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28 FORAGE CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS. 
Yakima region considerable clover, orchard grass, and Kentucky blue- 
grass are raised, the latter usually for pasture. While bluegrass 
thrives here, it is not considered a paying crop for hay, especially 
when compared with timothy and alfalfa. 
ALFALFA. 
It is not necessary to go into details regarding alfalfa, as its growth 
in this general region has recently been discussed at considerable length 
by a member of the office staff.¢ Some additional points with refer- 
ence to it, however, are of sufficient importance for record at this time. 
It is unusual, especially in the West, to attempt to g@row alfalfa 
without irrigation, but a few experiments observed appear to indicate 
that production in this way may become of some importance in certain 
favored localities. ‘Two small areas with no irrigation whatever were 
seen near Prescott, Wash., which bore much promise. The best of 
these was on the farm of U. L. Malloy, about 7 miles from Prescott. 
This had not been cut when seen, but it would yield, apparently, about 
2 tons of dry feed per acre. Another area a short distance west of 
Ritzville, in the same State, also showed considerable promise. Here 
it was evidently intended to be used as a summer pasture for hogs. 
The growing of alfalfa without irrigation deserves attention, for there 
are probably many limited areas in this general region where it can be 
grown successfully without the aid of an artificial water supply.? 
The ability of this crop to withstand large amounts of soluble salts 
in the soil was especially noted at Lovelock. It is truly remarkable 
what has been done in the upper settlements here in the reclaiming of 
alkaline desert lands. Much of the best alfalfa land above Lovelock, 
where the finest crops are now grown, was recently what is popularly 
known as ‘‘ hilly grease-wood land,” which is always alkaline. This 
land is characterized by having a rather heavy growth of grease wood 
and saltbush (Atriplex torreyana), with the bushes as a rule situated 
on mounds 1 to 38 feet high, making of the generally level plain 
a very rough and uneven surface. Before the land can be handled at 
all the brush must be gotten rid of and the mounds must be leveled 
off; then comes the task of getting an alfalfa crop established. To 
one whois not an expert in alfalfa culture the task would appear hope- 
less. A grain crop, usually wheat or barley, is raised for one or two 
years, until the land is subdued, when alfalfa is sown, in the majority 
of cases without a nurse crop. The surface salt in the heaviest deposits 
is removed by flooding and draining rapidly just before the seed is 
@ 2S 
w@A.S. Hitcheock. Cultivated Forage Crops of the Northwestern States, Bulletin 
No. 31, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. 8. Department of Agriculture, 1903. 
bAlfalfa is grown quite successfully without irrigation in the wheat-growing dis- 
tricts of eastern Washington, yielding one and sometimes two cuttings a year.— 
W. JS. 
