36 CLOVER CULTURE. 



what cannot be grown successfully, whether of grain or grass, 

 liave not been fully determined. It is quite clear that corn 

 <cannot be depended upon as a pay ing crop, and the same is 

 true, as a rule, of the clovers and other grasses grown farther 

 east. The experience of farmers has already determined their 

 unprofitableness except in certain favored localities. 



With these important crops stricken from the list, the 

 entire aspect of farming changes. Other crops suited to the 

 <climatic conditions must be found, and even the methods of 

 work to which the farmer has been accustomed in other lo- 

 calities and under other conditions, materially changed. 

 There is no plant that gives promise of greater usefulness to 

 the farmers of that region than alfalfa, and with a view to giv- 

 ing our readers the most reliable information on the subject 

 we have requested Prof. Georgeson, of the Kansas Agricul- 

 tural College, to contribute to these pages the results of his 

 valuable experience and observation, which he has kindly 

 consented to do in the following: 



As has been noted elsewhere, alfalfa is a perennial plant. It sends its 

 srootsdeep into the ground, and once established in a suitable soil, it will 

 .yield profitable crops for an indefinite number of years. Because of its 

 deep rooting nature, it is less dependent upon the rainfall than almost any 

 -other farm crop. Its wonderful roots, which in some instances have been 

 traced thirty feet deep, reaching down far below the influence of loca 

 showers and the solar heat,- and pumping up moisture from below, sus 

 tain the plant in periods of drouth. This feature is greatly in favor of 

 alfalfa for that region But what is more to the point, it has been proved 

 4o be a success both with and without irrigation in this semi-arid region 

 with irrigation producing magnificent yields, and on the uplands withou* 

 irrigation, producing an occasional good crop of hay, and at all times bet 

 ter pasture than the native grasses afford. In Kansas there are instance 

 of its successful culture in nearly every one of the western counties. 

 Particularly is this the case in Ford and Finney counties, where efforts in 

 this direction have been more persistent than elsewhere. Along the Ar 

 Jkansas valley in these counties it grows to perfection. 



The prospect of alfalfa growing in the West may be studied under three 

 conditions. First, under irrigation. This aspect of the case requires but 

 little notice here. With irrigation, whether on upland or lowland, it is 

 one of the surest as well as one of the most profitable crops that can be 

 raised, and its successful Culture is not at all problemati *al. 



Second, on the lowlands without irrigation. Under this condition it is 

 also grown successfully, as is testified by thousands of acres now in alfalfa 

 in western Kansas. But the success, that is, the yield, varies with the 

 situation. A very large proportion of the bottom lands in that reorion 

 have a porous, sandy subsoil, through which the water of the streams 

 percolate with ease for long distances, forming what i< known as "sheet 

 water." This water is, in some places, very near the surface, in others it 

 is ten, twelve, or more feet betow. On such lands, where the roots pene- 

 trate with ease to the water, alfalfa is successfully grown without irriga- 

 tion. 



Third, on uplands and without irrigation. It is especially this aspect 

 -of the case that commands our attention, because, at best, but a small 

 fraction of the country is made up of valley lands of the above character. 



