into California in 1854. Since then and from there it has spread 

 with amazing rapidity all through the Western States. Why? Be- 

 cause lime is most abundant in those soils. 



The Oldest Alfalfa Section in the U. S. 



| v More than a hundred and fifty years ago the colonists tried to 

 grow alfalfa in the Eastern States. It never succeeded. The soil 

 was sour. ^They did not know^about liming at that time. The 



Fig. 19. The blue litmus paper turns pink when placed in contact 

 with acid soil. 



only place in the East where alfalfa was a success in' the early days 

 was Syracuse, New York. Records show that the crop has been 

 grown there successfully for more than a hundred years. Why? 

 Because it is in the heart of a limestone-soil area. 



Alfalfa Easy to Grow with Limed Soil 



|J Some farmers grow alfalfa successfully with no more effort than 

 is necessary for timothy. They happen to have natural alfalfa soil 

 meaning soil containing a goodly supply of limestone carbonates and 

 having good drainage. 



All our soils contain lime. They must have lime to support plant 

 growth. But many soils cannot provide a sufficient amount of this 

 necessary plant food for such a lime-hungry plant as alfalfa. Lime 

 on some soils will act as an actual fertilizer for alfalfa, but on most 

 soils it serves principally as the great neutralizer of those soil acids 

 which make the land sour and the alfalfa yellow and sickly. 



Rich Land may be too Sour to Grow Best Alfalfa 



I have met many farmers who have said: "My land isn't sour 

 why, it's all upland. It grows sweet grass, like red top and timothy. 

 It grows good corn and potatoes. It's rich land worth $150 an 

 acre. It's not marsh land. Haven't any sour slough grass growing 

 on the farm!" (See Fig. 26.) 



They forget that corn, oats, potatoes, red top and alsike clover 

 will produce well on a soil much too sour to grow a crop of alfalfa 

 successfully. And it is often true that muck soils which grow the 



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