County, 



E. M. BRECEENRIDGE 

 ". . . Tha benefits accomplished through 

 organisation in a state and national way 

 hare been oi most value. . . 



jl T first glance you may 

 -X C think that a fine set of 

 ^^^ / farm buildings has little or 

 nothing to do with limestone, alfalfa 

 and efficient livestock production. 

 There are other things that count heavily, 

 of course, in making the farm pay. 

 But out on the E. M. Breckenridge 

 farm in Winnebago county there is a 

 close relationship between alfalfa and 

 profitable farming. The higher income 

 resulting from a combination of intel- 

 ligent soil treatment, alfalfa, crop 

 rotation and livestock feeding have 

 largely made possible the beautiful 

 buildings on this farm. 



Breckenridge is modest about his 

 work. "I have done nothing out of the 

 reach of anyone who will make the 

 effort," he said. "While away from the 

 farm from 1907-'ll, I made a study of 

 alfalfa, and on my return in 1912 1 

 made my first attempt at growing this 

 wonderful crop. 



"At that time many were seeding in 

 the fall, and by the time I got my field 

 covered with limestone, the seed bed 

 thoroughly prepared and seeded, it was 



Alfalfa Pays 



On 



This Fami 



September 6. We inoculated the field 

 with the soil taken from a sweet clover 

 patch along the road. The young plants 

 made a nice growth but not enough to 

 live through winter. The field had to 

 be prepared and seeded again. The next 

 spring we sowed the alfalfa with a 

 light seeding of barley for the nurse 

 crop. This time I had a beautiful stand 

 of alfalfa besides a yield of 35 bushels 

 of barley per acre. 



"From that time I have made a 

 practice of sowing in the spring with a 

 light seeding of barley. All of the farm 

 has been covered twice with limestone, 

 using two to two and one-half tons per 

 acre. Until the spring of 1934 when the 

 drouth hurt us, I was able to get a 

 good stand of alfalfa. This spring I 

 had four tons per acre of limestone 

 spread on an eleven-acre field. We 

 have a fine stand of alfalfa on this 

 piece which will measure 6 to 8" now. 

 This time I tried emmer or speltz as 

 the nurse crop because it is less leafy 

 and stands up better. I plan to have it 

 combined so as to avoid the damage of 

 grain shocks on the new seeding. 



"Any success I have had in growing 

 alfalfa I attribute to liming the fields, 

 thorough preparation of the seed bed, 

 seed inoculation, using a hardy variety 

 of seed — preferably Grimm — and 



MRS. BRECEENRIDGE 

 Hers are the flowers and garden. 



covering the seed as quickly as 

 possible. Give alfalfa the things it 

 needs: a sweet soil, a well-drained 

 field, thorough preparation of the seed 

 bed and inoculation ■ — and alfalfa is 

 not a hard crop to grow." 



The crop rotation used on the Breck«i- 

 ridge farm, with some variation, is as 

 follows: barley as a nurse crop seeded 

 with alfalfa followed by two years of 

 alfalfa hay, then two crops of corn fol- 

 lowed by barley again, winter wheat, and 

 sweet clover to be plowed under the fol- 

 lowing spring for com. This rotation 

 has been changed to meet moisture condi- 

 tions. More recently soybeans have been 

 worked into the rotation. Breckenridge 

 follows the practice of seeding one field 

 of alfalfa annually, the fields varying 

 from nine to 19 acres. He has had good 

 success with Idaho seed sowing from 17 

 to 19 pounds pier acre. 



Cattle and lambs purchased through 

 the Chicago Producers Commission As- 

 sociation are relied on to make profitable 

 use of the alfalfa, corn and roughages 

 produced on the Breckenridge farm. 



(Continued on page 1'') 



THE BRECEENRIDGE HOMESTEAD 

 One of Winnebogo's Most AttractiT*. 



ONE SILO Df I9I3. THE OTHER IN IS 

 The buildings got SOYOIL in the iall of "SS. 



