ALFALFA 121 



to the growth of alfalfa that it is now the principal 

 forage crop grown. It is almost certain that it was 

 brought from Chili to California, from which it has 

 spread over much of the cultivated portion of the 

 arid and semi-arid west. Western grown seed is also 

 the chief source of supply at the present time for all 

 the States of the Union. 



Fully a century ago attempts were made by Chan- 

 cellor Livingstone and others to introduce it into the 

 Eastern States, but without much success, owing, 

 probably, to the lack of knowledge on the part of the 

 people as to how it should be grown. The seed at 

 that time was doubtless brought from European 

 sources, probably France. It has been noticed by 

 more recent growers in these States that the results 

 from sowing such seed do not prove as satisfactory 

 as those from American grown seed, but that 

 alone should not sufficiently explain why the 

 attempts to grow alfalfa just referred to were not 

 successful. 



But it is not alone in the areas named that alfalfa 

 has proved so helpful to agriculture. In Central 

 Asia and northward it has for long centuries fur- 

 nished the Tartars with the principal forage crop 

 grown. In Turkestan and other places it will grow 

 under conditions so dry as to forbid the vigorous 

 growth of many hardy grasses. In Southern Asia, 

 from India to Arabia, it has lost none of the pop- 

 ular favor accorded to it long centuries ago. In 

 Southern Russia it is extensively grown, and up and 

 down the basin of the Danube. In the Mediter- 

 ranean provinces of Southern Europe it is still one 



