40 CL,OVER CUI/TURE. 



be hard indeed. But this need not happen. They have already discov- 

 ered that land which has been in alfalfa far out yields adjoining land of 

 equal original fertility. An-1 I already hear of instances where compar- 

 atively young alfalfa fields are broken up to be followed with wheat be 

 cause of the increased yields they afford. This is right and should be 

 encouraged. While permanent and exclusive stock farms with alfalfa the 

 main if not the only crop will of course be numerous, and while stock 

 raising must always be a prominent feature of agriculture in that region^ 

 the vast majority of the farmers must ensrage more or less in mixed hus- 

 bandry. They must grow wheat, barley, oats, Kaffir corn and such other 

 crops as will prove to be certain and profitable, and this system leads to 

 certain exhaustion of the soil and consequent ruin of the farmer^ unless 

 some renovating crop keeps up the balance of fertility. Eastward clover 

 is that crop; in the West alfalfa can and doubtless will take the same 

 function, if not exactly in the same manner at least with the same result. 



The above from Prof. Georgeson so completely covers- 

 the ground in the territory and under the conditions indicat- 

 ed that every reader who knows the character of his soil and 

 subsoil can determine with reasonable accuracy at once 

 whether it will pay him to grow alfalfa. We have recently 

 made a careful personal investigation of the conditions in the 

 territory indicated, and our observations coincide with the 

 conclusions ofjProf. Georgeson in every particulci. It is our 

 object to make this work a reliable guide to the farmer in 

 growing clovers best adapted to his own particular soil and 

 climate; and for this reason we have supplemented our own 

 studies and observations with the experience of other men 

 who have made the growing of the clovers a matter of special 

 study and experiment in the several sections of the West. 

 We have no doubt that there are very considerable areas of 

 country east and south of the district indicated in which it 

 will pay to grow alfalfa without irrigation. In fact, subject 

 to the conditions of subsoil indicated by Prof. Georgeson, we 

 believe it may be regarded as a maxim that where clover 

 ends, alfalfa begins. The Creator has made no mistake in 

 providing leguminous plants for every country where he in- 

 tended the farmer to prosper. 



In traveling over Kansas and Nebraska for the special 

 study of the problem of growing the clovers, we were im- 

 pressed by the failures of many alfalfa growers because of the 

 lack of reliable information as to the best methods of grow- 

 ing alfalfa, under their present conditions. With a view of 

 giving the reader of the far West definite and reliable informa- 

 tion on this point we requested Prof. C. I/. lugersoll, of the 

 Nebraska State University to contribute to these pages the 

 results of his wide observation and special studies on the sub- 

 ject of al fil fa under irrigation. Prof. Ingersoll has special 



