Il8 ALFALFA 



■ ' Alfalfa is one of the best dry-weather resist- 

 ers ; it stands heat and cold with indifference ; also 

 heavy and continuous rains, if on well-drained soil, 

 but in water-soaked land dies from freezing in winter 

 •and root-rot in summer. Grasshoppers, webworms, 

 cutworms, gophers, and prairie-dogs are its chief ani- 

 mal enemies. The first two are best destroyed by 

 turkeys; a turkey to the acre will thoroughly rid the 

 alfalfa of these pests, and the turkeys will be profitable 

 besides. Disking in March before the alfalfa has 

 sprouted destroys a large proportion of the gras.shop- 

 per eggs, and is a check to the cutworms and other 

 inse<5ts. Gophers may be destroyed cheaply and 

 quickly by putting strychnine in pieces of freshly cut 

 potatoes and dropping these in the gopher holes. The 

 chief plant enemies are crab-grass and foxtail. Disk- 

 ing early in March, and after each cutting, will do 

 much to overcome these, and at the same time benefit 

 the alfalfa. 



' ' A ton of alfalfa hay properly cured is worth a 

 ton of wheat bran, and the alfalfa can be raised and 

 put in the feed-lot on most Kansas farms at a cost not 

 to exceed $3 per ton. It is necessary, under Kansas 

 conditions, to the cheapest production of beef, pork, 

 milk, mutton, and the growth of young stock. With 

 a good supply of alfalfa any Kansas farmer can com- 

 bine with it the ordinary feeds grown on his farm, and 

 have balanced rations for all classes of stock without 

 purchasing a pound of mill feed. With all its other 

 good qualities alfalfa is one of the most palatable feeds 

 offered farm animals, and with the exception of caus- 

 ing bloat when used green, is one of the safest. ' ' 



W. M. Clark, of Saline County, in the central pot' 



