494 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
His wonderful success with alfalfa is due in part 
to the manure he has made; conversely the success 
of the fowls and cows is largely due to the alfalfa 
that they have had. Heis a good man, doing a good 
work in spreading the gospel of intensive agricul- 
ture in the South. Costly as is his preparation of 
the land, he gets it all back, with interest, the first 
year afterward. 
Melilotus as a Preparation for Alfalfan—Since we 
are considering the South, with its quite general 
lack of humus in the soil, we may as well glance at 
the splendid capabilities of the melilotus plant. 
Cousin to alfalfa, having the same bacteria and 
somewhat the same root system, it is yet curiously 
enough able to get along with little or no humus in 
the soil. This I have not yet been able ordinarily 
to accomplish with alfalfa. Only in some excep- 
tional instances does it grow strongly in soils defi- 
cient in humus. Thus melilotus is able to prepare 
the way for alfalfa. It needs all the things that 
alfalfa needs, excepting that it does not demand 
manure and will grow quite well on very hard soils. 
I have even seen it growing vigorously on the lime- 
stone rocks of Alabama. It has been demonstrated 
that a strong growth of melilotus turned under 
makes a splendid preparation for alfalfa. It can 
be established anywhere that the land can be thor- 
oughly limed. It makes good pasture and hay of 
nearly the same value as alfalfa; it enriches the soil 
and paves the way for alfalfa. It is therefore well 
worth considering in any scheme of soil-building in 
