59 



the leaves about a foot long, and half an inch wide, and the spike-like 

 panicle 4 to 8 inches long. Mr. W. 0. Cusick, of Oregon, says : 



This is a very valuable grass, commonly known as rye-grass. In Baker County 

 large quantities are cut for nay, for which it is said to be excellent. It is also much 

 used as a winter-forage plant. Cattle are driven into the dry bottoms where it grows, 

 and live upon it when the shorter grasses are covered with snow. 



(Plate 29.) 

 Medicago sativa (Alfalfa). 



This plant is called lucerne, medick, Spanish trefoil, French clover, 

 Brazilian clover, and Chilian clover. It is not a true clover, though 

 belonging to the same natural family as the clovers. Alfalfa, the 

 name by which it is commonly known in this country, is the Spanish 

 name, which came into use here from the fact that the plant was intro- 

 duced into cultivation in California from South America under the 

 name of alfalfa, or Brazilian clover. The plant had previously been 

 introduced into the Eastern and Southern States, but attracted little 

 attention until its remarkable success in California. In Europe it is 

 generally known as lucerne, probably from the canton of Lucerne, in 

 Switzerland, where it was largely cultivated at an early day. It has 

 been known in cultivation from very ancient times, and was introduced 

 from western Asia into Greece about 500 B. C. It is now largely grown 

 in southern France, and to a considerable extent in other parts of 

 Europe. It has been introduced into several of the countries of South 

 America, and on the pampas of Buenos Ayres it has escaped from cul- 

 tivation, and grows extensively in a wild state. Though known for a 

 long time in the United States, alfalfa is not yet cultivated to the extent 

 that it should be. 



Prof. E. W. Hilgard, in the Report of the Department of Agriculture 

 for 1878, page 490, says : 



Undoubtedly the most valuable result of the search after forage crops adapted to 

 the California climate is the introduction of the culture of alfalfa, this being the 

 name commonly applied to the variety of lucerne that was introduced into California 

 from Chili early in her history, differing from the European plant merely in that it 

 has a tendency to taller growth and deeper roots. The latter habit, doubtless ac- 

 quired in the dry climate of Chili, is of course especially valuable in California, as it 

 enables the plant to stand a drought so protracted as to kill out even more persistent 

 plants than red clover. As a substitute for the latter it is difficult to overestimate 

 the importance of alfalfa to Califoruian agriculture, which will be more and more 

 recognized as a regular system of rotation becomes a part of the general practice. At 

 first alfalfa was used .almost exclusively for pasture and green-soiling purposes, but 

 during the last three or four years altJalfa hay has become a regular article in the 

 general market ; occasional objection to its use being the result of want of practice 

 in curing. On the irrigated lands of Kern, Fresno, and Tulare Counties, three and 

 even four cuts of forage, aggregating to something like 12 to 14 tons of hay per acre, 

 have frequently been made. As the most available green forage during summer, 

 alfalfa has become an invaluable adjunct to all dairy and stock farming wherever 

 the soil can, during the dry season, supply any moisture within 2 or o feet of the 

 surface. 



(Plate 30.) 



