1906.] ALFALFA IN CONNECTICUT. 227 



leaching ; there was rather the certainty of a gain. None of 

 the land was lying idle. 



But this is not a talk on clover. Alfalfa at present has the 

 center of the stage. An acre of alfalfa, at its best, will cer- 

 tainly yield more concentrated cattle feed than any crop which 

 we can grow. It is worth a trial by all dairy farmers, even those 

 who have failed with it years ago, for we have new knowledge 

 regarding the causes of failure and the road to success. 



But this is the real point of this talk. Don't let us take the 

 time to simply fool with it. Laying down an alfalfa field is 

 like making a road. It requires skill and work. It is to last for 

 years. Do it right then, or leave it alone. Choose the land 

 very carefully ; get it as clean of weeds as it is possible, either 

 by a summer fallow or by a hoed crop which is kept specially 

 clean ; put on a heavy dose of lime ; get seed of which 90 per 

 cent, will sprout, preferably from unirrigated western seed 

 farms ; inoculate with soil from another alfalfa field or from a 

 patch of sweet clover ; if weeds are abundant, clip the field 

 five or six inches from the ground as often as needed to keep 

 them down ; and if the stand of alfalfa is thin and the weeds 

 rampant, be prepared to turn the piece under and seed again 

 between the first and fifteenth of August. 



Every one of these points is quite essential to a fair trial of 

 alfalfa. To omit any one is to endanger the whole experi- 

 ment. They will not ensure success. On many soils alfalfa 

 will not grow successfully. The thing should be tried as an 

 experiment and as one where you can afford to lose. If you 

 succeed, it is easier to increase your acreage than it was to make 

 the start. 



Success will pay handsomely, but it will come, like every 

 other success, only with labor and skill and watchfulness. Suc- 

 cess is not distributed in any two-dollar packages with nitro- 

 cultures. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Phelps. Dr. Jenkins made the statement in his in- 

 teresting paper that some soils naturally contained the alfalfa 

 microbe, and I think he said that he found that to be the case 

 with the Station grounds at New Haven. I would like to ask 

 if he has found that condition common about the State, 



