ALFALFA. 



ALFALFA. 



now come to be one of the most important 

 honey-plants of the j^reat West— especially 

 those arid regions that have to be irrigated. 

 It is grown most extensively in Colorado, 

 Wj'oming, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Kansas, 

 Nebraska, New Mexico, Wasliington, Ore- 

 gon, Idaho, and is now making rapid strides 

 in California, Texas, and other States. 



It has been grown, in an experimental 

 way, in many of tlie Eastern States; but 

 outside of irrigated regions, and some parts 

 of the West not irrigated, it is not known 

 to yield honey to any considerable extent. 

 While it makes an excellent forage-plant in 

 a few localities in the East, permitting from 

 two to four cuttings, it is grown as a hay, 

 particularly in the Western States mention- 

 ed; for there is no other forage-plant that 

 will yield the same value per acre of fodder 

 or hay in the regions that have to be irrigat- 



METHOD OF STACKING ALFALFA HAY. 



ed. It yields anywhere from 3 to 5 tons per 

 acre, and gives from 3 to 5 cuttings to the 

 season, and, luider favorable circumstances, 

 it is even claimed that 6 and 7 have been 

 made. For the best hay it should be cut 

 when the blooming commences; but, unfor- 

 tunately for tlie bee-keeper, this alsocuts off 

 the supply of nectar when it is llowing at its 

 very best; for alfalfa, when in liloom in the 

 irrigated regions, is perhaps the greatest 



honey-plant in the world. But notwith- 

 standing the interests of the bee-keeper, the 

 rjinchers cut their alfalfa just as soon as it 

 begins to bloom, irrespective of the fact 

 that it is ''killing the goose that lays the 

 golden egg " for the bee-keeper. After cut- 

 ting, it is stacked in the open field* in a 

 stack that will run anywhere from 10 to 100 

 tons in capacity. 



As one goes through the irrigated regions 

 of Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, and 

 Colorado, in a Pullman car going at the rate 

 of 50 or 60 miles an hour, he sees hiuidreds 

 and hundreds of such stacks; and where one 

 stack has been cut into, or opened up, he 

 sees not the dull grayish-brown hay of the 

 East, but a beautiful grass-green clover hay; 

 and it seems to keep green, no matter how 

 old it is, provided it is not faded out by the 

 intense sunlight that pours down with such 

 relentless fury on the Great Amer- 

 ican Desert. But it is only the 

 top layers that are faded. A few 

 inches below, the hay is of the 

 beautiful green color. 



The irrigation needed to grow it 

 for forage makes the crop almost 

 certain; and those bee-keepers lo- 

 cated in the vicinity of alfalfa- 

 growing can rely almost as certain- 

 ly on a crop of honey, the very fin- 

 est, richest, thickest in the world. 

 Of all the honey we have ever tast- 

 ed we know of nothing, not even 

 clover (which hns formerly held the 

 first rank), that can equal it. It 

 runs from 12 to 13 lbs. to the gal- 

 lon, while most eastern honeys run 

 from 11 to 12 lbs. This heaviness 

 of body is due to the dryness of the 

 atmosphere in which it grows; for 

 where alfalfa nourishes at its best, 

 hives made of the best seasoned 

 white pine will shiink and twist 

 and check in a manner that is 

 truly astonishing to a " tender- 

 foot." A light dry atmosphere a 

 mile above the level of the sea, in 

 the regions of Denver, almost en- 

 tirely devoid of dews and frosts, a cloudless 

 sky, occasional hot winds, a bright sun that 

 pours down, unobstructed by cloud or mist, 

 causes every thing to dry up, and even honey 

 to thicken— so much so that it is difficult to 

 throw it out of combs with the best extract- 

 ors. Indeed, we found that some bee-keep- 



*In the irrigated regions it scarcely ever rains, and 

 tlieref ore great barns for the storage of the hay are 

 not necessary. 



