ALFALFA 



ALFILARIA 



197 



Alfalfa in the East. 



By F. E. Dawley. 



It should be known that alfalfa was independently 

 introduced in the East, although its present vogue 

 has been quickened by the interest arising in the 

 West. An earnest attempt was made to introduce 

 it into New York state (under its French name, 

 lucerne), in 1790 to 1800. In 1793, Robert Living- 

 ston had fifteen acres growing in Jefferson county, 

 divided into seven plots, each given different 

 treatment. It is reported as " growing luxuriantly " 

 during the first season, then turning yellow and 

 "pining away." In 1812, it was tried in Central 

 New York by Sterling Lamson and Moses Dewitt 

 with about the same result, although straggling 

 plants from this parentage, it is thought, are still 

 growing. In 1852, Henry Meigs exhibited a few 

 plants before the American Institute in New York. 



All of these attempts seem to have proved un- 

 satisfactory, and alfalfa-growing on a successful 

 basis can be traced to a shipment of seed in the 

 chaff, which was hand-gathered on the Pacific coast 

 and sent to Onondaga county, New York, in 1867. 

 With this came the inoculation which seemed nec- 

 essary to prevent the plants dying the second year 

 because of the lack of root nodules. 



In 1894, the New York State Experiment Station 

 at Geneva issued a bulletin on " Alfalfa Forage for 

 Milch Cows," and the agitation of the subject at 

 farmers' institutes, together with the reports of 

 successful fields in Onondaga county. New York, 

 seemed to awaken new interest in the crop ; and a 

 little later, when it was learned definitely that old 

 fields where it was growing successfully contained 

 bacteria which could be transplanted to other fields 

 and cause the plant to grow there, its spread be- 

 came more rapid and today marks one of the great 

 achievements of science as applied to agriculture. 

 Where drainage and physical conditions are favor- 

 able in the East, alfalfa will flourish, if seeded prop- 

 erly and the soil inoculated when necessary. 



It is usually advised, in the East, to sow alfalfa 

 in spring (between oat and corn planting) unless 

 the land is very foul, in which case the land may be 

 cleaned and the seed sown in July or August. 



In the East, where dairy farming in the future 

 must occupy the attention of a large proportion of 

 land-owners, the advent of alfalfa marks a new era. 

 Home-grown protein in alfalfa will solve the ques- 

 tion of economical milk production, whether the 

 silo can be made available or not. 



The first and last cuttings of alfalfa can be 

 ensiled if the weather conditions are not favorable 

 for curing it for hay. The writer put the first 

 alfalfa into the silo in 1891, and has stored more 

 or less of it in that way each year since with satis- 

 factory results. This method solves the curing of 

 the first crop, which is the greatest difficulty to be 

 overcome in the East. Alfalfa is now being ground 

 into meal, and if the last crop, cut before it is in 

 blossom, is used for this purpose, it makes a very 

 satisfactory product. The first alfalfa meal was 

 ground in Fayetteville, New York, in 1891, the 

 machines being made by Samuel Jackson. 



ALFILARIA. Erodium cicutarium, L'Her. Gera- 

 niacecB. Filaree ; heron's-bill ; pin-grass and pin- 

 clover (whence the name alfilaria, from Span- 

 ish for pin, in allusion to the pin-like carpels 

 or "seeds"); name spelled also alfileria and 

 alfilerilla. By the Spanish, it is called alfilerilla, 

 the double " 1 " being pronounced as " y," with 

 accent on the last syllable. Western farmers 

 usually call it "filaree," with accent on the 

 first syllable. Fig. 283. 



By /. /. Thornber. 



Alfilaria is a small, annual, hairy, slightly viscid, 

 erect or ascending herb, attaining a height of six 

 to eighteen inches, utilized as wild range pasture, 

 and now sometimes grown for hay. The leaves are 

 opposite or alternate, and pinnate, 

 the divisions being finely dissected 

 nearly to the mid-vein. It forms a 

 compact, many- 

 leaved rosette 

 which frequently 

 attains a diameter 

 of ten to twelve 

 inches. The flower 

 parts are in fives, 

 and are produced 

 in axillary, stalked, 

 several- flowered 

 clusters or umbels. 

 The flowers are 

 purple. In fruit, the 

 five styles of the 

 flower elongate 

 conspicuously, be- 

 come hairy on the 

 inside, and at ma- 

 turity are dehis- 

 cent (that is, are 

 separated into defi- 

 nite parts), and 

 twisted spirally, 

 the seeds at the 

 lower ends of the styles becoming in the mean- 

 time sharp-pointed at their bases. The plant gen- 

 erally has a slight musky odor. 



Seven other species of Erodium are found in this 

 country. Two species, introduced from the Medi- 

 terranean region — E. moschatum, known as musk 

 filaree or musk clover, and E. Botrys — are grown 

 in the Pacific coast country. The Texan alfilaria, 

 E. Texanum, is a native species occurring in the 

 southwest. 



History. 



Alfilaria is a native of the Mediterranean region, 

 where it is regarded, commonly, as a weed. From 

 there it has spread over parts of Europe, Asia and 

 Africa, and North and South America. It was 

 probably introduced by the Spanish into the west- 

 ern hemisphere in the sixteenth century, in parts 

 of Mexico and South America, and later in Cal- 

 ifornia. From these centers it has gradually 

 spread over large areas. It is probably not a native 

 of the Pacific coast country. 



Fig. 283. Alfilaria, affording range 

 pasture in the southwest. 



