154 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



then from the manure of that field spreading to an- 

 . other, can a man succeed. It is easy once you get 

 started. The farther you go the faster the work 

 proceeds. I write now of rather poor eastern 

 soils. Of course there are soils already so rich in 

 all needed elements of plant food that it is idle to 

 add more. Men owning such soils are more blessed 

 than they probably realize. 



Soils Devoid of Humus. — ^Will not alfalfa grow in 

 soils devoid of humus? It is an interesting ques- 

 tion. I feel that it will, under certain conditions. 

 There are desert soils that would seem to be almost 

 devoid of vegetable matter, yet fully charged with 

 mineral salts and in these I have seen the most tre- 

 mendous alfalfa that I have ever seen. Perhaps 

 there was more humus in that gray-colored lime- 

 impregnated alkaline soil than I thought, but it 

 certainly was as hard as brick when dry and of the 

 color of lime mortar. It is sure, however, that in 

 eastern soils humus is most desirable; how indis- 

 pensable it is remains to be worked out. 



An Example of Farm Practice. — On Woodland 

 Farm there is one 60-acre field commonly called the 

 Gill field. It has not long been a part of the farm. 

 The soil was clay, some of it white and some of it 

 black. A part of the field was low and peaty. For 

 many years it had probably not paid the cost of cul- 

 tivation. It had had little or no manure since the 

 forest was cleared away. 



The first step was to get rid of surplus water and 

 miles of ditches were laid, one of them to give out- 



