PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 9$ 



The idea that it will not be worth while to grow 

 alfalfa where medium red clover is at its best would 

 seem to be of the fogy order, although it has been 

 promulgated by some good authorities. As a rota- 

 tion plant it is not to be compared with clover, but 

 even where medium clover has proved a great suc- 

 cess, there may be good reasons for growing alfalfa 

 to provide soiling food and also pasture. 



Distribution. — Alfalfa can be grown with more 

 or less success in every state of the Union, and in a 

 number of the provinces of Canada. But it has 

 especial adaptation for those states where the tem- 

 peratures are too warm and the conditions are too 

 dry to grow clover at its best. Speaking in a general 

 way, the highest adaptation for alfalfa culture is 

 found in those states that lie south of the Missouri 

 river, including the lands drained by that river, and 

 west from the Mississippi where it is joined by the 

 Missouri. Next to these states in adaptation may 

 be placed those areas that lie south of the Ohio and 

 between the Mississippi and the Atlantic. And after 

 these in adaptation come various localities in the 

 other states where the measure of success attained 

 in growing the crop is usually more dependent on 

 soil conditions than on those which relate to climate. 

 There is probably no state in the Union in which 

 alfalfa may not be successfully grown. In Louisi- 

 ana it has been made to provide green food every 

 day in the year. As far north as Toronto, in Onta- 

 rio, and Montreal, in Quebec, good crops of alfalfa 

 have been grown. But in the northern portions of 

 North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, 

 the low winter temperature will probably prove a 

 barrier to its cultivation. Elsewhere in the United 



