214 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



to know that the line drawn axound the margin of the timothy region 

 showed that that region occupied the whole northeastern quarter of the 

 United States. It cuts off a portion of the Fouthern boundary of this 

 State ; it dips down into one or two counties in Arkansas, and in 

 Southern Kansas takes in a tier of two rows of counties, running north- 

 ward and inchiding three rows in the northern end, cuts off three coun- 

 ties in Nebraska, goes up the Missouri river to Minnesota and turns 

 across Minnesota. 



Now the work of my office has been mainly for people outside of 

 this region. About the time I went to Washington City, or perhaps a 

 year or two sooner, the farmers in the timothy region, as well as in 

 all other parts of the United States, began to get interested in the 

 alfalfa plant. Now, I should except alfalfa from the statement which 

 I made about the correspondence that comes to us. We have had more 

 correspondence with farmers for the past four years about alfalfa than 

 about all other subjects put together, and it comes from every state in 

 the Union, and has been coming for five years. That indicates that 

 there is a genuine interest in that subject all over the country. I am 

 glad that you had Mr. Wing to talk to you on alfalfa. I have been on 

 his farm and have seen his alfalfa; he feeds it to his sheep. I have 

 seen corn growing on his land after the alfalfa, and it was certainly 

 looking fine. 



The problem in this timothy region then, including this State, in 

 connection with grasses and forage plants (aside from alfalfa, which J 

 will mention later), is not that of the introduction of ncz(j grasses — it is 

 the problem of better utilizing timothy and red clover and blue grass, 

 and learning how to grow them better. 



In my early boyhood down in Lawrence county, Missouri, I re- 

 member the farmers were then clearing off' the timber and putting in 

 farms. Some of those farms produced pretty good crops. Barnyard 

 manure was not made use of on the old farm where I was raised. T re- 

 member that it used to get so deep around the stable door that tlic 

 horses could not get in and out. But we got very good crops then. I 

 recently purchased a piece of that land down there and am farming it. 

 It used to produce 25 bushels of wheat to the acre, but we considor 

 that it does well now if it produces 12 or 15 bushels to the acre. I re- 

 member that in my early day I never heard a farmer talk about the 

 soil becoming exhausted ; but now I hear a good deal on this subject 

 down there. Every farmer I meet says, "Will, what can you tell us 

 about commercial fertilizers?" Now, I want to tell you all I know about 

 commercial fertilizers. I have experimented a little and learned a great 

 deal and have talked to a great many farmers about the use of com- 



