Corn Growers' Association. 181 



oughly inoculated as Mr. Wing has his, we will find spring sowing 

 profitable, but until that time we will get better results by sowing 

 in the fall. 



Q, What brand of alfalfa is best for Missouri? 



A. That grown nearest home — in Kansas or Nebraska. 

 While the varieties grown farther west are hardier, and can with- 

 stand the heat of summer and the cold of winter better, it has 

 been found that in the west and central parts of the State that 

 our home-grown seed is the best. 



Q. What would be the effect on the soil if kept long in 

 alfalfa? 



A. It would be depleted. Alfalfa is a very heavy feeder, 

 and its continued use, as in the case of clover, would deplete the 

 soil particularly in potash and phosphorus. 



Q. Do cattle bloat by pasturing on alfalfa? 



A. Yes, it is a hard matter to pasture alfalfa successfully. 



CORN VARIETY TESTS. 



(By H. D. Hughes, Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Missouri Agricultural College.) 



For years men have recognized the distinct varieties of farm 

 crops and the distinct breeds in the animal world. The sheep 

 man has recognized a distinct diff'erence between the Merino and 

 the Shropshire; the horse breeder has recognized the fact that a 

 Clydesdale is distinctly different from the Percheron, and each is 

 bred for a different purpose. We have certain breeds of cattle 

 which produce milk very much more abundantly than certain other 

 breeds; and again, one breed of dairy cattle produces cream in 

 much larger quantities than another. And we have probably recog- 

 nized these differences in our live stock more than in our farm 

 crops. The study of breeds is an old study — probably 5,000 years 

 old, at least; while for certain well known reasons, a study of corn 

 is practically new, and, therefore, we have given it so little atten- 

 tion that many of us have not realized that there were as great 

 and distinct differences between our varieties of corn as between 

 the different breeds of farm animals. 



That this difference is even more distinctly and closely defined 

 than with our farm animals can, I believe, easily be shown. In 

 looking over the reports of the experiment stations of 32 of our 

 states wherein over 200 varieties were reported, I find no one 



