HENDERSON’S FARMERS MANUAL 
ALFALFA or LUCERNE 
(Medicago Sativa) | 
Yields Good Crops in All Sections of the United States 
Is a Most Efficient Soil-Enricher and Hay-Producer 
Alfalfa is a true leguminous perennial plant, staying on the land for many 
years. It sends down its long tap-roots into the subsoil, whatever depth that 
may be—five, ten, twenty, or even thirty feet, and utilizes the plant foods con- 
tained therein. It is a great soil enricher, for the nodules on its roots are the 
home of bacteria that extract the nitrogen from the air and transform it into a 
valuable fertilizing element. For this purpose it is superior to any other plant, 
because in addition to the nitrogen gathered from the air, its deep tap-roots 
bring up other mineral constituents from the lower layers of soil, to be utilized 
later by shallow feeding crops. It has been calculated by competent authority 
that the amount of fertilizer that will come from an acre of good alfalfa is equal i 
to what the farmer would pay $60.00 for, if purchased by the bag. As a hay : 
producer it surely has no equal when once established, as from three to four ' 
cuttings may be had in a season, according to conditions, totaling four to six tons 
per acre. 
THE FEEDING VALUE OF ALFALFA 
is very high, being very rich in protein—which builds up blood, muscle and bone 
in growing animals. Corn and its fodder, and most other farm crops, are rich 
in carbo-hydrates, the fat-forming element, but deficient in protein, so that Alfalfa 
is the best crop to balance up the fat-forming feeds. Corn and Alfalfa form the l, 
ideal food for fattening all farm animals, one supplementing the other. Alfalfa 
and Barley, Alfalfa and Wheat, or Alfalfa and Oats are all excellent combina- | 
tions. The diagram on this page shows the percentage of nutrients in an acre of } 
Alfalfa, compared with those in four other principal foods. | 
Alfalfa naturally prefers a rich, loose limestone soil with a porous subsoil : 
but it also grows and thrives on a variety of soils, and in many different climates. 
Briefly, there are three essentials—the land must be drained if wet, it must be 
sweetened with lime if acid, and there must be humus and nitrogen in the soil, 
which may be easily supplied by barnyard manures, or green crops plowed under. 
When lime is not present in the soil, it must be supplied, the amount used being 
1 ton of quicklime, or 2 tons of ground limestone per acre. 
The crop should be cut when the plants are about one-tenth in bloom, being 
at that stage much more digestible than when older. Write for our pamphlet 
“Alfalfa on Northern Farms,” sent free to all applicants. 
GRIMM ALFALFA 
The Hardiest Alfalfa Known 
DOMESTIC GROWN 
The attention of the Minnesota experiment station was called to this Alfalfa 
in 1901 and by careful experimentation Grimm Alfalfa was found to be far superior 
to common kinds in withstanding unfavorable winters. This strain of Alfalfa 
seed not only endures extremely low temperature, but it can be cut with greater 
safety in the fall, and will bear more abuse in the way of pasturage than any other 
forage plant. Grimm Alfalfa has larger crowns, and a more spreading root system 
than the ordinary Alfalfa. It is also claimed that it will yield from ten to fifteen 
per cent more than any other variety, and will start and thrive in undrained wet 
locations, where the ordinary sort was tried unsuccessfully. One of the charac- 
teristics of the Grimm Alfalfa is that some of the plants produce peculiar greenish- 
yellow flowers. The seed is high priced and it is rather hard to get the genuine 
article. Sow 30 lbs. per acre. 
Price, purchaser paying transportation, lb. 70c.; 10 lbs. $6.00; 25 lbs. $14.00; 
100 lbs. $50.00. 
gre HENDERSON’S RECLEANED ALFALFA 
" GRIMM ALFALFA _ eae NORTHERN GROWN ALFALFA ; ee 
‘Makes a luxurious growth on © (Medicago sativa) CORN - 4 1 ONs« 
soil upon which ordinary Al- = - 7:2: rs 
falfa will not thrive. i DOMESTIC GROWN SILAGE (8,000 Ibs. ) 
; ; A Clover-like leguminous plant of great 
importance as a hay and forage crop, 
per acre 
nutrious and rich in protein elements. It grows 2 to 5 feet high and sends roots 5, 10, 20, and sometimes 30 12: Tons: I ‘Digestible 
feet into the subsoil. It needs one season to become established, after which it yields 3 (24,000 Ibs.) ~ Nutrients 
enormous crops annually for many years. 3 or 4 cuttings per season, aggregating 4 to 6- SHELLED : Fae te 
tons cured hay per acre, are harvested, according to conditions and locality. It does well on CORN : -' 53% y 
all good, rich soils (except heavy clay), if well drained, or overlying a permeable subsoil; i os equal 
on calcareous soil it thrives especially well. Alfalfa is one of the best : : e Oa ; 
cover crops for orchards. Our strain of seed is grown in far Northern 60° Bus. 2 16%. = 4240. Ibs. 
regions, where plants have to endure extreme cold and still thrive CLOVER (3,360 Ibs.) ~ equal = ; > | 
in those high altitudes. Our experience—and that per acre’ 3840 Ibs. 
of our customers—has shown that such seed is un- : ,; Digestible 2 : 
doubtedly the best for the North and Eastern States. TIMOTHY 2 Tons Rintsens 
Before offering this seed to our customers for sale, (4,000 Ibs.): 
it is thoroughly recleaned by the most modern seed § |¥2 Tons per acre 807% 
cleaning machinery. By this process we separate § (3,000 Te) Digestible equal BA 
the sound, perfect seeds from all rubbish and light, per acre j Nutrients 2688 Ibs: | 
imperfect seeds. Sowin the Northern States during { Digestible 46% 
June, July or August, 30 to 40 Ibs. of seed per acre if - Nutrients % equal: .: 
broadcasted, 25 to 30 Ibs. if drilled. In the South 46% equal 1840 Ibs 
sow in February or September. (See Engraving.) § 1380 Ibs. tel 
Price, purchaser paying transportation, Ib. 60c.; : 
10 lbs. $5.00; 25 lbs. $11.25; 100 lbs. $40.00. Diagram Showing Digestible Nutrients of Five Principal Feeds on One Acre 
The Purchaser Pays Transportation Charges on Farm Seeds, Except Where Noted. 
