290 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



capable of producing paying crops here. It will yield two 

 or more tons of hay per acre annually and will, when 

 sown on well drained land, continue to live from year to 

 year as it does in old alfalfa districts. A little growth 

 should be allowed to stand through the winter season to 

 protect the roots by catching a covering of snow over 

 the entire field. Our people are thoroughly awakened 

 and encouraged by the results secured at the experiment 

 station, and its growth is likely to soon be a common 

 practice in the state. 



OHIO 



Prof. Charles E. Thome, Director Ohio experiment 

 station. — Numerous attempts were made during the lat- 

 ter half of the nineteenth century to grow alfalfa in Ohio, 

 but so far as the knowledge of the writer goes, that of 

 Joseph E. Wing of Mechanicsburg was the first that 

 could be pronounced a decided success. Mr. Wing had 

 seen the plant growing in the arid region of the West, 

 and was fortunately able to make his initial experiments on 

 the soil formed from the decomposing limestone gravels 

 of Champaign county, a soil possessing three of the in- 

 dispensable requisites for alfalfa culture. Plenty of lime, 

 plenty of humus and good drainage. Other farmers 

 during recent years have attempted the culture of this 

 plant, and where experiments have been conducted upon 

 suitable soils and carried out with sufficient care and per- 

 sistence, they have been successful. Thus far the most 

 promising alfalfa fields in the state are to be found either 

 in such localities as those of Mr. Wing, namely upon the 

 soils underlaid with limestone gravel which are found 



