IlJ AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



satisfaction I got from seeing whether alfalfa would grow or 

 not, and the amount 1 got from that method would absolutely 

 surprise you. There is not much risk in sowing it in that way, 

 as if the alfalfa does not come I have ten pounds of red clover, 

 5 pounds of alsike, a peck of herdsgrass and 5 pounds of red- 

 top, so the land is pretty well seeded and the alfalfa can do as 

 it pleases. If it comes at all, the next time you seed it you will 

 find that it will come much more readily, because I actually 

 think there is something in this matter of inoculation. I never 

 have bought and never shall buy soil to inoculate my land for 

 I am going to bring it up on my own farm. If I cannot I will 

 call it a failure and Cjuit. I don't know as it is an absolute dis- 

 grace to make a failure of anything. There may be conditions 

 that we do not reach. But if you are going to make a success 

 of any crop, you have absolutely got to place yourself in a posi- 

 tion to receive your information at first hand, you cannot take 

 it from others, let them talk ever so intelligently or ever so elo- 

 quently about it. You will find that alfalfa kills out on clay 

 soil very much easier than clover does, although it is so heavily 

 rooted. When the clay freezes it will }ndl tlie top off, and when 

 the crown is pulled off the root is gone, no matter how long it 

 may be. Under conditions like that I very often lose my crop 

 of red clover, but I put in the alsike and that stands the frost 

 much better than the red clover. I ex])ect that this winter all 

 the alfalfa and practically all the red clover will be gone, and 

 the pieces I have seeded down will come very much to alsike 

 and the other grasses. Next year I shall pursue the same course. 

 You have got to define your position and stand by it, and if you 

 have made a wrong start, start over again. 



In regard to the feeding value of alfalfa, you will find that 

 you will prefer it even to clover. It is a very good feed. Of 

 course I am not speaking from a scientific standpoint, but I 

 think that alfalfa is the best crop, for feeding purposes, and 

 next to that is clover and next to clover comes corn. If a man 

 has a lot of clover and corn, he can pull his stock through the 

 winter pretty comfortably with the grain he has raised, if he 

 has tilled enough land the year preceding to occupy his time 

 and attention. 



If a farmer does not care to raise the crops I have suggested, 

 or has not the equipment, let him adopt some other system. I 

 do not suppose for an instant that this is the only line of crops 



