120 AGRICULTURE OF MAIXE. 



Prof. Bartlett — I presume you do not think that we can 

 have permanent fields, meadows of alfalfa, here in the East 

 as they have in states farther south. You mean you would use 

 it very much the same as you use clover and ordinarily you 

 would not expect it to last more than two or three years. You 

 know in the alfalfa region of the West and South a field once 

 thoroughly established in alfalfa is good for years. Our ex- 

 perience has been that we are liable to get a winter every two or 

 three, or perhaps four or five years, that alfalfa will not stand. 

 We get that condition in which the top is broken off by the 

 throwing of the ground. A coat of ice is formed over the sur- 

 face. W'e have no trouble in growing alfalfa, but the trouble 

 in keeping it is that peculiar condition, the sheet of ice forming 

 over the surface that kills the alfalfa. The best field of alfalfa 

 we ever had was in Aroostook County where there is a thor- 

 oughly well drained soil and the underlying soil is lime rock, the 

 very best condition you could possibly have for alfalfa. That 

 was heavily limed and we got a field well established and it 

 grew for three years and then we got a winter like this one, a 

 coat of ice formed over the surface and there were very few 

 stalks left. 



Mr. Guptill — In regard to the continuous growth of 

 alfalfa, I think there is this much to be taken into consideration. 

 In the alfalfa fields of the West the chief difficulty is the lack 

 of moisture. The root will go down until it gets moisture. 

 Those fields do not have to be fertilized because that soil is 

 virgin soil, and if the subsoil is rich and the roots of the alfalfa 

 reach into the subsoil, perhaps the conditions of the soil are 

 better and the plants would get a better growth. There is no 

 question but that it does kill out some years in this State. One 

 year I will have 20 acres that will be one-half alfalfa, and the 

 next year I will have practically none at all. Of course the lime 

 is needed anyway. Practically all the soil of Maine needs lime. 

 While it does not furnish any plant food you will find that all 

 of the grasses and all of the grains take hold and absolutely pay 

 for the lime you use. So in sowing alfalfa with the other 

 grasses all you have lost, if it does not stand, is your seed. I 

 suppose that professional men will take exceptions to my state- 

 ments. They want to raise clear alfalfa. I want to raise as 

 much as I can. If I cannot raise it clear I will raise it mixed 

 with red clover. I appreciate the difficulty which Prof. Bartlett 



