240 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [J/«r. 2, 1908. 



Kansas and her Alfalfa (Lucerne) 



F. D. COBURN, 



Secretary, Kansas Boai-d of Afriicnlture. 



Kansas is iiiiii|uc in many tliiiiL;s, hut iu.nonr more llian in the com- 

 manding position she (UTUpies in iclation t(i alfalfa growin<j:. Ilcr 

 developiiHMit in this industry lias lucn one of the marvels of her prolific 

 agriculture, and witli alfalfa, as with winter wheat, no other State is licr 

 equal in its area and production. The alfalfa held of Kansas now ap- 

 proximates nearly three-(piarters of a million acres, ami hut three culti- 

 vated crops exceed it in annual art'a, vi/. : whef^it, corn, and oats. In 

 combination with these, alfalfa furnishes Kansans in abundance with 

 perliaps the best and cheapest rations anywiiere available for the main- 

 tenance of their live stock, for the excellence of which they are famed. 



The credulity of the stranger to alfalfa, however fair-minded, is invari- 

 ably taxe(l l)y a recitation of the truth al)out this wonderful plant: even 

 the facts cut in two leave him in a perturbed state of doidit as to the 

 veracitv of the narrator, but thoroughly convincing are the experiences 

 of those who are actually its growers. It is a perennial blessing to those 

 wdio are so fortunate as to have an area devoted to its culture: yielding 

 annually, whether the season l)e wet or dry, its several cuttings of hay 

 unsurpassed in t(mnage and (piality, it is indeed esteemed as a benefac- 

 tion, and doubly appreciated in those portions wliere it flourishes, but 

 where the clovers do not prosper. Another feature, too, that tlie wide- 

 awake farmer does not overlook or mininuse is the improving effects of its 

 roots, restoring and enriching, rather than depleting, the fertility of the 

 soil in which they grow, to tiie great benefit of other succeeding crops. As 

 is well known, alfidfa is one of the oldest forage jilants, l)ut to the hus- 

 bandry of the American farmer it is of but recent ac<piisition. Kansan.s 

 were among the foremost to correctly estimate its worth, and its wide- 

 spread introduction in the Sunflower State has Ijeen one of the most 

 important faetoi's in increasing hank deposits and the per rapitd wealth. 



The increase in its area in Kansas affords some, although no adequate 

 idea of the growing ajipreciation in wlneh (he ]ilanl is held. It is six- 

 teen years since the crop was lirst tho\ight of enough imj^ortance to 

 chronicle its statistics, when the enumerators of the Board of Agriculture 

 returned the area for the State as 34,384 acres. This year (1907) the area 

 in alfalfa is 742,140 acres, or an int'rea^e of 2(l-7 i)er cent, over the area 

 of 190G, 132 ])er cent, more than in l!)01, and a gain of 2,058 per cent, 

 over the area of 181)1. Alfalfa can l)e grown in every county in the 

 State, and 103 of the lO.j counties rei)ort greater m- less areas devoted to 

 it in 1907. Of the 103, ninety-two counties sliow increases aggregating 

 130, 3G9 acres, while eleven rei)ort decreases aggregating 3,542 acres, 

 making a net gain for the year of 127,')27 acres. Jewell, a central county 



