92 



more resistant plants than red clover. As a substitute for the latter it is difficult to 

 overestimate the importance of alfalfa to California agriculture, which will be more 

 and more recognized as a regular system of rotation becomes a part of the general 

 practice. At first alfalfa was used almost exclusively for pasture and green-soiling 

 purposes, but during the last three or four years alfalfa hay has become a regular 

 article in the general market, occasional objections to its use being the result of 

 want of practice in curing. On the irrigated lands of Kern, Fresno, and Tulare 

 Counties three and even four cuts of forage, aggregating to something like 12 to 14 

 tons per acre, have frequently been made. As the most available green forage during 

 the summer, alfalfa has become an invaluable adjunct to all dairy and stock farming 

 wherever the soil can, during the dry season, supply any moisture within 2 or 3 feet 

 of the surface. 



Peter Henderson, in an article on alfalfa in the Eeport of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture for 1884, page 567, says : 



Mr. William Crozier, of Northport, Long Island, one of the best-known farmers and 

 stock-breeders in the vicinity of New York, says he has long considered alfalfa one 

 of the best forage crops. He used it always to feed his milch cows and breeding 

 ewes, particularly in preparing them for exhibition at fairs, where he is known to be 

 a most successful competitor ; and he always takes along sufficient alfalfa hay to feed 

 them on while there. Mr. Crozier's system of culture is broadcast, and he uses some 

 15 or 16 pounds of seed to the acre, but his land is usually clear and in a high state 

 of cultivation, which enables him to adopt the broadcast plan ; but on an average 

 land it will be found that the plan of sowing in drills would be the best. Mr. Cro- 

 zier's crop the second year averages 18 tons, green, to the acre, and about 6 tons 

 when dried as hay. For this section, the latitude of New York, he finds that the 

 best date for sowing is the first week in May ; a good cutting can then be had in 

 September. The next season a full crop is obtained when it is cut, if green, three or 

 four times. If to be used for hay it is cut in the condition of ordinary red clover in 

 blossom; it then makes, after that, two green crops if cut. Sometimes the last one, 

 instead of being cut, is fed on the ground by sheep and cattle. 



(Plate 96.) 



Medicago denticulata (Bur Clover). 



This is a native of the Mediterranean region, which has become nat- 

 uralized in most warm countries. It was early introduced into Cali- 

 fornia and has become widely distributed in that State, where it is con- 

 sidered of great value. 



It is not of first quality either as pastureor hay, but coming at a time 

 of year when other feed is scarce, and often growing where little else 

 will, it is eaten by all kinds of stock. The pods, or burs, are especially 

 sought after in the dry condition, as they remain good until spoiled by 

 rains. Although this plant does not withstand drought as well as many 

 others, it is enabled to grow on dry soils in climates having pro- 

 longed drought from its making its growth during the rainy season. 

 Sown early in autumn in the sections to which it is adapted, it grows 

 during the winter and ripens the following spring or early summer. It 

 has been introduced from California into the Southern States, where it 

 is generally highly regarded by those who have tried it, both for graz- 

 ing and as a renovator of the soil. Being an annual, and ripening 

 early, other crops may be grown on the same land during the summer 



