BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Oct. 



other farmers have been growing alfalfa on the same fields 

 for years. Eastern farmers who have fields a quarter of a century 

 old, should send seed west to be multiplied by Western farmers and 

 seedsmen. We need an army of alfalfa seed selectors. We are 

 doubling the amount of seed needed about each five years. In 

 1914, we used about 38,000,000 pounds of seed of which 6,000,000 

 was imported. Think of planting 300,000 acres at an average 

 cost of $25 per acre, to alfalfa the seed for which had never lived 

 over a winter in America. No wonder we can find farmers in 

 every community who have had failures in alfalfa growing. 



The United States Department of Agriculture and a number 

 of the Experiment Stations have men at work h>bridizing alfalfas 

 and they are producing strains that promise much. 



SUMMARY 

 Why Grow Alfalfa ? 



1. Alfalfa gives most protein per acre. 



2. Alfalfa is pound for pound equal to thrashed oats. 



3. It pays better to grow alfalfa i:han to buy mill feeds. 



4. Alfalfa is the most drouth resistant farm crop. 



5. Growing animals, hens and dairy cows need lime and alfalfa 

 furnishes most lime. 



6. Alfalfa requires less work than is required to grow other 



farm crops. 



7. Once well seeded alfalfa stays from three to ten years. 



8. Alfalfa is the best crop to conserve the soils on the hillsides. 



9. Alfalfa does most to improve the soil because (a) it roots deep- 



est ; (b) it gathers and stores in the soil most nitrogen ; (c) it 

 brings from depths below the roots of other farm crops, rich 

 stores of phosphorus, potash and other plant food elements. 



HOW TO GROW ALFALFA. 

 Six Alfalfa Secrets : 



1. Good, well-drained soil. 



2. A good, rich, hard seed bed. 



3. Plenty of the right kind of lime. 



