38 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
it is certainly true when the hay is fed and the 
manure carefully saved and returned, to make an- 
other spot rich for alfalfa to grow upon. 
The story of Woodland Farm is only half told; 
the rest lies in the future. We have some acres that 
yield as much as 6 tons of hay each year, yet the 
average of the whole farm is less than 4 tons. Thus 
we are not yet inclined to boast of our success with 
alfalfa. We now are proceeding to try to spread 
these good yielding areas. What is the secret of the 
lands yielding alfalfa so well? Perhaps we do not 
know the whole story, but here is what -we can readily 
observe. One of these spots is a round hillock. It 
is a strong, tough, tenacious limestone clay. Stick- 
ing all through that clay are bits of limestone peb- 
bles, as large as grains of corn, as large as a man’s 
foot, and of all sizes. These pebbles are of soft mag- 
nesian limestone. They readily decay and keep the 
land very sweet. Alfalfa roots seem to like actually 
to touch carbonate of lime. On that hillock the al- 
falfa never gets old. It is one of the most productive 
spots on the farm. On it our father put much ma- 
nure, for it was, when he bought the farm, extremely 
unproductive. We have not manured here for many 
years. 
On other lands we find the limestone pebbles all 
dissolved away in the surface soil. When we dig 
down two feet we find them in abundance, but on 
the surface there are none. Here we are assuming 
that lime is needed, and are putting on more ear- 
bonate of lime, buying ground and unburned lime- 
