TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK- PART X 497 



As before stated, it is sound policj^ to manage the floclv so it will not 

 deteriorate into a lot of old, worn-out ewes, and with due care this can 

 be avoided. A well-bred and good young flock must always have a far 

 higher value than one in which several of its members have passed the 

 prime. 



THE GROWING OF ALFALFA: ITS COST AND VALUE. 



ir. II. DU.XCAX, SEATOX, ILL. 



Before Louisa County Farmers Institute. 



You know we Americans have the habit of asking the cost or value 

 of an article or structure, in which we are interested or amazed at. And 

 so it is with this subject of Alfalfa. We certainly are interested, and may 

 be slightly amazed before I get through. 



Alfalfa is new to us here yet. Is still in the experimental stage. But 

 is gaining new territory very rapidly, and in ten years from now, it will 

 be a common sight in every community, laecause of it's rapid progress and 

 coming value to us as a feed and fertilizer. 



ALFALFA VS. CLOVER. 



As you all know clover has been our mission to the soil in saving it 

 from destruction. And also giving returns as a forage crop. And in this 

 respect alfalfa and clover are similar, as a feed and fertilizer, but alfalfa 

 has the advantage in both. As a feed, a ton of alfalfa is worth one and 

 one-half tons of clover. Some estimate it worth two tons of clover. And 

 as a fertilizer, alfalfa corn ground yields from twelve to twenty bushels 

 per acre more than clover corn ground. They are different in that alfalfa 

 is a perennial plant, growing for a number of years without reseeding 

 while clover is a biennial plant, only growing for two years without re- 

 seeding. The root system is different with both. Alfalfa has a tap root 

 system; large roots penetrating deep into the soil; while clover has a 

 fiberous root system feeding nearer the surface. 



They used to say that alfalfa was an arid or semi-arid plant, and grew 

 best in that region, but they have broadened that statement, or we are 

 included in that region or the plant has outgrown its territory, for it has 

 been found to grow on any productive soils in the United States; it grows 

 well in Texas on the south, California on the west, Canada on the north, 

 Virginia on the east; so we see the wide territory that it covers, and no 

 reason for not growing it successfully here. 



Now since we see the vast territory it covers, the different soils that 

 produce it, and the various climate condition it grows in; we should have 

 no doubt as to its success here. And in looking for a patch of ground to 

 grow it on, consider the convenience or the fertility improvement. 



Having selected our ground, we are ready for the start. The first thing 

 to be done is to manure the ground well before we work it any. The 

 value of manure has been thoroughly tested; of great value to the start- 

 ing alfalfa. 

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