FEEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH COWS. \2j 



t 



ALFALFA. 

 Chas. D. Woods. 



During the past 25 years many attempts have been made to 

 grow alfalfa in New England. These attempts have, however, 

 met with only partial success, and there is probably, in all New 

 England, not a square rod of alfalfa with a good stand that has 

 been established 5 years. Indeed, it is doubtful if, unless in the 

 most sheltered situation, a single plant could be found that is 

 five years old. The nearest approach to success that has come 

 to the writer's knowledge was that of a farmer at Amesbury, 

 Mass., and it is a significant fact that he has no alfalfa growing 

 at the present time. 



While the writer was connected with the Storrs (Conn.) 

 Station a number of attempts to grow alfalfa were made, both 

 on the station land and in co-operation with farmers in different 

 parts of the state. While a few isolated plants near the shore 

 of Long Island Sound persisted for several years, practically all 

 died the first, or, at the latest, the second winter. 



Alfalfa has been tried many times in this State, but without 

 much promise of success. Several farmers sowed alfalfa in the 

 spring of 1903, and in a few instances a fair percentage of the 

 stand survived the winter of 1903-4. A small patch in a garden 

 at Houlton, sown in the spring of 1902, probably contains as old 

 plants as any in the State. Two cuttings were made from this 

 in 1902, four in 1903, and three the present season. It grew 

 luxuriantly, and most of the plants survived the first winter, but 

 nearly two-thirds died in the winter of 1903-4. There are also 

 in Fort Fairfield a few plants still standing on the edge of a 

 driveway, where they were sown in 1902. 



Because alfalfa has been successfully grown where formerly 

 it was thought impracticable and because of a large number of 

 inquiries, it was deemed best for the Station to give it another 

 trial under the most favorable conditions of soil and treatment 

 possible. About 4 acres are now being grown in co-operation 

 with farmers in Orono, Penobscot county ; in Princeton, Wash- 

 ington county ; and in Houlton, Maple Grove and Fort Fairfield 



