674 BOABD OF AGRICULTUKE. 



if we could raise it. That is tne onlj' question witli me. We should also 

 be careful about not letting otber weeds get mixed in with the alfalfa, 

 for if we once do, it will cause trouble. I am with alfalfa like I am with 

 milk shake. I have heard a great deal about it but I have never seen 

 it, and so I have heard of alfalfa making phenomenal yields, but I have 

 never seen it. I have seen several patches through the counti-y here 

 that look very much alike to me. There is one west of Indianapolis 

 that had a fairly good crop, but the rest looked A-ery much like mine. 

 I am friendly toward alfalfa, but the question with me is how to raise it. 



Pi'esident Johnson: We have about 10 or 15 minutes left for the 

 discussion of this topic. I should like to request that evei"y speaker 

 when rising from his seat, address the chair and give his name so that 

 the stenographer can get the proceedings in full. If you do not give 

 your name we can not give you credit for what you say. The meeting 

 is in your hands for a few moments. These meetings are simply what 

 we make them. 



S. B. Woods: In regard to the chickens eating alfalfa, I want to 

 say that I thinlc it is one of the best things that you can feed to chickens. 

 I have a brother-in-law in the chicken business, and he beats anything I 

 have ever seen to make the hens lay. He has a machine that cuts this 

 very fine and he feeds it to the chickens. He considers it the best food 

 he can get for the chickens. He thinks that it is better than oats or 

 bran. It is the protein in it. 



I should like to ask, Mr. Ellison, whether or not the inoculation of 

 their soil was a benefit to it? 



Mr. Ellison: We have not found it necessary to inoculate our soil. 

 We plant it just as it is and get along nicely. 



Mr. Woods: Do you know whether or not it has nodules on the 

 roots ? 



Mr. Ellison: I can not tell you about that. I am not a farmer, for 

 my father is the farmer, and I attend to the daiiy business. 



Mr. Slater: I am well acquainted witli the land that Mr. Ellison 

 speaks about and it is good land, and well adapted to the raising of 

 alfalfa. It is better for this than many sections of the State. 



President Johnson: I think one of the things that we want to get 

 clear is the inoculating of the soil. This seems to me important. I am 

 wondering if there are nodules on tlio roots of the alfalfa. Alfalfa will 

 not grow if the roots are in water. The laud should be high enough 

 and well enough drained so that the roots are not in the water. 



