IN THE DIFFERENT STATES II3 



produce a heavy crop the next year. It is also a 

 leguminous crop as well as is alfalfa; its soil-fertilizing 

 ability seems as great, and it fills largely the same 

 place as alfalfa for feeding purposes. So, having other 

 leguminous plants naturally adapted to the soil and 

 climate, the Illinois farmer does not attempt to grow 

 alfalfa. Not only is this true, but alfalfa takes a 

 longer time than clover to cure, and it is almost im- 

 possible to get a long enough dry season at harvesting 

 to cure and properly save the alfalfa hay." 



IOWA 



Prof. C. F. Curtiss, of the Iowa station, at Ames, 

 says: " I do not think alfalfa has been given suflBcient 

 trialin this state to fully demonstrate its merits or to 

 determine whether it is a success or failure. We have 

 been growing it in a small way upon the college farm, 

 and it has completely winter-killed twice during the 

 last ten years; but the seasons when it winter-killed 

 were unusually severe, and almost equally fatal to red 

 clover and winter wheat. I do not feel that these 

 failures ought to condemn the alfalfa by any means, 

 and am inclined to think it might be grown here as 

 successfully as in some other localities where it is much 

 more largely used. There is a strongly established 

 disposition, however, in our state to rely on the other 

 clovers, chiefly from the fadl that farmers are more 

 familiar with methods of growing them, and the seed- 

 ing of the land to clover is a simpler process than is 

 securing a stand of alfalfa. We expedl to make 

 iiirther investigations " 



