Standard Alfalfa: May be of green color, of coarse p?^ t g 0r 



or medium texture, and may contain 5 per cent, foreign 



matter. Or it may be of green color, of coarse or I2 ? 

 medium texture, 20 per cent, bleached and 2 per cent, 

 foreign matter. Or it may be of a greenish cast of fine 

 stem and clinging foliage, and may contain 5 per cent, 

 foreign matter. All to be sound, sweet, and well baled. 



No. 2 Alfalfa: Shall be of any sound, sweet and well 

 baled alfalfa, not good enough for standard, and may 

 contain 10 per cent, foreign matter. 



No. 3 Alfalfa: May contain 35 per cent, stack 

 spotted hay, but must be dry and not to contain more 

 than 8 per cent, of foreign matter. Or it may be of a 

 green color and may contain 50 per cent, foreign mat- 

 ter. Or it may be set Alfalfa and may contain 5 per 

 cent, foreign matter. All to be reasonably well baled. 



No grade Alfalfa: Shall include all alfalfa not good 

 enough for No. 3. 



The Alfalfa, Cow Pea and Clover Question. 



This class of plants has the proper- 

 ty of taking inert Nitrogen from the air Legumes 

 and transforming it into combinations 

 more or less useful as plant food. This feature is of 

 great value to agriculture, but not so much from the 

 plant food point of view as from the fact that these 

 plants are rich in that kind of food substance commonly 

 called "flesh formers." Liberally fertilized, and not 

 omitting Nitrate in the fertilizer, we have a crop con- 

 taining more Nitrogenous food (protein or flesh form- 

 ers) than the Nitrogen actually given as fertilizer 

 could have made by itself. The most common plants of 

 this class are: alfalfa, alsike clover, crimson clover, red 

 clover, Japan clover, cow peas, lupines, Canadian field 

 peas, the vetches, etc. All these forage crops should 

 be sown after clean culture crops. The best method 

 of fertilizing is to apply from 300 to 500 pounds of 

 fertilizer early every autumn; in the spring, top-dress 

 with 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, and repeat with 

 about 100 pounds after each cutting. It is true that 

 clovers may supply their own nitrogenous plant food, 



