ALFALFA I 29 



areas of Western Ontario. The amnor grew it with 

 much success at the experiment station at Guelph 

 in 1890 and subsequently, and during recent years 

 considerable areas are being grown in several of the 

 Lake Erie counties and in those that lie north from 

 them. But in no part of Ontario are the conditions 

 for growing alfalfa better than in some of the moun- 

 tain valleys of British Columbia. 



But few crops, if, indeed, any, are being experi- 

 mented with at the present time to so great an ex- 

 tent as alfalfa; hence, the expectation is reasonable 

 that there will be an enormous increase in the area 

 grown in the future that is near. The two chief 

 causes of failure in the past were want of knowledge 

 in growing and caring for it on the part of the 

 growers, and the absence of the proper bacteria in 

 the soil. Acidity in some soils and want of drainage 

 in others are also responsible for many of the fail- 

 ures referred to. But even where it does grow rea- 

 sonably well, some trouble is found from the alfalfa 

 failing in spots. In some instances the cause can 

 be traced, as when coated with ice in winter, or 

 where the soil is not uniform, but in other instances 

 the precise causes have not been determined. Not- 

 withstanding these drawbacks, however, greatly in- 

 creased areas will be grown in the future, especially 

 in States in which the dairy interest is paramount 

 or even important. 



Soils. — It was formerly thought by many that 

 alfalfa would only grow vigorously on soils and 

 subsoils sandy in character, and underlaid at some 

 distance from the surface with water. It is now 



