238 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



the orchard on alfalfa sod producing one-third more, 

 and the trees being larger and thriftier, and this despite 

 the fact that the trees not on alfalfa land were given the 

 more fertilizer. In Colorado on alfalfa sod more than 

 i ,000 bushels of potatoes have been grown, and 113 

 bushels of wheat on one acre. In Ohio it is not well to 

 sow oats after alfalfa, since they will lodge, but corn 

 reveling in fertility finds none too much where the alfalfa 

 grew. On the other hand, it is conceivable that continual 

 growing of alfalfa and taking off of all the hay, return- 

 ing neither phosphorus nor potassium to the land, might 

 result, after a time, in a most serious diminution of 

 mineral-element fertility; therefore it is wise in all the 

 eastern states steadily to add to the phosphorus supply 

 of alfalfa soils and to attend to the need of potassium 

 if any need there be. Rightly managed, an alfalfa field 

 is a mine of fertility by which little by little a farm may 

 be redeemed and made rich. If the hay is fed or pas- 

 tured, if the manure is returned and phosphorus is bought 

 as needed, there should be small difficulty in doubling the 

 productiveness of the average farm. 



Feeding Value of Alfalfa Hay. Alfalfa hay, cut at 

 the right time, has about the same nutritive value as oats. 

 It is rich enough so that it can be made into bread and 

 fed to men ; in truth, this has been done. It is a feed 

 especially rich in protein, that material that makes the 

 red flesh and blood, milk and brain and nerve tissue 

 in the body. It has too much protein, in fact, for its 

 fats and carbohydrates. Thus alfalfa hay alone is an 

 unbalanced ration. I have been amused to see* horses 

 and mules running in yards with stacks of alfalfa hay 



