ALFALFA 



Alfalfa or Lucerne is a member of the great Legume 

 Family and is called by botanists Medicago sativa. It 

 is one of the oldest forage crops, having been known in 

 Persia and Greece centuries before the beginning of the 

 Christian era. It was introduced to the American con- 

 tinent by the Spanish invaders during the sixteenth 

 century and was brought to Texas and California from 

 Mexico and South America during the nineteenth 

 century. It proved so well adapted to the western soils 

 that it rapidly became a staple crop and is now the 

 most important forage plant in the great region west of 

 the Mississippi river. 



The extraordinary value of Alfalfa is to be explained 

 in part by the great length of the roots and their ability, 

 with the aid of nodule-forming bacteria,, to gather free 

 nitrogen from the air. Their deep descent and large 

 extent enable them to get moisture even when the soil 

 surface is dry and their ability to use free nitrogen gives 

 them nutriment for vigorous growth year after year 

 without the renewal of the field. These two factors 

 probably account for the remarkable ability of the plants 

 to send up new shoots when those already grown are cut 

 off, so that six or more crops may be harvested in a single 

 season. Another important element is found in the 

 extraordinary richness of the leaves and stems in pro- 

 tein, this fact giving them great value in feeding stock 

 of almost any kind. 



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