THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



61 



alfa increases the fertility of the land and 

 improves its physical condition, making 

 stiff soils mellow and binding loose soils. 

 Kansas farmers need alfalfa for increasing 

 the yield of their other crops. 



Alfalfa is adapted to a wide range of 

 soils and climate. It will makc'the greatest 

 growth on rich, well-drained bottom land, 

 where the subsoil, while not sand or gravel, 

 is porous. It has been grown for years on 

 the farm of the Kansas State Agricultural 

 College on high upland, where the sub- 

 soil is stiff hard pan, and where it is 180 

 feet to water. The yield on this land 

 averages more than three tons per acre per 

 year. On better land fc the yield is four to 

 six tons per acre per year. 



Alfalfa will not grow in wetland, nor on 

 land subject to overflow. On the College 

 farm, a part of one field has only four feet 

 of soil and then solid rock. In ordinary 

 years fair crops are raised on this part of 

 the field. In drought the yield is light, 

 but the alfalfa lives, ready to grow with 

 vigor as soon as rain comes. 



Many farmers in eastern Kansas have 

 tried to grow alfalfa and have failed, and 

 the general impression is that alfalfa is not 

 a suitable crop for that section of the 

 state. The failures are due to improper 

 methods of seeding or to wrong treatment 

 after seeding. Secretary Coburn. in his 

 recently published book on Alfalfa, shows 

 that alfalfa is a profitable crop in thirty- 

 one states and territories. It grows suc- 

 cessfully in such widely different soils and 

 climates as that of California and Wash- 

 ington, and Delaware and New Jersey; 

 Idaho and Montana, and Louisiana and 

 Georgia. Secretary Coburn shows that 

 the annual yield per acre in New Jersey 

 has a feed value equal to six tons of bran; 

 that in Montana fields sixteen years old 

 are now yielding good crops, and that in 

 Louisiana six cuttings are made annually. 

 With this showing, farmers in eastern 

 Kansas should not be afraid of alfalfa not 

 succeeding with them. We have found a 



yield of six tons per acre in a single sea- 

 son in Jackson county, where the best 

 farmers believed it could not grow. From 

 careful investigations made during the 

 past five years, we are convinced that 

 ninety per cent, of the tillable land of east- 

 ern Kansas is adapted to growing alfalfa. 

 It does not live long on sandy soils, and 

 should not be sown on any soil that is not 

 in good condition. 



On most farms in eastern Kansas fall- 

 sown alfalfa, seeded on well drained land, 

 will grow well and will yield profitable 

 crops. It is a profitable crop for both 

 bottom and upland. Experiment Station 

 Bulletin, Kansas State Agricultural Col- 

 lege. 



THE PRODUCTION AND DELIVERY 

 OF MILK IN CITIES. 



By A. W. BITTING, D. V., M. D. 

 Of all the food materials in general use 

 none are more wholesome than milk. It 

 is palatable, easily digestible, and highly 

 nutritious. This is partially recognized 

 by physicians in that they prescribe it 

 freely as the best article of diet for the 

 weak and sick patients suffering from al- 

 most all forms of disease. While milk 

 can not be made an exclusive food for the 

 adult as for the child, its real value is lit- 

 tle appreciated by the well. Its use is 

 largely that of a condiment for seasoning 

 tea and coffee, for berries or fruit, and as 

 an adjunct to the cooking. Very few use 

 it as a staple article of food as bread or 

 meat. In cities it is generally regarded as 

 being too expensive to be used freely. 

 When a family of four or five have a milk 

 bill for more than a quart a day they con- 

 sider that they are somewhat extravagant. 

 The facts in the case are, that a quart of 

 milk contains essentially the same amount 

 of nutrient material as three-fourths of a 

 pound of steak. The milk has the further 

 advantage in that it is practically wholly 

 digestible, while the steak is rendered less 

 digestible by the process of cooking. Upon 



