16 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



central parts, the average number of cuttings is four. Eighteen counties 

 in the north-central part of the state, representing 20 per cent of the 

 total acreage, average three and one-half cuttings. It may be stated, in 

 a general way, that the average number of cuttings of alfalfa hay in 

 Kansas is four. However, in favorable years or in specially favored 

 locations the average number of cuttings as reported may be exceeded. 

 On the other hand, certain conditions may in some instances cause the 

 number to fall below the average. Figure 10 and the table on page 19 

 give more specific information about the number of cuttings. 



TOTAL YIELDS. 



Yields vary from year to year and from place to place. , Soil, climate 

 and altitude have far-reaching effects. The average yearly yield of 

 alfalfa in Kansas is 3.72 tons per acre. The average yield in the eastern 

 third of the state is 3.95 tons, in the central third 3.60 tons, and in the 

 western third 3.17 tons per acre. The apparently high yield in the 

 western part of the state is accounted for in the fact that nearly all of 

 the alfalfa grown there is grown in valleys, where the water table is 

 near to the surface and a maximum amount of sunshine is had, and in 

 the fact that practically all of the state's irrigated alfalfa is found 

 there. A study of the data at hand reveals the information that counties 

 through which the Arkansas river flows uniformly show higher yields 

 than the counties adjoining. The same thing is true, in a measure, with 

 counties along the other important streams. 



Forty-three per cent of the alfalfa acreage is found in the eastern 

 third of the state, or 584,371 acres; 49.6 per cent, or 674,387 acres, in 

 the central third ; and 7.4 per cent, or 100,699 acres, in the western third. 

 The state's total acreage is 1,359,457. Applying the above average yields 

 to these acreages, we have a production of 319,215 tons in the western 

 third, of 2,427,793 tons in the central third, and of 2,308,265 tons in the 

 eastern third, representing 6.30, 48.01 and 45.64 per cent, respectively, of 

 the total aggregate annual yield of 5,057,180 tons. 



YIELDS BY CUTTINGS. 



The average yield of the first cutting, for the state, is 1.25 tons. It 

 varies from .9 of a ton in some of the western counties to 1.5 tons in 

 some of the eastern counties. However, the yield is remarkably uniform 

 throughout the state, gradually shading from 1.3 tons in the eastern part 

 to about 1.1 in the western part. The second cutting yields from .7 of a 

 ton in an extreme western county to 1.2 tons in the east, averaging .98 of a 

 ton for the state as a whole. The third cutting averages .82 of a ton, 

 the fourth cutting .63 of a ton, and the fifth cutting .53 of a ton. 



