124 



Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



AVERAGE YIELD OF SEED. 



The average yield of alfalfa seed in the state of Kansas, according 

 to the growers reporting, is 4.2 bushels per acre. The average yield per 

 acre in the western third of the state is 3.7 bushels, in the central third 

 3.9 bushels, and in the eastern third 5.1 bushels. The United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture estimated that in 1909 the total production of 

 alfalfa seed in the United States was 2,063,828 bushels, crediting Kansas 

 with 49,754 bushels. Kansas ranked second as an alfalfa-seed producer 

 according to those figures, Utah being first, with 51,812 bushels. Ne- 

 braska was third, with 31,408 bushels. 



Climatic variations cause very great fluctuations in the size of Kansas' 

 annual alfalfa seed crop,, however. In dry seasons like 1901, 1911 or 1913 

 a large surplus is produced and considerable quantities are shipped out 

 of the state. In a normal year not a great deal is shipped away, because 

 Kansas herself, with her constantly increasing acreage and replanting, 

 consumes large quantities every year. In seasons of heavy rainfall at 

 time of seeding, the alfalfa seed crop is not of sufficient size to meet 

 home demands, and it is necessary to import seed from other states, and 

 even from foreign countries. 



RECLEANING SEED. 



Eighty-two per cent of the growers report that it is their custom 

 carefully to reclean seed before harvesting. Most of the hullers on the 

 market to-day are equipped with recleaning attachments, but where seed 

 is threshed with a machine not so equipped, a good fanning mill, costing 

 approximately $25, will be found a profitable investment. 



FIG. 118. Recleaning alfalfa seed before marketing. It pays to take out the foreign seeds 

 and the dirt. [Courtesy U. S. Department of Agriculture.] 



