# -PETER HENDERSON & CO., NEW YORK 



15 



ALFALFA or LUCERN. 



(Medicago sativa.) 



•"fins clover-like, leguminous plant is perhaps the most valuable permanent cropper for 

 1 forage and hay that is grown, yielding, when established, regardless of drought, 

 enormous crops annually for many years. Three to six cuttings are usually harvest- 

 ed per season, aggregating three to eight tons of cured hay per acre, and a yield of eigh t to 

 twelve tons under favorable conditions is not unusual. The feeding value of Alfalfa is very 

 high, being rich in protein — the blood, muscle and bone-forming elements required for grow- 

 ing animals; it is also a rich milk and butter producer when fed to cows. It is greatly 

 relished by all stock either in pasture or cut and fed green or as cured hay, and they all 

 thrive on it, though there is danger that cattle and sheep may bloat if turned into a lux- 

 uriant pasture of Alfalfa while the dew is on. 



Alfalfa is a great improver of the soil, gathering nitrogen from the air and adding it 

 ■with humus to the soil when the deep-rooted stubble is plowed under, thus putting the 

 land in fine condition for following crops. Alfalfa may be successfully grown in almost 

 every State in the Union when the essential conditions can be supplied. Its best develop- 

 ment is attained under the particuliirly congenial conditions in the Western and Pacific 

 Coast States, yet its cultivation is rapidly increasing in the Middle and Eastern States, as 

 its requirements and culture are better understood. The Alfalfa plant grows three to five 

 feet high and 6ends a single taproot down into the soil oight to twelve feet, and in deep, 

 sandy soils twenty to thirty feet ; in consequence, it thrives best where soil and subsoil will 

 permit of deep penetration of the roots about which water must not stand. A congenial 

 soil is sandy loam with permeable subsoil, though it will thrive in any sweet, well-drained 

 soil excepting heavy clay and low, wet land. Calcareous soil suits it especially well. 



Another essential is to get the plants well established. The young seed lings beingrather 

 delicate, the best results have been attained in the East where the seed has been drilled in 

 during the spring in rows twelve to eighteen inches apart and then cultivated the first 

 Bummer ; by this method, the young plants keep ahead of the weeds and get a good, strong 

 start, after which they are able to care for themselves. A small crop may then be taken off 

 late in the season, provided it is cut early enough to allow five or six leaves to develop 

 before winter sets in, or is cut about six inches above the ground. Full cropping must not 

 be expected until the second year, hut after a field of Alfalfa is established it lasts for a 

 lifetime, continuing to yield annually, regardless of droughts, phenomenal crops, amply 

 repaying the expenditure of time and trouble. Alfalfa should be cut as soon as it begins 

 to flower. 



The time to sow in the Middle and Eastern States is in the spring, 20 to 25 lbs. per acre 

 if broadcasted or 15 to 20 lbs. if drilled in, the latter method being advised ; in the South 

 sow in February or September. (See cut.) 



Price, Henderson's Superior Alfalfa Seed, 22 cts. per lb., $12.75 per bushel of 

 60 lbs., $20.00 per 100 lbs. 



" The Government analysis of the sample of Alfalfa sent to me some time ago, I am 

 glad to say , stood ahead of twelve other samples sent to the Government at the same time. 

 Kindly quote me price delivered to Wilcox Wharf, Va., on enough to sow sixty acres." 



E. A. Saunders, Jr., Richmond, Va. 



CRIMSON or SCARLET £1 Aypn 



(Tri folium lncarnatum.) W I— «V-f Y I— * IV* 



ALL lands from which crops have been harvested during the summer and fall 

 should be sown with Scarlet Clover for plowing under the following spring. 

 The plowing under a good crop of Scarlet Clover is equivalent to 20 tons of 

 stable manure per acre. 



lfintendedforfeeding.it should always be cutwhile in the young stage and never 

 fed to stock after the crop has ceased flowering, as serious results are apt to follow 

 the feeding of over-ripe Crimson Clover. It is the cheapest source of nitrogen and 

 should be extensively used throughout the entire Eastern States. Its value as a 

 winter soil mulch and for green manuring for orchards cannot be overestimated. 



In the latitude of New York, time for sowing may 

 extend from July 15th to September 15th, and 

 furtherSouth up to October. The seed needs 

 to be onlylightly covered, and a good plan 

 istosowon fresh plowing and coverwith 

 a light harrow. Sow 15 lbs. per acre. 



Choice new crop seed 

 of highest growing qual- 

 ity, thoroughly recleaned 

 and free from weed seeds. 

 (See cut.) 12 cts. lb., $6.50 

 bushel, $10.00 per 100 

 lbs. 



We shall be pleased to make Special Prices 



to buyers of large quantities of Grain or Grass Seed. 





