366 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



circular on the prairie-dog situation which describes the methods of 

 eradication. This circular will be sent free on application. (See "Prairie 

 Dog," in index.) 



THE MOLE. 



Since the diet of moles consists almost entirely of various insects, 

 grubs and worms found in the soil, and scarcely of any vegetable matter 

 at all, and since the near-surface roots of alfalfa interfere with the work 

 of burrowing, moles are not usually abundant in alfalfa fields. However, 

 the mounds thrown up by gophers are frequently mistaken for the work of 

 moles. 



I like to say something for alfalfa, for it has made me thousands of 

 dollars. A Barber county correspondent. 



We have learned some expensive alfalfa lessons during the past winter. 

 The trouble is that we like it too well. We appreciate its unexcelled 

 feeding value, and it breaks our heart to keep the hungry cows and pigs 

 away from it. It looks like a shameful waste to leave five or six inches 

 of growth in the field when there are hungry cattle and hogs in the barn. 

 So we cut a late fall hay crop, or turn the stock into it, and the next year, 

 likely as not, do without. It is a dear price to pay for that last crop or 

 that last month's pasturage. We will learn to appreciate alfalfa more, 

 perhaps, by doing without it this year, and maybe we will take to heart 

 the lesson we have learned. Prairie Farmer. 



I regard alfalfa as the product necessary to make this western portion 

 of the state a prosperous stock-raising locality. It is a feed that can be 

 fed profitably to horses, to cattle, to hogs and to sheep. Because of the 

 valleys with streams of running water, and the shallow-water localities, 

 the western tier of counties is well suited to its growth. Alfalfa, to- 

 gether with the large acreage of grass land which furnishes pasture, will 

 make this western part of Kansas a successful and prosperous part of the 

 state for raising and feeding horses, cattle, hogs and sheep, because we 

 have not only the best kind of a climate in which to care for the crop, 

 but also we have the best kind of winters in which to feed the stock. 

 A Sherman county correspondent. 



Economy of soil fertility demands that a gross-feeding crop like alfalfa 

 be fed at home and ^iot sold as hay. Perhaps in the course of years 

 alfalfa hay will become plentiful enough even in the corn belt to make its 

 sale unprofitable. That would be a good thing for the land. In the 

 meantime some figuring on its utilization at home is in order. No man 

 is in a better position to make money feeding alfalfa hay than the man 

 who grows it. It should be worth as much to him as to anybody else. 

 Since he gets it without baling and transportation cost, he has a big 

 advantage. A crop of hay worth $50 to $75 per acre, and sometimes 

 even $100, looks like easy money, but if it can be fed to stock, and make 

 gains worth that much, there is the cash return and the valuable manure 

 besides. Breeder's Gazette. 



