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E. M. BRECKENRIDGE 

 ". . . The benefits accomplished through 

 organization in a state and national way 

 have been of most value. . . ." 



i# T first glance you may 



^ ^ JA> 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 F-. M. Breckcnridge 

 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. "VC'hile away from the 

 farm from 1907-'! 1, I made a study of 

 alfalfa, and on my return in 1912 I 

 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 Pavs 



On 



This Farm 



September ft. VC'e moculated tiie 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 .^5 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 tlic farm 

 has been covered twice with limestone, 

 using two to two and one-half tons per 

 acre. Until the spring of 193 i when the 

 drouth hurt us, I was able to get a 

 good stand of alfalfa. This sjumg 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 H" now. 

 This time I tried emmer or speltz as 

 the nurse crop because it is less kafy 

 and stands up better. I plan to have it 

 combined so as to avoid the d.unaL'e 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 hardv variety 

 of seed - preferably Grimm anil 



MRS. BRECKENRIDGE 

 Hers are the flo^wers and garden. 



covcrmg the seed as quickly as 

 possible Givi 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 Breiken 

 ridge farm, with some variation, is as 

 follows; barley as a nurse <r<ip 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 uniicr the fol 

 lowing spring for corn. Iliis rotation 

 has been changed to mtx-t moisture conJi 

 tions. More recently soybeans have been 

 worked into the rotation. Brc\kcnridge 

 follows the practice of seeding one field 

 of alfalfa annually, the fields varying 

 from nine to 1 '; acres. He has had good 

 success with Idaho seid sowing from 17 

 to 1 ') pounils [xr a<. re 



( attle and lambs purchased tlirough 

 the < hicago Producers Commission As 

 sociation are relicvl on to make profitable 

 use of the alfalfa, corn and roughaires 

 produced on the Breckenridge farm. 



(( ii<:::i:lnJ >»! .1 .-. . .' ~J 



THE BRECKENRIDGE HOMESTEAD 

 One of Winnebago's Most Attractive. 



ONE SILO IN 1913. THE OTHER IN IS 

 The buildings got SOYOIL in the fall of '35. 



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