FORAGE CROPS 



nitrogen from the air, and make a compound of it that is 

 available for the plant. 



209. The Value of Alfalfa. " For filling a milk can, an 

 alfalfa-fed cow is equal to a handy pump," says a western 

 farmer. Primarily, alfalfa is a dairy feed. It is rich in 

 protein. It is claimed that five acres will furnish enough 



green feed to sustain a 

 herd of twenty cows 

 from June to October, 

 if only a little is cut at 

 a time. As a pasture 

 for fattening hogs, little 

 more can be desired 

 than a flourishing alfalfa 

 stand. Alfalfa hay, 

 weight for weight, con- 

 tains as much nutrition 

 for milk cows as bran 

 does. 



The plant is a deep 

 feeder : its roots extend 

 far into the subsoil and 

 bring thence to the sur- 

 face some potash and 

 phosphoric acid. This 

 improves the soil. An alfalfa field is commonly cropped 

 three times a season, and sometimes four crops in a season 

 are taken. The plant, too, is a perennial. 



Alfalfa, being a legume, to which family also belong the 

 clovers, beans, peas, and vetch, is, like the other members 

 of the family, a nitrogen gatherer. The free nitrogen of 

 the air is combined with the oxygen of the air and earthy 

 matters of the soil to form nitrates, which are tissue-build- 

 ing plant foods. The factory where this transformation 



THE ALFALFA PLANT. 



