24 EXPERDIENT STATION. [Jan. 



ALFALFA IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY WM. P. BROOKS, DIRECTOR. 



As time passes the number of successful ex^^eriments with 

 alfalfa in Massachusetts increases. This is true not alone of 

 the experiments in progress on the station grounds and on the 

 college farm in Amherst, but of experiments which have been 

 conducted b^' private individuals in various parts of the State 

 as well. The question may arise, AVhy is the degree of success 

 attending such experiments at present greater than in the case 

 of the earlier experiments ? It is the belief of the writer that 

 the answer is, Because we have learned, as a result of our 

 failures and successes, many things to avoid, and what condi- 

 tions are best calculated to insure success. We now have very 

 little difficulty in securing good catches of alfalfa, and on the 

 station grounds and on the college farm in Amherst are a num- 

 ber of plots of some five or six years' standing which are yet in 

 good condition; so that it would seem that we have not only 

 learned what steps to take to secure a good catch, but also how so 

 to manage as to insure a reasonable degree of permanence. 



The writer would not be understood that he is as yet pre- 

 ])ared to endorse too exclusive dependence upon alfalfa as a 

 forage crop. He believes that there is still a considerable ele- 

 ment of risk, but that at least the crop is worth careful trial. 



Number of Crops per Year and Yield. 

 Alfalfa makes a more rapid growth in early spring than any 

 other forage crop, unless it be rye. The first crop is usually 

 ready to cut early in June, and at least two additional crops 

 may be counted upon ; while in seasons which are exceptionally 

 favorable as to rainfall and other climatic conditions alfalfa 

 may probably be safely cut four times. With three crops per 



