CHAPTER XXIL 



Alfalfa as a Commercial Factor 



EFFECT ON LAND VALUES 



Only a few years ago alfalfa hay was not named in the 

 market reports. Now it is conspicuous in the lists of 

 hays. Then there were thousands of sandy acres in Kan- 

 sas and Nebraska being held at from $2 to $5 per acre 

 that now, seeded to alfalfa, are selling at from $30 to $75 

 per acre. Then, cultivated farms in those districts could 

 be rented for $1 per acre; now, seeded one-half to alfalfa, 

 they rent for $3 to $5 and more per acre. In the South 

 cotton lands rent for $5, and alfalfa lands at $15 per acre. 

 Land in the Yellowstone valley was worth, wild, $1.50 

 per acre; now, under irrigation and seeded half to alfalfa 

 and half to wheat it commands $100 per acre. A few 

 years ago labor commanded in those districts that now 

 raise alfalfa about $1 a day; since then, during alfalfa 

 harvest, hundreds of men have been imported there and 

 paid $2 or $2.50 per day. Then farmers were poor and 

 trade was dull ; now, a farmer who owns eighty acres well 

 set in alfalfa, harvests about 300 tons of hay worth from 

 $5 to $12 per ton and has the proceeds available for added 

 comforts, improvements and luxuries. 



A few years ago it was thought that America was 

 approaching a crisis in the matter of beef and pork and 



