A1.FAI.PA VS. CORN 47 



Valley corn is the great crop. It produces more feed- 

 ing material per acre than anything else that can be 

 grown. In Colorado it meets a worthy rival in alfalfa. 

 Both these crops were grown side by side, in acre 

 plots, on the station farm. The land was in good 

 condition, and in addition a very heavy application of 

 stable manure was given to the corn ground, so as to 

 show it at its best. Colorado is not so well adapted to 

 corn culture as are Kansas and Nebraska, owing to 

 cool nights, high altitude, and near presence of the 

 mountains. But the crop of corn to be described 

 would compare well -with the Eastern and Middle 

 states, being equivalent to one of their crops of four- 

 teen tons of green fodder per acre. It is also fully up 

 to the average of the great corn states of Kansas, 

 Nebraska, and Iowa. 



"The variety was the Golden Beauty, planted May 

 1 6th, in hills three feet apart each way, harrowed two 

 times, cultivated four times, and irrigated once. It 

 was harvested September 21st, and the dntire crop, 

 ears and stalks, weighed 15,500 pounds per acre. The 

 analysis showed 35.62 per cent, of dry matter, so that 

 the crop contained 4,539 pounds of dry matter per 

 acre. 



"The alfalfa growing on a neighboring plot was 

 not fertilized, and was three years from seeding. It 

 was irrigated twice and cut three times, yielding at 

 the first cutting 4,600 pounds of hay per acre; at the 

 second 3,350 pounds, and at the third 3,250 pounds, a 

 total of 5.6 tons of hay, containing 10,304 pounds of 

 dry matter per acre. 



"The alfalfa, therefore, yielded almost twice as 

 much dry matter per acre as the corn. But this is not 



