BULLETIN 165.J [MARCH, I908. 



Ontario Department of Agriculture. 



ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



LIBRA 



EW Y< 



ALFALFA OR LUCERNE 



By C. A. Zavitz, Professor of Field Husbandry. 



Alfalfa, also called Lucerne, is a hardy, perennial, leguminous plant 

 which produces stems of an upright growth, flowers in purple clusters, 

 and roots which penetrate deeply into the ground. It has been grown 

 in the region of the Mediterranean Sea for more than two thousand years, 

 and thrives on soils of various kinds and elevations, and in climates of 

 different degrees of temperature and of different amounts of rainfall. 

 Under favorable conditions, Alfalfa produces an abundant growth of tops 

 which furnishes material of high nutritive value for farm stock. As a 

 feed for farm animals, the crop is used in the form of pasture, green 

 fodder, silage, and hay. When in the best condition for feed it is relished 

 by all kinds of farm stock, including horses, cattle, sheep, swine, and 

 even poultry. 



Alfalfa is a great economizer of soil fertility, as it has the power of 

 making use of the free nitrogen of the atmosphere and of the valuable 

 mineral constituents of the subsoil. The abundant growth of roots in 

 an Alfalfa sod has a very beneficial effect in the improvement of both the 

 chemical and the mechanical condition of the soil. It is certainly a valu- 

 able crop to raise in those countries in which it will grow satisfactorily. 



Experience with the crop shows that Alfalfa can be grown success- 

 fully in many parts of .Ontario. Not only has it been tested in the Experi- 

 mental Department of the Ontario Agricultural College, and on small plots 

 over the Province through the medium of the Experimental L'nion, but 

 it has been successfully grown also as a field crop on many farms in dif- 

 ferent parts of Ontario for several years past. Apparently, the very best 

 results have been obtained from growing Alfalfa on land which is com- 

 posed of a fertile soil of good texture, which contains a fair amount of 

 humus and the proper kind of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and which overlies 

 a subsoil rich in lime and sufficiently open to permit of a full development 

 of the extensive root system of the Alfalfa plants to a considerable depth 

 in the soil. Good results should not be expected from growing Alfalfa on 

 land which has a cold, sour, wet subsoil. It is probably safe to say that 

 the undersoil has a greater influence than the soil at the surface in mak- 

 ing the conditions favorable or unfavorable for the successful cultivation 

 of these deep-rooted plants. 



