HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 155 
With 30 inches of rainfall it would grow, but with 60 inches it would 
be drowned out. It was thought for a long while that it would not 
aad without irrigation, but that is a serious mistake. I have seen 
those parts of the country subject to drought. I have seen an 800-acre 
field of alfalfa that never had any irrigation at all; they had not a 
drop of rain there for six weeks, but on that account the alfalfa missed 
just one crop, and then a rain came, and within a month they had an 
abundant crop. 
Mr. Lever. What are the results of your experiments in South 
Carolina with alfalfa? 
Mr. Sprutman. Very satisfactory results, indeed. All over the 
State we have found soils on which the alfalfa thrives beautifully. 1 
know of one pasture in South Carolina which is said to be 40 years 
old. The owner of the farm did not know what it was, and he asked 
me what it was. 
Mr. Lerver. Was that near Lawrence? 
Mr. Sprrtman. Yes, sir. It was at Lawrence. 
Mr. Scorr. What do you consider the proper rainfall under which 
alfalfa can be properly grown? 
Mr. Sprtitman. That is an interesting question that we do not know 
fully about yet. Ihave been at this only two years, and that is the thing 
that we are working at now—to find the minimum rainfall with which 
we can produce alfalfa. In the State of Washington we can grow it 
with 10 inches of rainfall. 
Mr. Scorr. I was going to say we have grown it very successfully 
in western Kansas with 10 inches. 
Mr. Spruutman. When the rain is distributed favorably, it can be 
grown with 10 inches; yes. 
Mr. Scorr. I think very likely it depends upon the subirrigation. 
In the sections of Kansas where it grows with small rainfall there is a 
heavy underflow, 15 or 16 feet below the surface, and the long tap- 
roots of the plant no doubt are moistened all the time. 
Mr. Srrttman. Mr. Burleson spoke a few minutes ago about sub- 
irrigation. The water will rise by capillarity 5 or 6 feet from the 
leval of the water table below, and that is advantageous to the plant. 
Mr. Burieson. And with such a condition of subirrigation I sup- 
pose alfalfa would grow with comparatively little rain, would it not? 
Mr. Sprutman. Yes. In the State of Washington I know of a place 
where the average rainfall is not more than 7 inches a year, and they 
grow alfalfa there and never think of irrigating, but there is a sub- 
irrigation under the surface in that region. In the arid region the 
farmers do not like to see the soil water come too near the surface on 
account of the alkali that isin it. Now, we are experimenting with 
a good many varieties of alfalfa. 
A great many of our important crops have not been split up into 
their varieties. Now, we have varieties of wheat that are distinct and 
unified, and the same is true with corn and oats; but we have no dis- 
tinct varieties of timothy and no recognized varieties of red clover 
and alfalfa. But there are, nevertheless, varieties of alfalfa, the same 
as with wheat, but they are all mixed up together. A field of alfalfa 
may consist of 60 different varieties. Now, we are separating those 
varieties and securing still other varieties from other regions. Last 
summer one of the officers of our Bureau sent a man to Turkestan, 
Asia, to get alfalfa seed there to suit unusual conditions here. He 
