1911.] PUBLIC 1)0CUMP:NT — No. 31. 25 



acre, which iiunilicf has been the rule hci'c, our yiehls in good 

 fields have ranged from about o')4 to 5% tons per acre of well- 

 made hay for the three. Such yields are gi'eater than those 

 which can usually Ix; counted upon from the clovers, or mixtures 

 of grasses and clovers, and since in nutritive value alfalfa con- 

 siderably exceeds the product of the ordinary hay field, such a 

 yield indicates that the crop, where successful, is of unusual 

 value. 



Conditions essential to Success with the Crop. 



Topography. — Experience and observation convince the 

 writer that fields which have a moderate slope are to be pre- 

 ferred to those which are nearly level. Their superiority is 

 due to the fact that it is relatively easy, in preparing for the 

 crop, to leav'e the surface of such fields in such shape that 

 water cannot possilJy stand upon any part of them, and there- 

 fore that ice will never form on the surface. Ice on the surface 

 of an alfalfa field is sure to destroy it, and as it is almost im- 

 iwssible to avoid places which are slightly depressed below the 

 ordinary level, from which there is no outlet, in fields which 

 are nearly level, slopes should be preferred. 



Soil. — Alfalfa will succeed upon a considerable variety of 

 soils provided certain conditions exist. First and most impor- 

 tant of these is good drainage. The writer is convinced that 

 it would not be advisable to undertake the cultivation of alfalfa 

 in fields in which the water table will usually be found within 

 less than five or six feet of the surface. It is possible that a 

 fair degree of success might be obtained with the water table 

 from three and one-half to four feet l>elow the surface ; but in 

 all cases where the water table is at this level the percentage of 

 w^ater in the surface soil is likely to be relatively large, unless 

 the soil is of exceedingly coarse texture ; and with too large a 

 percentage of water in the surface soil heaving and winter- 

 killing will be more ])robable than on soils w-ith less moisture 

 at the surface. What has been said suggests that the necessary 

 depth of the water table below the surface may vary somewhat 

 with the texture of the soil above it. Where this is coarse the 

 water table nearer the surface than the extreme depth above in- 



