98 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of every institute in Iowa can be secured. This information is to enable 

 us to answer innumerable questions relative to the date, location and pro- 

 gram which are almost daily called for. The co-operation of the officers 

 of each institute will greatly facilitate this work, and will be appreciated 

 by this office. 



CROP SEASON. 



The past season has been quite a contrast to that of 1901; however, 

 we believe the object lessons taught our agricultural people by these ex- 

 tremes, will fully compensate them for any decreased yield of farm prod- 

 ucts. It is our intention to ask some of the leading farmers over the 

 state to contribute a paper for the "Year Book" on "A dry vs. a wet season 

 from the standpoint of the farmer." This will bring out some very inter- 

 seting discussions that should be of much value, in the future, under 

 similar conditions. The crop report for 1902, compiled by the Iowa 

 Weather and Crop Service will be published in the "Year Book" in full. 



THE SILO. 



Considerable space has been given to the discussion of the silo by 

 the agricultural press of the past few months, which would indicate that 

 farmers are seeking information on this subject. Several farmers of the 

 state who have used the silo, have been asked to contribute papers on the 

 silo for the "Year Book." There are men in Iowa who have been using 

 the silo for the past ten or fifteen years, who now say they hardly see how 

 they could get along without it. In the "Year Book" we will publish 

 an experiment conducted at the Illinois Station by Prof. Mumford, on 

 silage for the beef steer, in which he states that there are nine distinct 

 advantages in a system of silage feeding over that of shock corn in win- 

 tering calves intended for beef production, as against three disadvantages. 



ALFALFA FOB IOWA. 



Alfalfa has never been raised in Iowa except in small tracts, and it 

 is a question whether the acreage can be materially increased. I notice 

 by the last report on crops from Nebraska, the tonnage of alfalfa in that 

 state this year is but little less than that of hay. If the acre age in Iowa 

 can be increased there is no question but what those who have soil on 

 which it can be grown will be greatly benefited. It is well known that 

 the soil of this state, as a whole, is not adapted to the growing of alfalfa, 

 but there may be hundreds of acres in Iowa that will produce as good a 

 crop as that of Nebraska. It has been grown successfully for a number 

 of years along the Missouri river bottoms in the western part of the 

 state. Several people from that part of the state have been asked to con- 

 tribute a paper for the "Year Book," and give the public the benefit of 

 their experience. The question of "Successful growing of alfalfa in 

 Iowa," is one that every farmer will have to solve for himself. It would 

 be well worth his time to experiment on a few acres, for there are few 

 crops that will bring the same returns acre for acre. 



