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from Siberia, through Turkestan to India and Burma, China, &c. In 

 North and South Africa, and in America from Canada, through all 

 the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chili, Argentine Republic, 

 &c. In Egypt it is cultivated on a small scale as a hot season crop — 

 " Berseem" (Trifolium alexandrinum), an annual legume is the 

 principal forage crop in this country, tinder experiment in Uganda, 

 the West Indies, Philippine Islands, Hawaiian Islands, and other 

 tropical countries, including arid, semi-arid, and wet regions. 



The chief: use of alfalfa is as a fodder for cattle, horses, sheep, 

 pigs and poultry. It may be used green, as hay, ensilage, ground 

 into meal, or as pasture. When fed in the cut green state or as 

 pasture, stock — especially cattle and sheep, require care, and only a 

 limited amount should be allowed at one time. 



The hay may be baled or stacked for convenience in feeding or for 

 export. Ensilage of this crop is not often necessary, as it is usually 

 grown under dry conditions or under irrigation, and it is moreover 

 not recommended for silos. 



The meal is the whole of the dried stems and leaves ground up, 

 which, when mixed with grain or molasses, makes a good feed. The 

 Lucerne Products Co., Omaha, Nebraska, have erected a large ware- 

 house and a mill for grinding the plant, and the meal there is in 

 great demand by stock-raisers and feeders (Cons. Rep. Ann. No. 3622, 

 1906, p. 88). 



For manuring it is valuable used in a green state, but it would be 

 more profitable to first feed it to stock. When the time comes to 

 dispense with an established area the plants can be ploughed under 

 for this purpose. 



The flowers are good for feeding bees. 



In view of the wide distribution, the climatic conditions obviously 

 admit of variation, although it is generally agreed that a dry climate 

 having a rainfall of about 20 to 25 in., and possibly to 50 is the most 

 suitable and under certain conditions of soil and temperature, 

 indispensable. The extremes for the cultivation of alfalfa in 

 Ecuador are given as between 16C0 metres and 3200 metres above 

 sea-level, with an average temperature of 15° C. [59° F.] (Dietrich, 

 U.S. Cons. Rep. Nov. 1907, p. 174). 



Soil is also of the first importance— it should be of unusual depth, 

 well drained, open, rich, and calcareous. The depth to which the 

 roots penetrate is remarkable ; ten or more feet is usual, but an 

 instance is recorded of a root going down to a depth of 129 ft. through 

 soil and rock (known to miners as " rotten porphyry ") in Nevada 

 (Queensland Agric. Journ. vii. 1900, p. 489 ; from Alfalfa, where and 

 how to grow it, by Chas. W. Irish). 



The subsoil therefore is of equal importance, and the duration of 

 the crop will depend very largely on its nature. It should be 

 naturally calcareous, well drained, and the general physical con- 

 dition similar to that near the surface. 



According to investigations made at the California Experiment 

 Station, on the relation of alfalfa to alkali soil, it was found that the 

 tolerance of salt solutions in the soil by young alfalfa plants is about 

 1200 lbs. of sodium carbonate, 750 lbs. of sodium chloride, and 

 1200 lbs. of sodium sulphate, per acre, for the upper 2 ft. Well 

 established plants are able to withstand a much larger proportion of 

 mineral salts, and they will thrive with the alkali, or at least the 

 excess of it kept below 5 or 6 ft., by proper irrigation (Hitchcock, 

 U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 215, 1905, p. 13) 



