28o THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



NEW JERSEY 



Dr. E. B. Voorhees, Director New Jersey experiment 

 station. — The farmers of the state have manifested much 

 interest in the growing of alfalfa, and many experimen- 

 tal plots have been seeded in the past two or three years. 

 In order to obtain accurate information as to the methods 

 employed, and the results obtained, a circular letter was 

 sent out during the past summer to 140 growers. De- 

 tailed replies were obtained from loi growers. Of these 

 there were 57 distributed over 15 counties, which showed 

 the successful establishment of the crop. The soils upon 

 which these successful crops are growing vary widely, 

 both in their physical and chemical character, ranging 

 from a light, sandy loam, with sandy subsoil, to a medium 

 heavy clay, with compact clay subsoil, which indicates 

 clearly that success does not depend so much upon the 

 character of the soil as upon the methods of seeding, 

 fertilization and after-treatment, though the most suc- 

 cessful stands were, as a rule, obtained upon sandy soils, 

 overlying a reasonably open subsoil. Twenty-seven 

 growers had a more or less satisfactory experience, while 

 17 were absolute failures. A study of the reports of 

 failures shows that in most instances they were due to 

 lack of observation of the methods recommended for the 

 seeding and care of the crop, which experience at the 

 station showed to be essential for success. In most 

 cases the land was imperfectly prepared ; in many an 

 insufficient amount of fertilizer or manure was applied. 

 In many cases, too little seed was used ; in others the date 

 of seeding was contrary to all recommendations, or the 

 crop was not clipped often, and thus choked out by weeds. 



