43 

 William C. Cusick, Uuiou, Oreg. : 



Alfalfa is not extensively grown in this locality. It is hardy only at the lowest al- 

 titudes, or where snow falls deeply. It prefers dry sandy soils that can be irrigated — 

 on such lauds yielding 3 to 4 tons per acre. Without irrigation it is hardly worth 

 cutting. This applies to the portion of the State east of the Cascade Mountains. 



A few extracts from various agricultural papers and other publica- 

 tions are here inserted. 



Southern Live Stock Journal : 



The value of Alfalfa in California is inestimable. The plant is eminently adapted 

 to the soil and climate of that State. It is wonderfully productive. It is grown with 

 success in Colorado and some of the Territories, and now and then an isolated report 

 comes up from the great State of Texas that it is fulfilling the highest hopes of those 

 who have given it their attention. Here and there from the Carolinas, Georgia, 

 Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, come favorable reports, but these in- 

 stances are few and tar between. The fact is Alfalfa has never yet had a fair trial in 

 Southern agriculture. Our people, as a people, have never appreciated its value as 

 a worthy addition to Southern grasses and forage plants. 



The failures that have been made with this plant in the South are doubtless due 

 to the fact that (1) the weeds were allowed to choke it out the first year, or the stock 

 to graze it too closely and bite off the crowns of the plants before the roots were 

 firmly established ; (2) the land was not rich enough ; it requires very rich land ; 

 (3) that the land was not suitable to its growth, or that it held too much water and 

 ought to hav,e been underdrained. 



Tulare County (California) Begister : 



Alfalfa is the foundation of prosperity in Tulare County. It begins to yield the 

 very year it is sown, and increases its yield many years afterward. It will grow 

 where nothing else will, and sends its roots deep down into the moist strata which 

 underlie the top soil all over the county. Alfalfa not only furnishes food for horses, 

 cattle, and sheep, but hogs aud poultry thrive upon it as upon nothing else until fat- 

 tening time conies, when a little Egyptian or Indian corn must be fed to make the 

 llesh solid. In Tulare, Alfalfa yields from 6 to 10 tons of hay per acre each summer, 

 besides supplying good pasturage the rest of the season ; when it goes to seed it often 

 fields a return of $40 to $60 per acre in seed alone, besides yielding nearly as valuable 

 a hay crop as when not permitted to go to seed. Upon Alfalfa and stock, Tulare is 

 building a great and assured prosperity. 



George Tyng, in Florida Dispatch : 



Sow in any month when the ground is moist, and at least four to six weeks before 

 heavy frost or before the season of heat and drought. Less seed will be required if 

 it is soaked before sowing. Put the seed into any convenient vessel and cover with 

 water, not boiling, but too hot to be comfortable to the hand, and keep in a warm 

 place for eighteen to twenty-four hours until the seeds swell enough to partially rup- 

 ture their dark hulls. When the seeds are ready for sowing, drain off all the water 

 through a sieve or bag and dry the seeds with cotton-seed meal, land plaster, or other 

 material, increasing the bulk to a bushel and a half or two bushels for every 20 pounds. 

 If the ground be dry cultivate just before sowing, and sow in the afternoon. Cover 

 as soon as possi ble, and guard against covering too deeply. The best convenient thing 

 for this purpose is a light drag made of the bushy branches of trees." 



Prof. E. W. Hilgard, in the Keport 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 Califor- 



