662 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



cess likely because little was known of its habit of growth or of the 

 best way of handling the crop. Later it is recorded that both Washing- 

 ton and Jefferson grew this forage crop on their own farms. During the 

 Spanish invasion alfalfa was carried into Mexico and then northward 

 into Texas and California. Here again it seems to have been neglected 

 and it remained for the Americans ultimately to develop this wonderful 

 plant. 



BROUGHT INTO CALIFORNIA FROM CHILI. 



This happened soon after the California gold discoveries in 1848. Some 

 of the gold hunters who made the trip to California by water around 

 South America, rStopped by the wayside in Chili and there found luxurious 

 fields of alfalfa. They carried small quantities of this seed to California 

 in 1854, where it gained a firm foothold, until in a very few years there 

 were vast acreages of alfalfa supporting thousands of cattle, horses and 

 sheep. Apparently the climatic and soil conditions of California were al- 

 most ideal and the crop thrived under the care of the American farmers. 



Its rapid introduction into other western states followed and was 

 probably in large measure due to the scattering of California gold seekers 

 who had become familiar with this wonderful crop. For many years it 

 was supposed that alfalfa could be grown successfully in the western 

 states only, and here its growth soon became very general. It was not 

 until many years after it was grown extensively as far east as Ne- 

 braska, that the farmers of the Mississippi valley and eastward con- 

 sidered it adaptable to their conditions, or of value in competition with 

 their other crops. During the past few years alfalfa adaptability to 

 many soils and climes has been recognized and now many acres of it 

 may be found as far north as Minnesota and the Dakotas, and as far 

 east as New York and the New England states. Wherever dairy regions 

 are found its acreage is rapidly increasing. 



In Iowa alfalfa history is very brief. The crop in this state was of so 

 little value prior to 1905, as to have been omitted from the state crop 



Fig-. 8. — This plot yielded 5.05 tons per acre in 1909, and 5.21 tons in 

 1910. 



