156 HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 
secured some seed that is grown in an exceedingly cold winter, to be 
placed in the States in this country like the Dakotas, where the win- 
‘ters are very severe; and we are growing seed for distribution up 
there in the future. We are getting seeds from arid countries, and 
we hope to have varieties that will grow readily with 10 inches of 
rainfall. That, however, has yet to be determined, and that is some 
of the work we want to do in the immediate future. Now, this alfalfa 
crop has been made important in the East, to some extent, by clover 
‘sicknesses. There has been difficulty in the East during the past six 
or eight years in getting a stand of clover, and that has made farm- 
ers more interested in the alfalfa crop. 
Mr. Henry. Do you know what is the cause? : 
Mr. Srrutman. It is not the same thing always. It is like the dis- 
ease called the heart disease, where if a man gets shot through the 
heart he is said to die of heart disease, but that term may be applied to 
a large number of other diseases of the heart. In some cases it is due 
to acidity of the soil, in other cases bacteria, and in some the soil is 
worn-out. s 
The CuarrMaNn. I think that last is probably the most frequent cause, 
and if it happens to be dry at the wrong time you won’t get clover. 
If you have rain at the right time, you get the clover. 
Mr. GrarFr. Is alfalfa harder to get set than clover? 
Mr. Sprmiman. Itis easier to get thestand. If you do certain things, 
you will get a good stand of alfalfa. Alfalfa will grow under condi- 
tions where clover will not grow at all. Alfalfa will grow in southern 
Texas, and there is difficulty in getting clover to grow anywhere in 
Texas. Besides, alfalfa lasts longer and yields a great deal more of 
richer food than clover does. 1 know of some regions where the work 
horses are fed on alfalfa all the year round. That is not a scientific 
way of feeding horses, but: ; 
The CHarrman. But the horses do their work all right? 
Mr. Srrttman. Yes; fairly well. I know other men who feed alfalfa 
and barley together and plow 3 acres a day with the team, but a man 
who uses alfalfa alone for his horses can plow only 2 acres a day. 
Mr. Burixson. Speaking of growing alfalfa on the light sandy soils 
of Kansas, is there not great danger of the sand whipping the youn 
tender plants to death before they come up high enough to withstand it? 
Mr. Sprtiman. If you had a sand storm out there before the plants 
got 3 inches high you would have to sow it over again. When the 
sagebrush drifts off the sand drifts very badly. Plants of that sort 
have lately been put under irrigation, and there is great difficulty of 
preventing the soil from blowing away. But if they can have favor- 
able weather, with no wind, until the plants can get a stand, the sand 
quits drifting and the plant grows. 
Mr. Buruxson. What is the depth of that sand? 
Mr. Srrmuman. From 50 to 100 feet; perhaps deeper in places. 
Mr. Burteson. And when you once get the stand of alfalfa, it does 
fairly well? 
Mr. Sprutman. More than fairly well in that section. I know of a 
man there who gets 84 tons an acre from it. 
The Cyatrman. Where is this? 
Mr. Sprttman. A man at Sunnyside, Washington State, in. the 
Yakima country. But I should say he is a good farmer. A poor 
farmer would getless. There are three cuttings ina season, sometimes 
