PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES 273 



of alfalfa is very difficult, requiring four stout horses 

 with a very sharp plow to turn it over, but as a green 

 manure it has about the same effect as Red clover, pro- 

 ducing two or three extra crops afterwards. 



NEBRASKA 



Olmstead & Olmstead, Furnas county. — Alfalfa, while 

 excellent for all other stock, is preeminently the feed for 

 hogs. Its early appearance, its wonderfully rapid growth, 

 its nutritious properties, its perennial nature (keeping 

 green until about December), its resistance to drouth, 

 its wonderful fecundity, and, lastly, its adaptability as 

 a dry feed, make it, in our opinion, the most profitable 

 crop that can be grown. Tesi acres of alfalfa will 

 pasture 150 head of hogs, and give them abundance. 

 From the 15th of March, or at most not later than the 

 15th of April, hogs and cattle can be turned on pasture, 

 and kept there until snow flies. On first bottoms, six 

 tons per acre can be depended upon as a fair, average 

 yield, while many fields this year have made as high as 

 eight. On divide, or high land, where it has been tested 

 for three years, it averages about two to four tons per 

 acre, but this land gives the best returns for seed, not 

 growing too rank. Since we have been investigating 

 and gathering information on this subject, we have had 

 reported to us a yield as high as eight bushels of seed 

 per acre, and quite a number as high as nine, and some 

 eleven. Six bushels an acre on a good stand is an average 

 yield, while some will fall below that. The seed has 

 never sold here below $4 per bushel. Last year and this, 

 all seed grown in this part of the country sold readily at 



