No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. i 427 



ALFALFA. 



By DR. E. B. VOORHEES, of New Jersey Experiment Station. 



The interest of our State iu alfalfa began in 188G, and during 

 the period since that year, our observations and investigations have 

 been continued and the results obtained have been such as to cause 

 us to have an abounding faith in the adaptability and usefulness 

 of this plant to the farms and farmers of the Eastern States. 



At that time, it was practically new to the East, although attempts 

 to grow it were made as early as 1791, but with indift'erent success; it 

 was believed to be only capable of making a satisfactory crop in the 

 irrigated regions of the west. 



In 1886, a farmer near the Station was growing alfalfa, and the 

 Station officers were permitted to make studies of his crop. The ex- 

 periments included the weighing of the yield obtained in the three 

 cuts and the chemical analysis of the crops harvested at different 

 times. The data thus obtained showed, first, that alfalfa was a crop 

 that made enormous yields ot green forage and hay ; and second, that 

 the nutritive quality of the forage and hay was much superior to that 

 of red clover forage or hay, as the total yield per acre was 18.2 tons 

 of ^reen forage, and the feeding trials made showed that it was an 

 exceedingly palatable forage, and its analysis showed it to be much 

 richer in the important compound protein than red clover, which is 

 regarded as one of the richest of the forage plants, and whose value 

 is well established. These results were of such a promising character 

 that in the next year. 1887, two plots, one-tenth of an acre each, were 

 seeded with alfalfa on the College Farm. On one of these plots the 

 seed was drilled in rows, and on the other it was broadcasted, on 

 April 28th. On the drilled plot, which was cultivated and kept free 

 from weeds, a first cut was made July 7th, and subsequent cuts made 

 August 18th and September 27th, and a total yield of 20.8 tons of 

 green forage, an equivalent of 4.5 tons of hay was obtained. 



Samples from the different cuts were taken and analyzed, and the 

 results confirmed those obtained in 18S6 ; the dry matter being 90 per 

 cent, richer in fat and 45 per cent, richer in protein than the dry 

 matter of red clover. 



A continuation of this experiment through 1888 gave a yield equiv- 

 alent to 18.7 tons of forage, or 5.r>t tons of hay per acre. The com- 

 position of the dry matter of the various cuts being practically the 

 same as were shown by previous analyses. 



These results were again most encouraging, as tlie yields were re- 

 markable, and the produce of high nutritive (|uality; the hay was 

 practically equivalent in protein content to wheat bran, which is re- 

 garded as one of the best fine feeds on the market. Naturally, plans 

 were then made to carry on field experiments in the different parts 

 of the State, ten of which were begun in the spring of 1887, the pre- 

 paration of the soil, the seeding and the fertilizing being carefully 

 supervised by the officers of the Station. 



The results of these experiments, however, were very discouraging 

 — all except one proving a failure. This result was then believed to 

 hd due to the time of seeding, rather than to any deficiency in the 

 soil, the fertilizer or the manner and time of seeding. 



