372 Home Nature-Study Course. 



Alfalfa is gro^Mi mostly for hay. It is not adapted to pasture, 

 because the new growth springs from a crown at the surface of the 

 ground, and if this is destroyed the growth will not be renewed 

 vigorously. New York is a hay-producing state. Grain feeds can 

 be grown more cheaply in the West. It is of great importance to 

 the state, therefore, if a better hay-producing plant can be found. 

 We have seen that New York leads the states in dairy cattle. Other 

 livestock also is abundant. Last year more than half a million 

 horses and mules were fed in the state. 



Success has not attended efforts to grow alfalfa in all parts of New 

 York. This is due to two principal reasons: (1) farmers have not 

 known the plant and its habits well enough to give it the care and 

 treatment it demands; (2) the soils of many localities, because of 

 their physical condition or composition, are not suitable for the 

 plant. 



The alfalfa seedling is not a strong plant. It cannot compete 

 with weeds nor overcome adverse conditions of moisture; it cannot 

 adapt itself to conditions resulting from poor preparation of land, 

 and it is not vigorous in its ability to get food from any source. 

 Care must be given to the preparation of the land in order that suf- 

 ficient moisture may be supplied during the early stages of growth 

 and that there may be an abundance of quickly available plant- 

 food. After growth has started, alfalfa has the power to get some 

 of its nitrogen from the air through the nodules which grow upon 

 its roots; yet during the early stages of growth it is essential that 

 the soil be supplied with all elements of plant-food in available form. 

 While alfalfa requires an abundance of moisture for its best growth 

 and development, yet it will not grow in soils that hold water for any 

 considerable length of time. Such soils are usually those with an 

 impervious subsoil or hardpan, or those of clay or silt structure 

 which retain free water to the exclusion of air. Therefore, it is im- 

 portant that alfalfa soils be well and uniformly drained, either by 

 natural conditions or by underground drain. One other essential 

 of prime importance is that the soil be neutral or alkaline in its reac- 

 tion; in other words, that it contain no free acid. Limestone or 

 blue-grass soils are ideal in this regard for alfalfa. If acid is present, 

 the difficulty may be corrected either wholly or in part by the appli- 

 cation of 500 to 2000 poirnds of lime per acre. 



As in most other legumes (members of the family Leguminosse, 

 including peas, beans, clovers), there is a peculiar relationship exist- 

 ing between the plant and excrescences or nodules upon its roots. 

 These nodules are essential to the normal growth and development 



