172 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



thirty bushels of seed which were readily taken, and later in the 

 season the demand could not be supplied at any price. As a re- 

 sult hundreds of acres of land in this and in one or two neigh- 

 boring counties, so worn and washed that it was almost worth- 

 less, has been and is being brought back to a state of productive- 

 ness and value. 



In regard to seed, there seems to be no established market as 

 to prices or number of pounds per bushel. It is sold at all kinds 

 of prices per bushel, the bushels ranging from 14 to 60 pounds 

 per bushel. 



There is also a vast difference in the quality of the seed, as 

 to how it is cleaned and handled, as it heats very readily even in 

 small bulk, consequently there is much dead seed sold, which fact 

 has discouraged many would-be growers. 



I recommend the sowing of unhulled seed as a cheaper seed 

 as something else is often substituted for the hulled. 



It should be cut when the first blooms appear and handled 

 much the same as other clovers, giving a little more sunshine, 

 according to weight of crop. For hay I advise sowing the yellow 

 blossom variety on hand where the machine can be run. More 

 feed of fine quality can be had per acre from this plant than any 

 grass I have ever seen. For improving land and for grazing I 

 strongly advise using the white variety. I do not recommend 

 sweet clover for low or wet land. 



We have recently purchased 200 acres more of the same class 

 of land and will soon have this in the same present condition of 

 the first 100 acres purchased. During the spring of the ex- 

 tremely dry season of 1908 we broke for corn an old timothy 

 meadow where patches of sweet clover had been started, and all 

 during the season, after the corn had started, it was easy to see 

 where the sweet clover had grown, and these spots were the only 

 part of the field where we had any corn which was fairly good, 

 and the rest of the field yielded only fodder of poor quality. 



Mr. James Thompson, an all-round business man and director 

 of the Pendleton Bank at Falmouth, has purchased a few hun- 

 dred acres of worn out land which he has seeded to sweet clover 

 and is well pleased with the investment and says he knows of no 

 other plant so valuable to those having worn out or washed land. 



Mr. J. S. Gardner, Kelat, Ky., stock buyer and shipper, 

 says: "The fattest sheep and cattle I handle are those from 

 sweet clover pastures." 



Milch cows fed on sweet clover hay yield an abundance of 

 milk from which is made nice yellow butter. Stock cattle, young 

 horses and mules do well on the hay without grain. 



