230 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



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I continued to do for many years. I think it was in its prime the fourth year. 

 The first crop of the season was always the heaviest, the second, six weeks later, 

 a little lighter, and the third was quite light, though it paid for cutting. I think 

 I kept it some eight or ten years. Frequently in the spring the roots were so 

 few and scattering it seemed to have failed, but in a few weeks it would come on 

 quite thick. It did not show much sign of dying out until I allowed a man to 

 stake his cow on it for pasture. When I plowed it up I found roots five and six 

 feet long, although it was not hard to exterminate. I am inclined to think it 

 would do well on the sandy pine lands. I have my doubts whether it will stand 

 pasturing." 



In Huron County two correspondents tried alfalfa for two consecutive years, 

 but in both cases it was killed by a hard winter. 



Three correspondents in Jackson County report attempts to grow alfalfa, but 

 winter killing has prevented success. In one case the alfalfa survived for several 

 years, but is now extinct. 



J. B. Duncan & Son, of VickShurg, write under date of April 13, 1905: "On 

 a few spots in our piece of alfalfa it appears to have been partly killed out during 

 the winter. The amount of loss will probably be about 20 per cent. The parts 

 not killed are now looking well and we hope will make a fair crop. The nodules 

 are just beginning to appear on the roots. The seed was inoculated by cultures 

 obtained from the Department of Agriculture at Washington and was sown last 

 year." 



In Lapeer County it was tried on muck, sandy loam and clay loam, but in each 

 case it was a failure. Another man had had reasonably good success with it for 

 several years. 



In Lenawee CountJ^ alfalfa wintered well on some pieces while on others it 

 was killed in the winter of either 1903-4 or 1904-5. A. J. Allen, from Clinton, 

 writes, May 20, 1904: 'Alfalfa is pretty well killed, as are clover and wheat, 

 except near the fences and in low places where there was a covering of snow. 

 In 1899 I had some alfalfa frozen to death also. Last year I had twenty-two 

 acres, all on clay. It was cut three times and yielded from two to five tons per 

 acre. I believe it would do well on any soil if the water is not too near the 

 surface of the ground." 



"I have had good success in seeding on corn stubble, if enough dirt can be 

 scratched up to cover the seed. That is all that is necessary. It has caught and 

 done as well this way as where the ground has been plowed in the fall and sub- 

 soiled. I believe it is the best feeding crop that can be raised bn the farm if 

 the killing winters do not come too often. I used a side delivery rake and hay 

 loader. Last year I put in some alfalfa under circumstances where red clover 

 would have spoiled. The alfalfa came out in good condition. I filled a silo six 

 feet in diameter from the last cuting for chickens. It kept well. There was no 

 waste. It seemed to dry out a little, but did not spoil." 



A farmer near Tipton notes that June grass is the worst enemy of alfalfa 

 in that section, with the possible exception of the hard winters. 



Concerning the experience of farmers about Tecumseh with alfalfa, Mr. J. R. 

 Keeney, of Tecumseh, gives important testimony, writing in May, 1905. He has 

 two acres of alfalfa, cut three times in 1904 and twelve inches high in places on 

 the 7th of May, 1905. He reports that Mr. Howard, of Tecumseh, has a small 

 field looking fine. Mr. William H. Osborne, of Tecumseh, has cut a certain field 

 for several successive years. This field has plenty of nodules. It is along the 

 road where there is plenty of sweet clover, to which plant the inoculation may be 

 due. Mr. Abner Wilson, of Tecumseh, has five acres sown in 1904 with inoculated 

 seed. No nodules yet discovered. R. D. Harrison, of Tipton, has ten acres which 

 look fine. William Fisher has five acres near Tecumseh, now in excellent condi- 

 tion. John T. Clark, of Clinton, has grown ten to thirty acres for years with 

 success. His Turkestan alfalfa has plenty of nodules. Charles Clark of Clinton 

 has a large field which is in excellent condition, sown last season and yielding a 

 crop of hay the season when sown. 



Air. Keeney states that there are many other fields about Clinton which have 

 withstood the winter successfully and are in good condition now. There is so 

 much sweet clover in the vicinity, especially along the highway, that be is inclined 

 to think the soil is well inoculated. He has known of no failures where the 

 alfalfa has had a chance. 



This testimony, combined with what precedes and follows, seems to indicate 

 that alfalfa is a very promising crop for Lenawee County. 



