1906.] DISCUSSION. 229 



would give that for it. We sold a lot of it for $1.75 which, 

 of course, was very encouraging. We cautioned the farmers, 

 however, at that time to go slow until it was fully understood, 

 to try it as an experiment, and not to put in more money than 

 they wanted to throw away, but the promoters came down on 

 the State, companies to raise Sumatra tobacco were formed, 

 subscription agencies were opened in Hartford in special offices, 

 and the farmers in the tobacco raising sections besought to 

 take stock and go into the raising of Sumatra. After a short 

 time it became plain, as many of you know, that the matter 

 was not sufficiently understood, and the result is that the whole 

 business is now as flat as a pancake. 



Now it has been somewhat the same with alfalfa. There 

 has been a lot of talk about alfalfa that has been in the nature, 

 as they say on the street, of hot air. It has been boomed by 

 some as something with which we could certainly succeed. 

 We cannot certainly succeed. It depends very much on cir- 

 cumstances, and upon how the crop is handled. It has been 

 tried in the State for twenty-five years. We have been trying 

 it for a considerable time, trying to learn the facts about it ap- 

 plicable in this State. We have been testing growing it with 

 farmers for a couple of years, and we do not feel at all sure 

 about it yet. There are many encouraging things about it, 

 but it is not a thing that we can afford to go into on any con- 

 siderable scale as yet. It must be tested further. Tliere are 

 two or three alfalfa fields in the State that seem to be very 

 promising, and which look as though they would be worth a 

 great deal to those who have them, but it is not a thing to 

 bank upon as an assured success yet. (Applause.) 



Mr. Phelps. Professor Jenkins has given us a consider- 

 ble amount of meat in his paper, and we want to see if we can- 

 not digest some of it. 



I have interested myself in the work of growing leguminous 

 plants, including alfalfa, and as I have had considerable ex- 

 perience on the subject, I thought possibly it might be of some 



