No. 7. . DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 673 



field every spring is not growing clover by any manner of means, 

 even though, as I said before, clover will grow sometimes. 



The first place to begin to cultivate clover (or anything else for 

 that matter), is in the mind. The carpenter will never erect the 

 house unless in the first place he is able to set down and picture 

 before the mind's eye every sill, post, mortice, tenent, brace, room, 

 closet, window and door in their proper place and at the same time 

 see the material, scail'olding and labor necessary to prepare them 

 and get them there. The wheelwright \^ill never build the wagon 

 unless, in the first place, he can see all the material shaping and com- 

 ing together to form that identical wagon. The first thing for the 

 mechanic to know is what kind of a house he is going to build, and 

 the first thing for us to knoAV is what kind of clover we are going 

 to raise, and the next then, in both cases is to select a suitable foun- 

 dation on which to start it. 



I have decided to grow alfalfa, believing it to be superior to red 

 clover in many particulars and in support of that belief let me read 

 you a few extracts from Farmer's Bulletin No. 31, by Jared G. Smyth, 

 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture: 



^'Alfalfa is a deep feeder, the tap roots descend to great depths 

 wherever the soil is loose and permeable, often averaging 10 or 12 

 feet. It has been recorded as sending its roots to a depth of 50 to 

 60 feet and it is believed that under favorable circumstances it may 

 go even deeper. 



"As soon as alfalfa is from 12 to 16 inches high the first crop can 

 be mown and from that time it can be cut as often as it grows high 

 enough. It is very important that the plants get a good footing 

 and develop a good root system the first season. Alfalfa when fully 

 established vields as much as 6, 8, 10, 12 and sometimes 16 tons of 



«/ 7 7 7. 



dry hay per acre per annum." (That would mean for this country 

 from 3 to 5 or 6, with a possibility of 8 tons per acre per annum.) 



"The richer and cleaner the land and the more thoroughly the 

 soil has been prepared before sowing the seed the larger will be the 

 net profit from each acre. There is no better hay plant than alfalfa 

 in regions where it will grow. It however deteriorates very rapidly 

 after the third j^ear unless taken care of, but as already shown, with 

 proper care the limit of profitable production need not be set at 

 five or twenty or even fifty years. There is in the state of Sonora, 

 in Mexico, a field which is known to have been kept in alfalfa con- 

 tinuously for over 60 years and it is said to be in as good condition 

 to-day as it ever was. 



"Alfalfa hay is a substance for such substances as wheat bran 

 and cottonseed meal, usually purchased by the farmer to utilize the 

 excess of carbohydrates furnished by his corn fodder or timothy hay. 

 And since it can be grown on the farm there is a great saving in the 

 actual cost of producing beef, pork and mutton. In this way beef, 

 pork and mutton can be raised for the market quickly and at the 

 lowest possible cost. It is especially valuable for yojing and grow- 

 ing stock. One acre of alfalfa will furnish forage for from 10 to 

 20 hogs for season. At a conservative estimate 10 pigs per acre 

 will gain 100 lbs. apiece during the season from May until Septem- 

 ber; 1.000 lbs. of pork cannot be produced so cheaply on any other 

 feed. 



43—7—1904 



