A SHORT TREATISE ON ALFALFA 



James A. 1). S. Findlay 

 Farmers' Institute Lecturer 



lu writing this short article on alfalfa it is not merely to 

 reiterate an oft-repeated story, but to try to stimulate to action 



that farmer who knows the great value of the 

 alfalfa crop on every farm ; more especially the 

 dairy farmer who, though knowing, never as yet 

 has grown an acre. 



First, let me try to interest the reader in the 

 great value of alfalfa. It contains within a 

 fourth as much nutriment as the best bran, 

 which is worth about $25 per ton. Since we 

 can readily grow from three to five tons per acre 

 each season, and as we all have to buy bran or 

 its equivalent for our cattle, consider the saving 

 to the man who grows this valuable plant. 



Alfalfa contains about three times as much 

 protein as our best timothy hay and we get, on 

 an average, twice the crop annually. Thus we 

 can produce at least six times more protein per 

 acre with alfalfa than with our best grasses. 

 Someone may say, " clover is just as good," but 

 it is not. Let lis grant that it is as good for the 

 first cutting — the life of the clover ends there 

 in the great majority of cases. Alfalfa will 

 grow for years, and each year do better than the 

 previous, since each year the roots go deeper, 

 thus being in better condition to withstand the 

 very hot, dry weather which the eastern farmers 

 have had to contend with for the past four years. 

 The writer cut a splendid crop early in June (a 

 little late) and at this writing — late Jtdy — is harvesting a fine 

 second crop, despite the fact that scarcely any rain has fallen dur- 

 ing the past six weeks. 



[1698] 



Fig. 115. Al- 

 falfa Plant 

 Note the length 

 of roots 



