560 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



single season three or four cuttings, which produce four to six tons of 

 hay per acre; it has a high feeding value and it enriches the soil. Well- 

 drained and rich soil is essential for this crop and the best results are 

 generally secured by seeding in late summer, from the 5th to the 15th 

 of August, at the rate of fifteen to twenty pounds of seed to the acre. 

 However, spring seeding proves successful in many cases, especially on 

 the loess soils, fully described later. 



When the rack i.- iim im- luaut-i i^ m iin.ii. u iicm the wagon 



Four years ago. Captain Smith undertook to grow alfalfa on the rolling 

 loess soil on his farm in Woodbury county. Forty acres of land were 

 heavily manured, especially on the top of the hills. The alfalfa was 

 seeded about the middle of April, without a nurse crop, at the rate of 

 fifteen to eighteen pounds per acre. The soil was not inoculated. A per- 

 fect stand of alfalfa was secured. One year after seeding, this forty-acre 

 field pastured 300 hogs during the entire grazing season and yielded three 

 cuttings of splendid hay. A total crop of over four tons of hay per acre 

 on land which pastured eight hogs per acre, during the season! The al- 

 falfa grew luxuriantly on every portion of the field; the hay was cut and 

 handled in such a way as to save the leaves and was fed during the 

 winter to two hundred fattening cattle, with the best results. 



Captain Smith is known as one of Iowa's most successful cattle feeders. 

 He states that with corn and alfalfa hay he can secure the very best 

 results in his cattle-feding operations, and he finds it much more profit- 

 able to grow and feed alfalfa than to balance his com ration with bran, 

 oil meal, cottonseed meal or other high-priced nitrogenous feedstuffs. 



Iowa is a land of opportunity for the stock man. And where in all 

 the world are conditions more favorable for this great industry? Splendid 

 bluegrass pastures, immense crops of corn, oats, barley, clover, timothy 

 and alfalfa, six great lines of railroads extending across the state and 

 capable of delivering train loads of stock in Chicago within a few hours 

 after the cars are loaded. Exceedingly favorable climatic conditions 

 and breeding stock which is unsurpassed in quality are the factors which 

 cause this state to abound in opportunities for breeding pure-bred live 

 stock and for finishing all classes of stock for the greatest market in the 

 world. 



The same factors which contribute to the success of the live stock 

 industry of the state make Iowa an ideal dairy region. The northern 

 and northeastern parts of the state are usually designated the dairy 

 districts; but the largest amount of increase of creamery made butter, 



