490 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
ful valley, where C. E. Buek owns a large tract 
called Kensington Farm. Mr. Buek is a manufac- 
turer of iron; the farm is a side-issue. I had the 
pleasure of helping establish alfalfa on this place, 
through the cordial co-operation of Mr. Buek and 
his efficient manager, C. E. Huffman. I have never 
in the world seen finer alfalfa than grows on part 
of Kensington Farm. We think that in the end we 
will make it all as fine. I learned quite a good many 
things in helping establish alfalfa at Kensington. 
The land, naturally fertile, had been kept in quite 
good heart by the use of manure from a large dairy. 
It was all deficient in lime. We set up a lime- 
grinding plant and ground the flinty limestone into 
coarse powder, some of it as coarse as cornmeal. 
We decided that large amounts of coarse stuff ap- 
plied would give more permanent results than lesser 
amounts of finely-ground material. To grind the 
limestone and spread it on the soil cost, the manager 
estimates, 90 cents per ton, not taking account of 
depreciation in the plant. We applied from 7 to 
about 20 tons to the acre of this material. Where 
we used the limedust most liberally we got the 
strongest, cleanest alfalfa. The grinding was ac- 
complished by using first a jaw crusher and next a 
swing-hammer pulverizer. Little breakage or delay 
was experienced in grinding up some 1,500 tons, al- 
though the hammers had to be renewed in the pul- 
verizer. 
The general scheme of alfalfa seeding at Kensing 
ton has been to let alfalfa follow cowpeas. The 
