THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



59 



ALFALFA SEED AND BANKERS. 



H. F. Patterson, Superintendent Better Farming 

 Association, Aberdeen, So. Dakota. 



The bankers of Aberdeen, South Dakota, re- 

 cently voted to set aside $7,000 to be used by the 

 Better Farming Association of South Dakota at 

 Aberdeen in the purchase of dry land alfalfa seed. 

 The seed was secured from farmers living in the 

 dry part of the state, and will be sold at cost to 

 the cooperative farmers of the association. The 

 cooperation of the Aberdeen banks at this time will 

 go a long way toward increasing the alfalfa acre- 

 age in that locality. It permits the farmers to get 

 hardy dry land seed at first cost. 



Last season the Better Farming Association 

 was instrumental in putting in about 2,500 acres of 

 alfalfa in Brown county, about 75 per cent of which 

 made a successful catch. The plan that has been 

 adopted for the coming season it is estimated will 

 more than double this acreage. One car of the 

 seed purchased by the Better Farming Association 

 with money furnished by the Aberdeen banks was 

 raised on dry land between the Bad and Cheyenne 

 rivers fifty miles west of the Missouri. The field 

 is between 20 and 25 years old and the original seed 

 came from Russia. The flowers are variegated .in 

 color and the root system is spreading, which are 

 indications of hardiness. This particular lot of seed 

 has been recorded in the county and state record 

 books as South Dakota Dry Land Alfalfa No. 1. 



The second car was raised fifty miles further 



west, and has been growing under arid conditions 

 for about 20 years. This alfalfa has the spreading 

 root system, and is recorded as South Dakota Dry 

 Land Alfalfa No. 2. The recorded alfalfa enables 

 farmers in the future to secure additional lots ot 

 seed from the same field. 



If bankers in other localities would follow this 

 lead it would have a tremendous bearing on the 

 alfalfa acreage in the United States. The past sea- 

 son was especially good for alfalfa seed produc- 

 tion and seed is plentiful for next year's planting. 

 People everywhere are rapidly realizing the value 

 of this most important crop and are planning upon 

 increasing the acreage. The large seed supply is 

 especially pleasing because it will materially assist 

 farmers in securing seed. 



Some of the southern states, too, have a big 

 crop of alfalfa seed, even larger than was at first 

 thought. The large supply will have a tendency to 

 keep the prices down and there will be a tempta- 

 tion to send the southern seed north. In fact, much 

 will be sold to a few northern seed men, and they 

 will in turn pass it out to northern farmers. If 

 southern seed is sown on northern soil many will 

 be discouraged with alfalfa growing and both the 

 north and the south will suffer. In view of this 

 the southern alfalfa farmers should see that their 

 seed is sold to the south rather than to the north of 

 them, and northern farmers should know the source 

 of their seed and secure only that which is grown 

 under hardy conditions. Too much attention can- 

 not be given to this fact if permanent success with 

 alfalfa is wanted, 



THINK what it means 

 to you! To have at 

 your service day and 

 night if desired the com- 

 bined power of 30 to 35 

 horses and 10 to 15 men- 

 ready at a moment's notice to 

 plow, disc, harrow, seed, har- 

 vest, build roads, irrigate, 



thresh and do numerousother power jobs, all 

 at the minimum expense for fuel and main- 

 tenance. That's what you get when you 

 buy a time-tried and time-proven 



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WRITE FOR CATALOG AND FURTHER INFORMATION TODAY. 



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