This is a net gain of
24.3 cents per hundred pounds, and a half of a cent
per quart of milk, or a saving of 33.7 and 31.5 per
cent., respectively, for milk and butter in favor of
the home-grown ration. They estimate that when
ALFALFA FOR DAIRY COWS. 389
purchased feeds average $25 per ton alfalfa is worth
$16.50 to feed with corn silage.
At the New Jersey station a test was made with
two lots of dairy cows to determine the compara-
tive value of alfalfa and a combination of wheat-
bran and dry brewer’s grains as a source of protein.
In this test the alfalfa ration produced a daily yield
of 20.8 pounds of milk and 1.06 pounds of butter,
while the bran and brewer’s-grain ration produced
a daily yield of 21.8 pounds of milk and 1.08 pounds
of butter, only a slight difference in favor of the
more concentrated protein foods. Bran and dried
brewer’s grains each cost $17 per ton, on which basis
alfalfa hay proved to be worth $11.16 per ton.
At the Maryland station alfalfa and cornmeal
gave better results than silage and commercial
foods. Where alfalfa and silage were fed with and
without grain, the grain feeding proved the more
economical.
Experiments conducted at the Tennessee experi-
ment station tend to show that one and one-half
pounds of alfalfa will replace one pound of wheat-
bran.
The New Jersey station concludes that three
pounds of alfalfa is equivalent in feeding value to
one pound of cottonseed-meal.
The Nebraska station compared feeding alfalfa
hay with the feeding of prairie hay, and decided as
a result of these tests that alfalfa produced 10 per
cent more milk from 10 per cent less food.
$90 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
The Utah station found that adding cornstalks to
a corn and alfalfa ration gave larger returns per
unit of dry matter than alfalfa without stalks.
Alfalfa Meal for Dairy Cows.—Alfalfa meal un-
doubtedly has advantage in some ways. It is a
saving of labor for the cow to have her alfalfa
ground for her. If it could be ground very cheaply
no doubt it would pay. However, the Pennsylvania
experiment station reports adversely on alfalfa
meal, or at least that it is no better than wheat bran,
if it is quite as good. It is interesting to note, how-
ever, that when wheat bran and alfalfa meal were
rated at the same price per ton the cost of milk pro-
duction was nearly identical. With alfalfa meal at
$23 per ton and wheat bran at $20, corn-and-cob-
meal at $20, and cottonseed-meal at $28 per ton, the
grain cost of 100 pounds of milk when the cows were
fed alfalfa was 47.1 cents; when fed wheat bran it
was 45.3 cents.
Assuming alfalfa meal to cost no more than bran
the former seemed to produce milk at the lower
erain cost per hundred pounds—44 cents, as com-
pared with 45.3 cents on bran. On this basis of
comparison if wheat bran was worth $20 per ton,
alfalfa meal was worth $21.28 per ton.
I am not sure that it would pay to make alfalfa
meal for home use and to feed to cows. I incline to
believe that to dampen the hay over night, restoring
it thus somewhat to its natural green condition,
would be cheaper and nearly as effective. Certainly
ALFALFA FOR DAIRY COWS. 391
where alfalfa hay is worth no more than $10 per
ton it would be cheaper to feed 1t unground and in
large amounts.
Alfalfa Silage for Cows.—Already we have dis-
eussed the making of alfalfa silage. The experiences
of men making silage of alfalfa are varied. Some
like the stuff, some have indifferent success in mak-
ing it. It seems certain that immature alfalfa makes
poor silage. The plants should be in good state of
bloom, should be cut with dew on and raked at once
and hurried into the silo, well cut into short lengths
with no drying. Corn for silage, alfalfa for dry
feed—‘‘it is something to chew on,’’ it is necessary
to the cow, it keeps her occupied, in health and vigor.
God speed the day when millions of acres of alfalfa
will lie adjacent to dairy barns all over our land.
ALPALBA POK shan
Alfalfa for Sheep.—All sheep love alfalfa either
green or dry. The very nature of the animal makes
alfalfa a suitable food for it. Sheep need foods rich
in protein. It takes such food to make good wool,
red flesh, blood, bone, milk. Sheep are usually
either young and growing or else are ewes giving
milk, or pregnant and developing within their bodies
unborn lambs. Growth calls for protein. Milk ealls
for protein. Wool calls for protein. The protein
requirement of the sheep is greater than with the
cow. This much for theory.
Essential to Profit—The practical part of it is
that experience has shown that sheep dearly love
alfalfa, green or dry, and thrive exceedingly on it.
In fact it is hard to make profit in America in sheep
farming unless one has alfalfa hay to fall back upon.
The best shepherds are provided with it. It is fed
during winter time in the sheep folds; ewes yean on
a diet of alfalfa hay; they suckle their lambs with
milk made chiefly from alfalfa; they go sometimes
to pasture composed of a mixture of grasses and al-
falfa; the lambs are fattened on alfalfa hay and
grain. The sheep industry in America with alfalfa
taken away would almost collapse. Millions of
sheep are fattened mainly on alfalfa hay. It is the
very foundation stone of the industry.
(392)
ALFALFA FOR SHEEP. 393
Grazing Sheep on Alfalfa—tn another place ref-
erence is made to this practice and it is told how
that alfalfa pastures destined to be fed off by sheep
should have grasses mixed through them, as a pre-
ventive of bloat. The secret of successful grazing
of sheep on alfalfa ‘seems to lie in following of a few
well defined rules.
First, the alfalfa ought to be fairly well grown.
It is much better if it is near the blooming stage
when they are turned into it. It is all wrong to
turn them in the field in early spring, letting them
gnaw off the buds from the crowns as they start to
grow. That is a practice bad for the alfalfa and not
very helpful to the sheep.
Second, the sheep should be filled up full on green
feed before being turned in to the alfalfa. If in ad-
dition they are given some dry grain, provided they
are accustomed to this, all the better. They should
be turned in at about 10 or 11 o’clock in the morn-
ing of a sunny day.
Third, they should have salt before them at all
times. It is thought that it is better to mix with
this salt air-slaked lime, about two parts of lime to
one of salt. I have not tested this but it has the
weight of good authority.
Finally, once introduced to alfalfa the sheep
should not again be taken off of it, neither by night
nor by day, nor in rain nor dew nor at any time till
they are taken off for good. And when they are
taken off and it is desired to introduce them again
394 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
it will take even more care the second time than it
did the first to accustom them safely to alfalfa, be-
cause they will be ravenous for it.
The only exception to this rule is that it may be
advisable sometimes to allow them to go to the sheds
for shade in the middle of the day. If this is done
eare should ‘be taken that they are returned to the
alfalfa field as soon as they are willing to leave the
shade in the afternoon.
Thus managed, the writer in an experience of sev-
eral years lost from 2 per cent to 4 per cent of the
flock from all causes during the pasturing season,
partly attributable to bloat.
Varying Practice—Regions differ as regards the
bloating effect of alfalfa. In some places it seems
to be impossible to pasture sheep on it at all. In
other places it is an easy thing to accomplish safely.
In Arizona and New Mexico there is now a large
use of alfalfa pasture for lambing ewes in spring-
time. The same is true in parts of California. I
was told in California that along the Sacramento
there was much loss from bloating, while along the
San Joaquin and southward to the Imperial Valley
there was little or no loss at all. Perhaps the alfal-
fa along the Sacramento was more nearly unmixed
with grasses, or was of a more succulent nature.
In Argentina millions of sheep and lambs are fat-
tened on alfalfa pasture, no grain being fed them.
Usually there is a natural admixture of grasses.
On Woodland Farm I practiced feeding lambs on
ALFALFA FOR SHEEP. 395
alfalfa pasture as I would pigs, with ear corn
thrown on a clean place on the ground. The results
were astonishing. Lambs born in March weighed in
late June 80 pounds and were sent fat to market, at
long prices.
In Kentucky some of the best early lamb growers
practice turning the ewes and lambs on alfalfa that
has run into blue grass considerably. The result
is glorious lambs that bring the top prices and ripen
weeks earlier than lambs running on common pas-
turage.
Ewes Get Too Fat—tThe practical objection to
alfalfa pasturage is that it makes ewes too fat to
breed well. To remedy this one ought, if he sees
such condition approaching, take them away and
turn them to rather poor grass for a time. I feel
certain that I have lost the use of a good many ewes
from barrenness through this effect, as they became
fat, ready for the butcher and not ready for the ram.
One remedy would naturally be to send them as they
became fat to market, but this is not practicable in a
pure-bred flock.
HAY FOR SHEEP FEEDING:
Hiwes in winter time need little else than alfalfa
hay to maintain them in splendid condition for
dropping a crop of strong lambs. Thus treated they
will come in with plenty of milk. There is usually
little danger of their consuming too much alfalfa
hay after being safe in lamb. it is well, however, to
feed some other food, not so rich, in connection with
the alfalfa hay.
To give a run to blue grass or other pasture, and
a little of some other sort of hay, if the ewes will
eat it, or to give bright corn stover in connection
with good alfalfa hay, is good practice. Sometimes
ewes may be better off for a trifle of grain when
they are eating alfalfa hay. If they are all right,
in good health and condition when winter sets in
and are afterward liberally fed with alfalfa no grain
will be needed, and in truth it may be a detriment.
Feeding Value of Hay.—lllustrative of the fact
that alfalfa alone is a rich enough feed we present
the following table from the Kansas experiment sta-
tion, giving some comparative values of alfalfa and
other well known feed stuffs. The figures are for
the digestible matter found in the various feeds.
These figures were gotten from the results of feed-
ing experiments at that station:
(396)
HAY FOR SHEEP FEEDING. 397
‘ Carbo-
Protein. hydrates. Fat.
Alfalfa hay, cut ten per cout ae lolOyeyatignescqsecocoooet 13.24 39.26 0.89
Mitaltaphay, Cut half MVOOM| ss cle cic sei seilateledsievelesicte- 11.90 40.26 0.39
Alfalfa hay, cut in full BiGoHt aay lsph ola or atol orale ladoverarcialg tule sy state 10.43 43.17 0.69
TEVSeT CTE VGA LE a ee NU ig ae Ain negra ae 6.58 35.35 1.66
FARHAN @ GIN ana Yates es fayot wererescue“oTer ore a aie Meera aia reeie a ohne eal oases 2.89 43.72 1.43
LETHEPTANS OG ecemic SCRE Onn ICC OC OOOO CCE RICE rite a iret ye 0.61 46.90 1.97
(Crores) iiaXe eres AR Geos GOB SED EE RIR OCR Sono ab Beer cits Saari a 1.98 33.16 0.57
eafir=CORMTOOGER asc sureiciecieles cle arsine siieisieis) S anelehvimion enone 3.22 48.72 1.15
AV VATE balou Tesseract ses clscerai av avavaiavecaieca musta rence ccatenatevaiieleves 12.01 41.23 2.8%
Study of this table shows plainly why it is that
ewes well fed with alfalfa hay are well nourished.
Ewes eating alfalfa hay during pregnancy have ud-
ders well filled with milk when the lambs are born.
This makes the shepherd’s cares light at that anx-
ious time. Ewes suckling their lambs will milk well
on alfalfa hay with a trifle of grain in addition.
Lambs born in winter will, with bright alfalfa hay
and a ration of cracked corn, develop rapidly and
make prime lambs for the fancy ‘‘hot house’’ trade.
Lamb Feeding at Woodland—The writer was
perhaps the first man east of Colorado to begin fat-
tening lambs with alfalfa as the hay ration. His
earlier practice was to feed timothy hay, shredded-
corn stover, oat straw and clover hay. To balance
these fodders, deficient in protein, he bought wheat
bran and oilmeal. The result was satisfactory, ex-
cept that the cost of making baby mutton was ex-
cessive. These lambs were fed from November un-
til April, being bought from western ranges or from
farms. About the average cost during the early
90’s was $6.25 per hundred pounds for the gain put
on. Concentrates rich in protein grew steadily
dearer and lambs cheaper, so that it seemed that
398 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. .
the end of his lamb feeding was near, when he
turned his attention to producing an abundance of
alfalfa. He found that as good lambs could be
made with alfalfa hay and ear corn only as he had
been making with shelled corn or ground corn and
oilmeal and wheat bran. The alfalfa-fed lambs
developed a little slower, but made the gain much
cheaper and with a lessened death rate. For some
years the cost of producing lamb mutton on alfalfa
hay and ear corn averaged about $3.50 per hundred
pounds. In recent years, owing to the advanced
eost of corn and alfalfa hay, the cost has increased
to about $4.50 or $5 per hundred, making no al-
lowance for labor.
It is the present practice to give the lambs a
longer feeding time, buying them in November, giv-
ing little but alfalfa for a month, then a trifle of
corn, gradually increasing until, in. March, they
may get nearly as much corn as they will eat. At
no times are they fed all the corn they will eat, nor
more alfalfa than they will eat clean, saving that
some coarser stems are allowed to be rejected. In
April or early in May the lambs are sold and they
have topped the markets for years, and are watched
for by buyers in Buffalo.
The manure made by these lambs, fed under shel-
ter, 1s returned to the land where corn is to be
planted, usually an old alfalfa sod. After one crop
of corn, or at most two crops, the land is sowed back
to alfalfa again. This manure is very rich and by
HAY FOR SHEEP FEEDING. 399
this system of farming the productiveness of the
place is steadily and rapidiy growing.
Comparative Value of the Hay—Numerous tests
have been made at experiment stations of alfalfa
hay compared with wild hay or timothy hay or some
other roughage for sheep and lambs. In every case
great superiority for alfalfa has been shown. Thus
Burnett found that lambs eating alfalfa hay and
shelled corn made 52 per cent greater gains than
those fed corn and prairie hay. Similar results were
had in Wyoming.
Feeding Operations in the West.—It is in Color-
ado, western Kansas and Nebraska that one sees
alfalfa feeding in successful operation in a large
way. There sheep and lamb feeding is an art and a
science. Alfalfa is of course the cornerstone of it.
On the excellence of their alfalfa depends all their
chance of profit and success. In truth the aim is to
feed the sheep or lambs as much alfalfa as possible,
and thus economize as far as may be in grain, which
is often the costly part of the ration.
Methods m Use.—The method of feeding is ad-
mirably simple. As a rule no sheds are used in Col-
orado since no rain falls in winter and not much
snow. Yards are erected in somewhat sheltered
places and the fences so built that sheep can thrust
their heads through and eat alfalfa hay which is
drawn from the ricks directly to the yards and piled
against the fence. From time to time it is pushed
up to them as they consume it. Grain is fed in
400 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
troughs. Colorado lambs usually top the Chicago
and Omaha markets. The excellence of their mut-
ton is very great.. Alfalfa does it, with a proper
amount of corn.
After the sheep are fed there is left a tremendous
amount of manure. Once this was allowed to go to
waste. Recently it has been found profitable to haul
it to the fields. In western Nebraska it is often put
on the old alfalfa meadows, where it has been found
very beneficial.
Small Waste in Feeding—There is no especial
eare necessary in feeding sheep or lambs on alfalfa
hay. When hard frosts late in the season catch the
alfalfa it is sometimes injurious to sheep after being
made into hay. Ordinarily no harm ever comes to
a sheep from having as much alfalfa as it can eat.
It has been learned, however, that sheep may eat
their hay up nearly clean, rejecting only the most
woody portion, and thrive nearly as well as though
wasting all but the finer stems and leaves. Less
waste is found where the animals can thrust their
heads clear into the racks, or through the fences, to
reach the hay than when they must pull it through
narrow cracks in the rack. The writer makes his
alfalfa feeding racks with vertical slits 7” wide.
Through these sheep thrust their heads and keep
them there while eating.
It is not true economy with fattening sheep or
lamhs to require them to eat their hay too close;
eetter gains are had when they consume large
ALS VEY, halladly RIF:
Pes ve ee oe
=e ee 7 F OS
PORTABLE HAY-FEEDING RACKS
ni
oa]
“e
HAY FOR SHEEP FEEDING. 401
amounts. There is no danger of their eating too
much, as there is with mature horses. When sheep
reject coarse stems they may be fed to horses get-
ting grain with good results.
Mamtaming Fertihty—Hardly any other sort of
farming is so good for land as alfalfa farming, with
sheep to consume the hay. Sheep make good ma-
nure. It is easily saved and applied. Wherever it
is used bounteous crops are assured. In the eastern
states where sheep are fed mostly under cover, the
manure is especially valuable. It is said that ‘‘one
ean not eat his cake and have it too.’’ This is not
true of an alfalfa farm when the hay is fed to sheep
or lambs and the manure put back. One has his
fertility left after enjoying the profits of sheep
feeding.
ALFALFA FOR SWINE.
There is rotation in farm practices as well
as in crops. ‘Take the hog for example. Origi-
nally it was a forest-dwelling animal, consuming
herbage of all sorts, grasses, roots, whatever it could
get, and mainly coarse herbage. Later it was taken
by man and shut up in pens or yards and fed grain.
Under ‘such treatment all sorts of difficulties devel-
oped, hogs became subject to disease, lost their pro-
lificacy, became unnatural mothers, eating their
offspring. Thus the hog fell into disrepute, got a
reputation for unhealthfulness and natural bad
habits. Now, thanks to alfalfa, the hog is resuming
its rightful place as a grazing animal, is grown large-
ly in the fields in the winter-time, eats coarse stuff,
which it ought to do, consumes alfalfa hay. The re-
sult is that in thousands of herds cholera has been
banished, the hogs have become resistant because of
their feed and healthful way of living, litters are
larger, the sows do not eat their pigs and the cost
of making pork has been reduced one-half. All this
thanks to alfalfa feeding and alfalfa grazing.
The Hog a Grazing Animal.—The truth is the hog
is by nature a grazing animal. While not a ruminant
like the cow and sheep yet it has capacity to take care
of a good deal of coarse herbage and is better for
having it. There must be a certain amount of bulk in
its food to distend the stomach and intestines in or-
(402)
ALFALFA FOR SWINE. 403
der to keep the animal in health. If its intestines
are vigorous then it may resist cholera germs, even
if they are taken in. The importance of this point
can not be over estimated. Millions of germs are
about us, germs of all sorts. All animals take them
in continually. When there is a vigorous, healthful
intestinal tract these germs sometimes, even the most
virulent, are either digested or passed off, the animal
remaining unscathed. When there is a weak and
sickly intestinal tract the germ finds lodgment and
disease follows. There can hardly be any other ex-
planation of the fact that cholera seldom troubles
hogs rightly managed and kept in summer on alfalfa
pasture, in winter in part on alfalfa hay.
Fine Alfalfa Pork—This matter is so essential
that I here present part of a paper read by one of
the Government inspectors before the Kansas State
Breeders’ meeting at the Kansas agricultural col-
lege:
As these alfalfa hogs came down the alley to the scales, they
were certainly hogs for the packer, raised at a profit—thrifty
and ready to yield good-grade pork, for a good price was realized.
You could notice that they were well up on their expanded feet;
their height, length, and bones all rounded out with even fat,
covered with a glossy, glistening, heavy coat of hair, and keen
eyes alert. Their backs were straight, broad and well curved
into long, deep sides that had plump, pointed even-shaped hams
at one end and arched shoulders at the other.
On post-mortem we did not find a single parasite in livers,
lungs, kidneys or intestines, as we do in hogs grown on corn and
cereals. Their lungs remained expanded, that is, inflated, when
cast down in the gut chute; did not collapse, and were of a per-
fect pink. Their stomachs were larger and did not recoil or con-
tract readily, and same was observed of the whole intestinal tube.
The man who pulled the intestines from the ruffle fat for cas-
404 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
ings said, “They are as tough as clothes-lines and as large as
broomsticks.” The bum-gut cutter said that “it seemed like tak-
ing out automobile tires, and I have not cut or torn a single one,
they are so tough.” The caul fat and ruffle fat after guts were
drawn off were much heavier than the average in corresponding
corn-fed hogs. The leaf-lard pullers and ham facers complained
about so much fat and weight in lifting the leaf out, and it was
more bound down to the inside of the abdominal walls. The gplit-
ter of backbones and sawyer of the shanks said “it was like cutting
iron or railroad ties.’”’ All bones were bones, large and strong.
The carcasses were symmetrically filled out like barrels, having
funnel legs, and all front feet were stiff and rigid, straight out,
while in other hogs the front feet are generally limp and dangling.
Their skins were well filled, shining and smooth as the human.
When I read this sentence to Mr. Hodgins he laughed and said:
“Don’t credit it to alfalfa, for we dip our hogs every two weeks
in two or three inches of crude oil and never know what lice,
mange or scurf are, nor hog-cholera so far, while our neighbors
on all sides of us have had it and laid it to tankage. We fed the
same tankage they did, for we bought it from the same parties
and at the same time.’ Their bodies were solid and the meat was
of that marbled appearance of lean and fat, for the fat of an al-
falfa hog is whiter, and here is where we get the two strips of
lean in the bacon—rustling for a living makes muscle.
Alfalfa Pasture for Hogs—No better plant has
been found for hog pasture than alfalfa, nor will the
hogs greatly injure the alfalfa if rightly managed.
In any event, even if they do injure it, it is well to
provide it, plowing it when seriously hurt and re-
sowing. Certain points of management, however,
will avoid nearly all injury.
Do Not Overstock.—The pasture ought to be
larger than the hogs need. The number of hogs
that a pasture will carry varies greatly, accord-
ing to the size of the pigs and the quality of the
pasture. It may be said that an acre will carry
nicely about 1,200 to 1,600 pounds of swine, accord-
ALFALFA FOR SWINE. 405
ing to its condition and the way the hogs are man-
aged. That would mean 8 pigs weighing 150
pounds or fewer of larger animals. Not that these
pigs would consume all the alfalfa in the field; it is
not desired that they should. It will be mown two
or three times and the surplus made into hay. This
keeps the alfalfa vigorous and gives a good deal of
hay. It also helps the hogs by giving them a fresh
bite as it comes up again.
It is not well to mow off an entire pasture at one
time as it leaves nothing for the hogs to eat for
some days.
It will not do to put in enough hogs to eat a pas-
ture down close as it destroys the alfalfa after a
time, and one can never get a maximum return from
land treated in that way. Alfalfa must have a
chance to grow, and if-it is kept nibbled down close
all the time it cannot possibly grow. Thus instead
of getting the most out of a pasture by stocking
heavily one gets the least out of it. This is a very
common error made by beginners in alfalfa growing.
Make your alfalfa pastures wide and mow them
regularly. Thus treated the animals get the most
possible out of them and the pastures themselves
will live for a long time.
Wat for Warm Weather.—Do not turn hogs in
alfalfa pastures until warm weather comes. The bru-
tal disregard for the young, tender plants displayed
by some would-be alfalfa growers is most exasperat-
ing. Perhaps it comes from their habit_of turning
406 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
hogs on old blue grass pastures in winter or early
spring. Alfalfa is in no sense like blue grass. Keep
the hogs carefully shut out of it until it is at least a
foot high in spring.
Do not leave the hogs in pasture late in the fall,
either, especially if you live east of the Missouri
River. To pasture alfalfa late in the fall in all the
eastern country will very greatly damage it if not
destroy it. And never, on any account, let the hogs
step foot on it in winter time.
Alfalfa not a Balanced Food—Again, much dis-
appointment comes from use of alfalfa in the wrong
way. Hogs will not make much gain on alfalfa
pasture alone. They will gain about one-half a
pound a day or less with only alfalfa and water.
With a little corn every day in addition to the al-
falfa hay they will gain two pounds or even two and
one-half pounds daily. Nearly all the corn ‘‘sticks
to the ribs’’ when hogs are fed on alfalfa pasture.
It is unreasonable to expect hogs to fatten on al-
falfa pasture alone, or even to expect them to make
all their growth on alfalfa pasture. Alfalfa is ex-
ceedingly rich in protein, but is deficient in fat and
carbohydrates. Why can not the hogs make up on
grass what the alfalfa lacks? Well, because a hog
has too small a stomach, is not a ruminant, does not
chew its cud. It wants a part of its ration in some
eondensed form. The alfalfa gives health and vigor
and makes growth, but it needs the aid of corn.
There is no other grain so good for feeding with
ALFALFA FOR SWINE. 407
alfalfa. They are happily wedded together, corn
and alfalfa.
Grain Needed.—lIt is as unwise to feed either corn
or alfalfa alone to hogs as it would be to send to a
mason bricks alone or mortar alone. He cannot
build a wall without bricks and mortar in right pro-
portions. So the hog cannot build without corn and
alfalfa in right amounts. One can trust him to eat
the alfalfa, feeding it freely; there will not be too
much consumed. He can not let the hog choose how
much corn he will eat because he will eat too much
for greatest profit. The corn should be limited, the
alfalfa unlimited. Thus come cheapest gains and
most profit.
Amount of Grain.—How much grain when on al-
falfa? The Nebraska experiment station has reached
this conclusion:
A light grain ration is not the most economical for growing
pigs, unless under peculiar circumstances, when alfalfa is abun-
dant, grain very high in price, and market conditions warrant
holding the hogs. It seems probable that two or more pounds of
corn daily for each hundred weight of hogs is more profitable
than a lighter ration.
Mature hogs, thin in flesh, may be expected to gain about half
a pound per head daily on alfalfa without grain. Mature hogs,
fed corn in a dry lot while being fattened, required nearly one-
half more grain to produce 100 pounds gain, and gave a daily
profit of 3 cents less per hog than similar hogs running on alfalfa
pasture. Alfalfa may be fed with profit to growing or fattening
hogs in almost any form so long as it does not make up too large
a proportion of the ration. When cut (chopped or chaffed) and
fed as one-quarter of the ration with ground corn it materially
reduced the cost of gains and increased the profits.
Value of Alfalfa Pasture.—Certainly this varies
according to the productiveness of the pasture, the
408 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
management and the price of hogs. It may reach
anywhere between $10 and $35 per acre. The Kan-
sas experiment station realized $24.10 from an acre
of alfalfa pasture.
In 1907 C. E. Quinn, a special agent of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, investigated the pasturing of
alfalfa with hogs in the west, giving especial atten-
tion to conditions in Kansas and Oklahoma. The
report is found in full in Farmers’ Bulletin 331. It
is so pertinent here that we quote freely:
During the past summer (1907) about 150 of the most suc-
cessful swine growers and pork producers of Kansas and Okla-
homa were interviewed on the subject of the crops used for feed.
In Southern Oklahoma along the river valleys and in northern
Oklahoma and southern Kansas the farmers are favored with a
soil and climate that makes it possible to produce pork very
cheaply. The mildness of the climate makes it unnecessary to
build as expensive shelters for hogs in winter as are required
farther north, and the short open winters make it possible to
furnish pasture during a greater portion of the year, thus les-
sening the amount of grain which it is necessary to feed. The
main pasture crops for hogs in this region are alfalfa, wheat,
oats, and rye, ranking in importance in the order named.
It is the testimony of 95 per cent of the farmers interviewed in
this region that there is no better forage crop for hogs than
alfalfa, where it can be grown successfully.
Amount of pasturage——As to the amount of pasturage or the
number of hogs alfalfa will carry per acre without injury to the
crop, the estimates given by farmers very considerably, depend-
ing on the kind of soil, the fertility of the land, and the size of
the hogs pastured. The following, however, is a safe average esti-
mate as given by conservative men who have had much experience.
River valley and creek bottom land well set in alfalfa will carry
from 15 to 20 head per acre of 50 to 125 pound hogs. Upland of
fair average fertility will support from 8 to 10 head of the same
kind of hogs. There are fields that have supported 25 head per
acre all through the season for a number of years and are still
in good condition, and there are other fields that will not furnish
pasture for more than 5 head per acre; but these are extremes.
ALFALFA FOR SWINE. 409
When a field is used only for pasture it is better to divide it into
several lots and move the hogs from one to the other as occa-
sion requires.
Causes of Failure-—Those who have failed with it as pasture
owe their failure to two causes: ‘The first is that the alfalfa has
been pastured before it has become well rooted. Young alfalfa
is too tender a plant to stand severe treatment except under very
favorable circumstances. There are a few farmers who have pas-
tured it the same year it was sown and the alfalfa has survived;
but this was on rich heavy loam soil, usually creek bottom or
river valley land with water not far below the surface, and the
season was very favorable. Ordinarily alfalfa should not be pas-
tured until the second year, and better still not until the third
year if it is desired to keep the field as permanent pasture.
The second cause of failure with alfalfa is heavy pasturing and
lack of judgment in pasturing in unfavorable seasons. A good
many farmers have sown a small piece of alfalfa, and then,
because it has grown rapidly and all kinds of stock are fond of
it, they have turned all the stock on the farm on it and have
wondered why their alfalfa was killed out. Others pasture re-
gardless of whether the ground is muddy or whether the season
is dry and hot. In either case heavy pasturing is very likely to
cause the alfalfa to be killed out.
Length of Pasture Season.—The length of the season during
which this pasture is furnished also varies. Alfalfa is ready for
pasture on the average from the middle of April in southern Okla-
homa to the middle of May in northern Kansas. It is not best
to pasture earlier, as the young alfalfa has not the start it
should have for heavy pasturing, nor has it the substance in the
plant. When not pastured too early, it will furnish feed at the
rate mentioned during nearly the whole season until October
in the northern part and November in the southern part of the
section referred to. In some years the pasture season will con-
tinue a month later in the autumn, owing to the rainfall and the
lateness of cool weather. In some seasons, if the summer is un-
usually dry and hot, the pasture will become short; but usually
pasture for the number of hogs mentioned can be depended on for
about seven months of the year at the southern limit of the ter-
ritory named and for about five months at the northern limit.
This rule will apply to other sections of the country having the
same climatic conditions as Oklahoma and Kansas.
While many farmers pasture alfalfa fields to their full capacity,
in some sections, especially in northern Kansas, it is customary
to run about half as many hogs as the alfalfa fields will support.
410 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
This practice permits the cutting of the usual number of crops
of hay, though the yield of hay is of course reduced.
Food Character of Alfalfa—Alfalfa not only furnishes a great
amount of pasture, but it is of a character that goes to make
bone and muscle. It belongs to the leguminous family of plants,
as do the clovers, the cowpea, the field pea, the soybean, and the
vetches, and, while it is furnishing this valuable food, it is add-
ing fertility to the land. Hither alfalfa pasture or alfalfa hay,
with corn, forms very nearly a balanced ration for animals; and,
while it is better to have a grain ration fed with it to hogs as well
as other animals, a healthier, thriftier hog can be raised on alfalfa
alone than on corn alone. Many instances are found where hogs
have been raised on alfalfa alone. One Oklahoma farmer mar-
keted in December, 1905, 61 head of spring pigs eight months
old that averaged 171 pounds, which had run from the time they
were little pigs with their mothers on 15 acres of alfalfa without
any grain. They sold on the market for 5%, cents a pound.
This made the cash value of the alfalfa pasture about $38.35 per
acre. As will be seen, this is a light pasturing, as there were only
about 4 pigs per acre besides the brood sows.
Feeding Practices and Actual Results——As already stated, it is
much better economy to furnish a grain ration with the pasture,
as it results in better gains and better product. One man esti-
mates that it takes from one-half to one-third less corn on alfalfa
pasture than on a straight grain ration to make a hog ready for
market. Many let the hogs run on alfalfa until about six
months old, by which time they reach a weight of 75 to 125
pounds, feeding just a little grain; then they feed heavily for
about two months and sell the hogs at eight months old weigh-
ing 200 to 225 pounds. One farmer, who raises about a thousand
hogs a year and who in one year sold $11,200 worth of hogs,
makes a practice of raising his hogs on alfalfa pasture until about
eight months old, feeding one ear of corn per head daily. He
then feeds heavily on corn for a month or two and sells at an
average weight of 200 to 225 pounds. Another man feeds all the
corn and slop the pigs will clean up, all the while running them
on alfalfa pasture, and sells at six to eight months old at weights
of 250 to 300 pounds. Another, who raises about 1,000 head a
year, feeds all the corn the pigs will eat, beginning shortly after
weaning and continuing until the hogs are sold at ten to eleven
months old, averaging about 275 pounds.
Still another farmer, from weaning time (two months old)
until eight months old, feeds the pigs nothing but dry corn on
alfalfa pasture, averaging about one-half gallon of corn (3%
ALFALFA FOR SWINE. 411
pounds) a day per head. At the end of eight months he sells at
an average weight of 250 pounds. The quantity of corn fed is
about 11% bushels per head. Figuring at the average price of
corn in this locality, 35 cents, and the price received for pork,
5% cents, the following results show the cost of growing pork
on this farm and the value of alfalfa pasture:
Walierot, 250-pound hoewata36 CentSs sae seo discs solse es soc cecisisulcsioue: $13.75
Value of pig at weaning, 50 pounds, at 544 cents............ ccc eee eee ath
Gaingirompastune andes rama ee okies slic ars copie sales cate $11.00
Cost of 11144 bushels of corn, at 35 CentS...........6.. cece cee eee e ce eeeee 3.93
Value of pasture per head pastured....-.........ccc00 cee esceees 7.07
Now, compare these results with those of a man who had to
depend on other pasture crops than alfalfa. He estimates that it
will take 15 bushels of corn on wheat, oats, and rye pasture to
raise and fatten a hog so it will weigh 240 pounds at nine months
old, besides the pasture and slop. At the price of corn men-
tioned, 35 cents a bushel, and with hogs at 5% cents a pound,
note the cost of producing pork on this farm:
Walueor240-poundthoratibl6 Cents.) cones. soe scces scence deeees csc enk $13.20
Value of pig at weaning, 50 pounds, at 5344 CentsS............ see eee eee 2.%5
Gainwinomipastuaelamdgemraimis senses essence ue ence $10.45
Cost of 15 bushels of corn, at 35 Cents.............. cece cece cc ceees Haas Sane 5 25
Value of pasture per head pastured...............cccecee eee eeee 5.20
The pasture on this farm will not support more than half
as many head per acre as alfaifa. Its value is only $5.20 per
head, against $7.07 per head for alfalfa pasture on the other
farm.
The experiences of these men are sufficient to show the value
of alfalfa pasture alone, its greater value when grain is fed in
connection, and that it is an important factor in economic pork
production.
Alfalfa Hay—While alfalfa pasture has been found to be very
valuable for hogs, the hay as a part ration for winter is scarcely
less important. Throughout the region referred to the farmers
are feeding the hay to hogs in winter. The hay has been found
to be especially valuable for brood sows before farrowing. Where
it is fed during the winter only a small ration of grain is nec:
essary to keep the sows in good flesh and in healthy condition.
Sows thus fed also farrow good litters of strong, healthy pigs.
Feeding Methods.—Many feed the hay by throwing it on the
ground in forkfuls; others have made low racks in which the
hay is placed, where the hogs can feed like cattle or sheep.
The hay is usually fed dry. The leaves are more readily eaten
by the hogs than the stems, and they contain more of the nutri-
412 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
tive value of the plant. For these reason some farmers save the
last cutting of hay for the hogs because it is more relished. It
is eaten up cleaner, as the stems are not so woody. Sometimes
the hay is cut up fine, wet, and mixed with other feed, and
sometimes it is fed ground, as there are now alfalfa mills
scattered throughout the alfalfa regions. But it is very doubt-
ful whether this extra expense will pay, unless it be for a ration
for young pigs.
Experiences of Farmers.—To avoid the expense of cutting or
grinding, some farmers in order to get the hay all eaten have
soaked it in water and fed it. This has proved very satisfactory
where tried. One Oklahoma farmer carried his hogs through a
winter by feeding them alfalfa leaves soaked in hot water for
one day and the next day shorts mixed with the pulp and water.
He feeds much alfalfa hay to his hogs and is very successful with
them. He puts the last cutting in shock as soon as wilted, and
thus cures it without bleaching and feeds it to his hogs. An-
other farmer carried his entire herd of hogs through the winter
by feeding them the pulp of alfalfa hay after soaking it in water
over night. He also gave them the water to drink. This was
all the feed they had during the winter, and they were in
good fiesh in the spring, with smooth, glossy coats of hair. A
Kansas farmer was feeding a bunch of 50 fall pigs on corn.
During the winter they got “off feed’ and were not thrifty.
fle reduced the corn and gave a ration of two-thirds chopped
alfalfa hay and one-third corn meal, the two soaked to-
gether. The hogs began to do better, and a little later he changed
the ration to one-third alfalfa and two-thirds corn. The results
were very satisfactory, and the cost of feed was reduced from
$15 a month on corn to $9 a month on alfalfa and corn. So
alfalfa hay, as well as pasture, has a very important use on a
hog farm.
Alfalfa Hay for Brood Sows.—To show the importance of al-
falfa hay in a system of feeding, the practice of the farmers
around North Platte, Neb., and elsewhere may be mentioned.
The alfalfa hay is ground up fine or else fed whole with corn in
the proportion of about 5 pounds of alfalfa to 1 pound of corn.
This is fed to the brood sows during the winter, and they come
through in excellent condition on very cheap feed. In many
sections alfalfa hay is worth about $5 a ton on the farm. One
ton of alfalfa and about eight bushels of corn will keep three
brood sows 130 days, or nearly the whole winter. The hogs so
kept farrow pigs that are remarkable for their vigor and size.
Views of the Nebraska Station—Prof. H. R.
ALFALFA FOR SWINE. 413
Smith, of the Nebraska station thus approves the
use of alfalfa with hogs:
I cannot recommend too strongly the feeding of good alfalfa
hay to any kind of swine. It not only furnishes protein, or
flesh-making material, which is deficient in corn, but it tends to
offset the heavy character of a ration consisting of corn alone.
Some scatter the hay on the ground, but it is better to construct
some sort of a rack through which the hogs can pull the hay
without trampling too much under foot. If the feeder has a cut-
ting machine it might be well to cut the alfalfa and mix it with
the grain. For fattening purposes do not make this cut alfalfa
more than one-fourth of the entire grain ration by weight, and |
I wouid be inclined to believe tha’ one-fifth alfalfa would be
better.
At the Nebraska station also Burnett fed alfalfa
leaves in comparison with wheat middlings to grow-
ing pigs. The pigs having the alfalfa leaves made
the better gain. In Illinois A. J. Lovejoy cuts al-
falfa very fine, almost as fine as meal, and mixes it
with corn meal, wetting all and feeding to pigs with
first-rate results. Instances might be multiplied
almost infinitely, but one more must suffice. Ex-
Gov. W. D. Hoard, of Wisconsin, a man who has
done very much to introduce alfalfa culture into
eastern America, carries his brood sows through the
winter with alfalfa hay and skimmilk from his dairy.
The sows come through in splendid condition, with
no unnatural or depraved appetites, farrow splendid
pigs and have much milk for them.
The Pork Industry Promment.—The hog occu-
pies indeed a commanding position in American agri-
culture. The value of the hog in America in Jan-
uary, 1909, was near $356,000,000. To grow these
hogs costs American farmers, the writer estimates,
414 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
300,000,000. With alfalfa to help cheapen the pre-
duction at least $106,000,000 may be saved.
This is not nearly ail the story, either. Hog farm-
ing is not usually a type of farming adapted to soil-
ouilding or even conserving of fertility. Hog farm-
ing usually means a farm devoted to corn and a few
small muddy yards where all the corn is dumped to
be devoured by the imprisoned swine. Thus in these
small yards accumulates all the fertility of the farm.
The net result is weeds, jimpson weed, dog fennel,
all sorts of vile things, while the fields grow steadily
poorer and poorer as there is nothing to go back
from the hog feeding. Now with the use of alfalfa
and feeding much of the corn in the alfalfa fields the
land is renewed, its fertility increased, it carries
more stock and becomes more easily tilled. The dif-
ference between alfalfa farming with hogs and hog
farming without alfalfa is that where alfalfa is lack-
ing the land is steadily destroyed, where it is had it
is steadily built.
MEP ALP A HOR POULTRY.
All sorts of fowls love alfalfa, green or dry. In
truth they love it not wisely but too well for the al-
falfa when it is a young thing, and unless kept away
from it will destroy it. After it has become estab-
lished they will not usually injure it unless the al-
falfa is a small patch near the poultry runs. It is
well to keep them away from the field when the al-
falfa is coming up as they will peck the seedlings
and destroy every one at a bite.
Giving the Run of the Field——Poultry having a
run to an alfalfa field will need very little additional
feed. Indeed on Woodland Farm it is the custom
to grow a hundred, sometimes two or three hundred
guineas that simply live half wild in the alfalfa
fields. They subsist entirely on alfalfa leaves, in-
sects and what they find wild. They nest as they like
and of course a great many of the eggs are lost,
since they lay sometimes a hundred in the one nest
and the mower often smashes many of them.
Poultry having alfalfa lays exceedingly well. In
winter time all fowls love the alfalfa leaves and will
even eat the smaller stems. If the alfalfa is cut very
fine they will eat nearly all of it. Certainly only
the best alfalfa hay should be offered the fowls. In
any barn where alfalfa is fed there can be secured
bags of alfalfa leaves and fine stems that the fowls
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416 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
will eat with great satisfaction. Some poultry keep-
ergs advise wetting the leaves, or pouring boiling
water over them, which makes them freshen up
amazingly; others think as good results come from
feeding them dry.
Meal and Cut Hay—Al\falfa meal is admirable
for poultry and egg production. Where alfalfa is
not grown and the hay is therefore unavailable
doubtless the meal is a profitable source of vege-
table food and protein. It stimulates egg production
and is thought to have some influence in making the
egos fertile.
For home use, where alfalfa hay is available it
is well to cut the hay in very short lengths, the
shorter the better probably, choosing very early
eut, tender and well cured hay for this purpose.
This will doubtless do nearly or quite as well as
alfalfa meal, and the leaves from the feeding barn
will do best of all since they are most digestible of
any part of the alfafa plant.
It is noticeable that when alfalfa is available in
winter egg production is greatly stimulated.
Latin ATi yam
MAKING ALFALFA MEAL.
Within recent years a considerable business has
sprung up in the West of making alfalfa meal.
Several plans are adopted for making this meal.
The hay must first be carefully selected. Only well
eured bright green‘hay is available. With some pro-
cesses this must afterward be kiln-dried before it is
put in the mill. It is then ground to a fine powder.
Another machine makes meal of the dry hay without
kiln drying. This meal is not so fine a powder as
the first mentioned. A third type simply cuts the
alfalfa exceedingly fine with a modification of an
ordinary hay-cutter. This is the most rapid in oper-
ation of any machine and the resultant product
seems to be as digestible as any. It is not exactly
meal, however, and is often sold baled, a lock of
alfalfa hay being placed at each end of the bale.
This seems the most practicable way of handling it
for dairy feed. The fine ground meal, however, may
sell more readily in the market, though it is doubt-
ful if it is any better as a feed.
Meal and Bran—Prof. H. M. Cotterell says that
in one test where alfalfa meal was fed in comparti-
son with wheat bran, giving the same weights, the
alfalfa meal made 141 lbs. of milk, the wheat bran
100 lbs. The Pennsylvania experiment station on
the other hand reported that alfalfa meal gave no
better results than wheat bran, yet with alfalfa meal
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418 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
and wheat bran rated at equal costs the meal made
slightly the cheaper milk.
Difference in samples might readily account for
this difference. Much meal is doubtless made of
very coarse, woody hay, cut when over ripe. This
would naturally make less milk than meal from early
cut hay. I believe alfalfa meal to be a good product,
but do not think it ought to be rated above wheat
bran in feeding value or selling price.
Easy of Transportation.—Probably the chief good
of alfalfa meal is to carry alfalfa to towns and cities
and regions where alfalfa is not grown. There re-
mains to be discovered evidence that it would pay
the farmer to grind his own alfalfa into meal for
use on his own farm, unless it might possibly be for
pig feeding in winter time, and even there the evi-
dence is in favor of using the alfalfa in its natural
form or cut very fine.
Alfalmo is a product of alfalfa meal and mo-
lasses. One who has observed the very great use of
molasses feeds in England must conclude that there
is a field for them in America, and that this alfalmo,
if honestly made, as it seems now to be, has a future
before it as a fattening ration for cattle and horses,
perhaps for pigs as part of the ration. Should we
be able to introduce alfalfa meal into England there
would be opened a wide field and a great market.
Perhaps we will need all our alfalfa hay at home for
‘ some years; perhaps such a market would in the
Jong run rebound to our injury.
BEOWING ALP ALBA SOD.
A well set alfalfa sod is a hard thing to plow. It “
takes power and time to break it. And yet, for a
given amount of energy applied in plowing one will
get much greater returns in an alfalfa sod than he
will with any other sort of plowing, so he need not
feel aggrieved at the resistance of the alfalfa roots.
The longer the alfalfa has stood the larger and
tougher the roots are. Alfalfa only a year or two
old plows not much unlike red clover sod. It is the
old field that gives one a tussle. To attempt to
plow that with a dull plow, a poor team and broken
harness is to waste one’s energy.
The Right Way.—On the other hand, rightly gone
at alfalfa god is a delight to plow. One needs a
good team, three heavy horses, a first-class plow
(preferably a walking plow, not a sulky or rid-
ing plow, which rarely is successful in alfalfa sod).
He wants two good shares and then to keep one of
them in the blacksmith’s shop most of the time,
being sharpened; a sober, intelligent man holding
the plow, with a file in his boot leg, then plowing
alfalfa sod is as easy a Job as one would care for,
only it is rather slow work. We plow in the fall
usually or early winter. The field that is to be
plowed is mowed late. It is as well to save that last
growth, and it will weaken the roots somewhat to
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420 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA.
have it cut off. We plow alfalfa sod deep. Why?
Because the roots cut off easier down eight inches
or more. li is true that they will grow again, that
is, the upper part will grow, and your field in the
spring may look almost as though it had not been
plowed. Do not let that fact trouble you. When cul-
tivation begins the alfalfa will soon disappear. This
is assuming that the field is to go to corn or potatoes
or some other cultivated crop. If sown to oats 1 is
likely that the alfalfa would grow up in them pretty
thick and maybe trouble in the harvest. But oaits
lodge in an alfalfa sod anyway, so they do not count.
One finds that the soil itself is loose and easily
nade friable after alfalfa has grown upon it, so he
can plow it deeper than ever he did before and find
soil all the way down.
Setting the Plow—Now about setting the plow.
We use a rolling coulter and a pair of wheels on the
beam. One can buy trucks to fit a walking plow, or
he can have wheels adapted to the use by his black-
smith. It is probably cheaper to buy the trucks.
As we needed them on Woodland Farm before any
manufacturer had started making them we made our
own. The wheels hold the beam steady, exactly at
the right depth. It is an old device that has been in
use for centuries in Hurope, but has not been imi-
tated in America simply because we have run after
cheapness too much, and because we have not done
much good plowing as yet. With these wheel trucks
a small boy can plow alfalfa sod almost as well as a
PLOWING ALFALFA SOD. 421
man.