90 

 William Leaman, Cannonsville, Utah : 



Lucerne does very well in this mountain country, where there is very little rain, 

 and produces from 2 to 2J tons per acre, and makes from three to four crops per year, 

 but I am well satisfied that it will not stand much wet weather, as excessive water- 

 ing kills it here, and water funning over it in the winter and forming ice over it 

 kills it. 



Prof. A. E. Blount, Fort Collins, Colo. : 



Our soil is mostly sandy loam and clay loam, gray, and to all appearances very 

 poor. It is dry, hard, and destitute of black soil, except in low, marshy places and 

 on the streams. On this soil, which has never been leached or deprived of its fertil- 

 ity by moisture, we sow alfalfa at the rate of 20 pounds to the acre. If kept well 

 irrigated, two crops can be taken the same season that the seed is sown, yielding as 

 high as 3 or 4 tons per acre. The second season, if a good stand was secured, three 

 cuttings are made, yielding as high in some localities as 7 tons. Our largest yields 

 come from those farms where water is applied immediately after each cutting. 

 Among the best farmers 4 tons to the acre is a very small average. I have known 9 

 tons to be taken from an acre where the most, careful attention was given. When 

 once rooted it is next to impossible to eradicate or kill the plant. One man plowed 

 up a piece and sowed it to oats, and after having thrashed out 42 bushels of oats per 

 acre he cut 3 tons of alfalfa hay per acre from the sanle land. Some have raised 

 wheat, corn, and potatoes with excellent success, after turning under a crop of alfalfa, 

 without in any way interfering with the stand of the latter the next year. 



F. W. Sweetser, Winnemucca, Nev.: 



Alfalfa is cultivated quite extensively in several parts of the State. It does best 

 in a dark loam. It is hardy and yields, with irrigation, about 5 tons per acre. One 

 season without irrigation will kill it. 



O. F. Wright, Te'mescal, San Bernardino County, Cal.: 



Alfalfa is cut from one to six times per year. The yield when good is as follows : 

 First cutting, 2 tons of not very good hay ; second cutting, 3 tons of good hay ; third 

 cutting, 2| tons of good hay; fourth cutting, 2 tons of good hay ; fifth cutting, 1 ton 

 of good hay. If the land is v.ry dry there may be but one cutting, the roots living, 

 but the tops apparently dead. If it is very dry the roots die also. 



Pasturing in the latter part of summer does not injure it much, but in winter and 

 spring, when annual plants are growing, it soon kills it. A good stand can not be 

 obtained without mowing, for worthless weeds would otherwise choke it out. The 

 plants increase in strength for three years. 



E. G. Judson, Lugonia, San Bernardino County, Cal.: 



Alfalfa is fairly hardy, but it can not stand extreme cold. On dry lands it can not 

 be grown without irrigation. It can be subdued by repeated plowings or keeping 

 a\vnv water. 



William Schulz, Anaheim, Los Angeles County, Cal.: 



Alfalfa fails without irrigation on account of the gophers, which eat off the roots a 

 few inches below the surface. It is one of the best forage plants we have. 



William C. Cusick, Union, Oregon : 



Alfalfa is not extensively grown in this locality. It is hardy only at the lowest al- 

 titudes, or where snow falls deeply. It prefers dry, sandy soils that can be irrigated, 

 on such lands yielding 3 to 4 tons per acre. Without irrigation it is hardly worth 

 cutting. This applies to a portion of the State east of the Cascade Mountains. 



