HISTORY. 15 
Louisiana perhaps leading. Alfalfa revels in alluvial 
soils rich in lime. These soils are found along the 
deltas of the Mississippi, Arkansas and Red rivers. 
A great per cent of the state of Louisiana is adapted 
to alfalfa growing once it is drained and the soil 
made ready. Mississippi has alluvial ‘‘buckshot’’ 
soils along the western side and limestone black soils 
along the eastern side. In each of these soil types 
alfalfa thrives. It is a remarkable fact that lands 
that can be bought for $25 to $50 per acre in these 
states will grow four tons of alfalfa hay per acre 
and the hay is worth at present writing $20 per ton. 
Albama has similar limestone soils and is doing well 
with alfalfa thereon. The common upland soils of 
Alabama will grow alfalfa when well limed and en- 
riched and it is thriving in many places where right 
preparation has been made. 
With all this encouraging evidence of the spread 
of. alfalfa culture there remains much to be done. 
Not one acre in a thousand is made ready for alfalfa 
that should be made ready. Think of Iowa with her 
wide fields of maize, steadily growing less and less 
fertile because of the drain made upon them; think 
of her herds of cattle, her sheep, her cows and swine 
all craving alfalfa to balance up a ration too exclu- 
sively corn. Think of Illinois, her high priced lands, 
her fields famed for riches but their fertility steadily 
diminishing, her need of foods rich in protein, her 
need of soil building. And Indiana with her poorer 
soils and smaller farms needs alfalfa on every farm 
she possesses, and Ohio needs it more with her thou- 
