124 CLOVERS 



grounds. The best conditions for growing it are 

 found in the valleys of all the Rocky Mountain 

 States, where the growth can be regulated by the 

 application of irrigating waters. In these the con- 

 ditions southward are superior to those northward, 

 because of the milder climate, which precludes the 

 danger of winter killing by exposure, which occa- 

 sionally happens in the more northerly of the moun- 

 tain States, and because of the more prolonged sea- 

 son for growth, which adds to the number of the 

 cuttings. This does not mean that the river bot- 

 toms in other parts of the United Staes will not 

 be found good for growing alfalfa. It can be grown 

 in many of these; in fact, in nearly all of them, and 

 to some extent by the aid of irrigation, if the watte 

 waters were stored, but the deposit soil in these val- 

 leys being of much closer texture than that in the 

 western alleys, is, on the whole, lower in adapta- 

 tion than the soil in the latter. 



In the western valleys of the mountain States, al- 

 falfa is the crop around which it may be said that 

 agricultural production centers. It is the principal 

 hay crop of those States. The extent to which it 

 may be grown there is revolutionizing the produc- 

 tion of live stock on the ranges, as it is providing 

 food for them in winter, which is fast removing, and 

 will probably soon entirely remove, the element of 

 hazard from live stock depende'nt on the range pas- 

 tures for support in that season. The dairy and 

 swine industries in those valleys must largely de- 

 depend upon it. Fruit orchards must ultimately grow 

 on buried alfalfa meadows, and the rotation of all 



