552 Report of the Department of Animal Husbandry of the 



stocJ^. Three or more cuttings can be had in a season. It fur- 

 nishes a fodder rich in nitrogenous matter, and is well consti- 

 tuted to supplement our great fodder crop, Indian corn, which 

 is, both in the grain and entire plant, somewhat lacking in this 

 essential class of constitutents. 



Alfalfa has proved a reliable crop at this Station for several 

 years, although on soil apparently not best suited to it, and, while 

 not hardy enough to endure the winters of some portions of the 

 State, it has never been winter-killed here except on small areas 

 where water remained on the surface over little depressions of 

 the field. 



HiSTOEY. 



This plant, under the name of lucerne, is said to have been 

 introduced into New York State nearly eighty years ago, but 

 its value was apparently recognized by very few until alfalfa, 

 which was brought into California from South America thirty 

 years later, proved such a marked success in the West. Possibly 

 this was because the alfalfa, early taken to Mexico, from there 

 carried to western South America, finally to California, and from 

 there elsewhere, became more thoroughly acclimated; for the 

 alfalfa from the West is said to be hardier and to grow larger than 

 the lucerne from Europe. 



Alfalfa, or lucerne [Medicago sativa), is probably a native of 

 the valleys of western central Asia, and has been in cultivation 

 for a long time. It was introduced into Greece by the Persians 

 in 490 B. C. It was highly esteemed and largely grown by the 

 Romans, and later cultivated by the natives of southern Europe. 

 It was, in the time of the conquest, carried by the Spaniards into 

 Mexico under the Arabic name of alfalfa, the one then commonly 

 used in Spain. 



Characteristics. 



Alfalfa is a perennial — the root living many years. The an- 

 nual upright and branching stems when cut do not sprout, 

 but die back to the crown, where new shoots start and grow 

 rapidly. TTie roots extend much deeper than those of most 

 plants, and alfalfa is, therefoire, not obliged to feed altogether 



