Alfalfa Culture in America 



EARLY HISTORY — DISTRIBUTION AND ADAPTATION 

 — PROFITABLENESS OF ALFALFA 



By Joseph E. Wing 



Expert Agriculturist, Mechanicsburg, Ohio 



WHERE It Came From — So many 

 centuries ago that history does not re- 

 cord when, the alfalfa plant was adopted 

 into the family of mankind. It was 

 grown long before the days of the Romans, 

 and fed to the saddle horses of the desert. 

 It was in esteem during Roman times, 

 and old Roman books on agriculture tell 

 how to sow it and how to till it and how 

 to nourish it; and how, when it is grown, 

 it "is good for all manner of famished 

 beasts whatever." Doubtless the 

 chariot horses that Ben Hur drove were fed on alfalfa hay. 

 From that day to this it has been a plant held in high esteem 

 wherever the best agricultural methods are in use, especially 

 in dry and warm climates where irrigation is practiced. 



Introduction into America — The introduction of alfalfa into 

 America proceeded from two sources. The English settlers in 

 Virginia and the Atlantic colonists brought it with them, and 

 at one time many years ago it was in repute, under the name of 

 "lucerne,'' in New York, parts of New England, and Virginia. 

 It was recognized as having remarkable value, yet as acting 

 strangely under cultivation, responding finely for one man, refus- 

 ing to grow for another; growing beautifully in one field, refusing 

 to grow in an adjacent one. It failed to make much seed, and 

 eventually its culture died out almost entirely in the Atlantic 

 region. 



Introduction to the Pacific Coast Region — The Spanish 

 people brought alfalfa to Chili, Mexico, Peru, and in a small way 

 to southern California. It thrived in the dry, warm valleys, in 

 soils rich in mineral elements and well watered by irrigation. 

 Its influence was unfelt in the United States until the settle- 

 ment of California. The earlier settler sought only gold, but 

 soon there appeared another class who sought by tillage of the 

 soil to gain wealth by feeding the gold hunters. Thus there 

 grew up a sort of pioneer farming in California, One of the 



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