88 FOR BETTER CROPS 



done has been done superficially, with tile too close to the 

 surface. These should be deepened so that none of them are at 

 a less depth than thirty-six inches, and if they can be put down 

 forty-eig-ht inches all the better. Then there are needed other 

 drains between the ones now in use. When this is done and 

 some manure made use of, there is no doubt that very fine 

 alfalfa fields can be maintained in Illinois. 



Comparison of Corn and Alfalfa — It is hard for a farmer 

 in the heart of the corn belt to consider seriously the demands 

 of any other crop, yet if he will study alfalfa a little he will see 

 that he is accepting no inferior plant when he puts it in place 

 of some of his corn fields. Alfalfa will make on good land in 

 that region a total yield during the season of from four to eight 

 tons per acre. Taking six tons as a standard, and calling the 

 hay worth $8.00 per ton, there is thus derived from that acre a 

 gross revenue of $48.00. To equal that amount the field must 

 yield 120 bushels of corn which must sell at forty cents per 

 bushel. Or, put it according to the amount of available and 

 digestible carbohydrates and protein produced by these crops, 

 the alfalfa will yield fully three times as much protein as the 

 corn and double the carbohydrates, too! Furthermore, the 

 alfalfa is not depleting the soil, while corn is a robber crop. 



Alfalfa Seeding in the Eastern Regions — East of Illinois 

 begin the clays, gravels, and loams that extend through Indiana, 

 Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and the sister states. Few in- 

 deed of these soils are ready for alfalfa in their natural state, 

 yet all of them will yield it most profitably when made fit for 

 it. The requirements of alfalfa in these states are simple. It 

 needs, first, to have the land drained, if it is not naturally dry. 

 It requires that the land be sweet. In parts of Indiana, north- 

 ern Ohio, in some of Pennsylvania and New York there are acid 

 soils. These must first be sweetened with lime before they will 

 grow good alfalfa. The third requirement is that these soils be 

 stored with organic matter, with humus. That means that 

 they must be spread over with stable manure. After these 

 three conditions have been met there is nothing but a little 

 knowledge of the plant necessary to make it thrive admirably. 

 The farm on which the writer lives grows now annually about 

 350 tons of alfalfa hay, though ten years ago little of its area 

 was adapted to alfalfa at all. Tile underdrains and manure 

 have made its growth possible, and it has proven very profit- 

 able. 



Plowing Alfalfa Sod — Alfalfa sod is very hard to plow; 

 with indifferent tools, impossible. It can be done with comfort, 

 but it requires, first, a good team of three strong horses; next, a 

 plow, preferably a walking plow, in good repair, with a very 

 sharp share. Next, it needs a sober and Christian hearted man. 



