Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



to some extent, and less than in the East, its determined fibrous roots 

 descend to a great depth and it flourishes beyond all expectation." 



In subsequent reports alfalfa was referred to now and then, but it 

 appears that it was not until 1882 that the Board's real campaign for al- 

 falfa in Kansas was systematically begun. In its report of that year, 

 E. M. Shelton, of the Kansas Agricultural College, advocated the sowing 

 of alfalfa, and gave directions believed to be best calculated for success. 

 Among other things he wrote: 



"Alfalfa is a forage plant that well deserves the attention of Kansas 

 farmers. Wherever a soil of good sandy texture is found alfalfa will 

 prove of incalculable benefit." 



In the report of 1883 Professor Shelton was somewhat more emphatic ; 

 thus, in part: 



"In regard to the value of alfalfa for Kansas, we have no hesitation in 

 saying that, all things considered, it is the most valuable clover, especially 

 for the western and southwestern sections of the state. In the south- 

 western portion, along the Arkansas river, where irrigation is practiced, 

 it has proved a most invaluable forage plant." 



To Secretary Martin Mohler belongs the credit of first according to 

 alfalfa a place in the Board's statistical reports, which he did in 1891. In 

 that first census the county of Finney, in the Arkansas river valley and 

 only two counties removed from the Colorado line, had more than twice 

 the alfalfa acreage of any other county, and more than one-fifth of the 

 total for the state; while its neighbors, Gray on the east and Kearny on 

 the west, were also among the leaders at that time. It is in this, the 

 southwestern portion of the state, that alfalfa made greatest headway in 

 the earlier years. 



From 1891 to the present time yearly records have been carefully 

 compiled with respect to the state's alfalfa acreage by counties. These 

 annual inventories constitute a most interesting exhibit in Kansas his- 

 tory, and reveal alfalfa's wonderful growth in popularity from 34,000 

 acres in 1891 to 1,360,000 acres in 1915, with few exceptions showing each 

 year a steady and regular gain. 



The table below gives the total alfalfa acreage in Kansas for each 

 year since the beginning of the crop's statistical record: 



