164 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



3-4 EDWARD VII., A. 1904 



well in many localities where it had been thought previously that this most valuable 

 clover would not grow. It is also most important that the land should be in the con- 

 dition known by farmers as ' good heart,' that is, fit to grow a good crop of an ordinary 

 fann crop. I feel confident that this fodder plant, which is of such immense import- 

 ance in the semi-arid districts of the western States, both on ordinary farm land and 

 under irrigation, is worthy of a much more extensive trial in the North-west and 

 Manitoba than up to the present it has received. This, to a large measure, is also the 

 case with the other well known clovers so extensively cultivated in the East, but which 

 are considered out of the question as farm crops on prairie farms. All of these clovers 

 may be found in many places along railway banks throughout the West, and, where 

 they have been tried on farms, although the general result has been considered a fail- 

 ure, still there are many plants persisting and in some places increasing slowly year 

 by year. It is now well known that the satisfactory cultivation of clovers is much 

 affected by tlie presence of bacteria-containing nodules upon the roots, and that, if tliese 

 be present in the soil, the vigour of the plant is much increased. This increase takes 

 place more and more every year when clovers are grown upon new soil, the original 

 bacteria, adjusting themselves to the clovers from nodules on roots of native leguminous 

 plants, or, possibly, being carried with the seed. White Clover is thoroughly established 

 in the streets of Winnipeg and some other Manitoban towns, where it is sown to crowd 

 out coarse weeds along the boulevards and in the streets. This plant grows well also 

 at Regina, Calgary, and many other places. Mr. Bedford, the superintendent of the 

 Manitoba Experimental Earm, writes : — ' On this farm, when sown without a nurse crop, 

 Alfalfa, Common Red, Mammoth Red, Alsike and White Dutch Clovers form robust 

 plants by fall, and do not fail to pass the winter successfully. I sow in spring without 

 a grain crop, because, when sown with grain, alfalfa and other clovers, but particularly 

 alfalfa, have been winter-killed, the roots produced during the first year being small 

 and short. I have grown alfalfa since 1887.' 



When travelling through the North-west Territories, I have frequently come across 

 farmers who have small patches of alfalfa, some of these of three or four years' standing, 

 and Mr. T. N. Willing, of Regina, who, as Provincial Weed Inspector, has exceptional 

 opportunities of seeing what crops are grown on farms in all parts of the North-west 

 Territories, and who, as a practical farmer, is well able to judge the value of crops, 

 writes : — ' I am sorry to say I am not aware of any one who is conspicuously successful 

 with alfalfa on a large scale, although many have tried small patches, which have 

 apparently given most promising results. Mr. W. Stevens, of Cloverbar, near Edmon- 

 ton, has a patch in its second season, which wintered perfectly; when mowed at the 

 end of July it was between three and four feet high and gave a crop estimated at from 

 three to three and a half tons. Near Battleford, the late Mr. Laurie sowed alfalfa 

 about 1884; the season was dry, but the plants struggled on in spite of drought and 

 gophers; the farm was subsequently abandoned, but in 1900, the alfaKa area was still 

 clearly defined and proved attractive to the cattle. Mr. Laurie was satisfied that this 

 would have done well, had he been able to care for it better. A man near Boscurvis 

 has grown alfalfa for three yeai's, and it has constantly improved. Near Prince 

 Albert it was grown for five years by Mr. Acorn, but was then killed out by a late 

 spring frost.' 



In view of what I myself have seen in the North-west, and of statements made by 

 farmers who have tried it upon small areas, I have thought it wise to recommend 

 farmers in the West to test alfalfa more thoroughly, doing so on small areas and sowing 

 in sfA-ing at the rate of from fifteen to twenty pounds to the acre, without any nurse 

 crop and upon land which had been summer-fallowed the year before. The first year 

 all that would be necessary, would be to mow the weeds. If, in districts where there is 

 a little more moisture than is found on the open prairies, it was thought desirable to 

 mix with the aKalf a or clover any grass, decidedly the best kinds for this purpose would 

 be the Awnless Brome or the Western Rye-grass, which might be mixed in the pro- 

 portion of ten pounds of alfalfa to six pounds of the grass seed. Awnless Brome does 



