“ 
as 
=o See 
PETER A BNDERSON: & CO: NEW YORK 13 
ALFALFA os LUCERN oencSiziown 
miEeLDS GOOD CROPS IN ALL SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 
AN EFFICIENT HAY-PRODUCER. AND SOIL-ENRICHER, 
It has been well said that if ‘Corn is king,’’ Alfalfa is the “queen 
of forage plants.” That this fact is being brought home to the farmers 
of the North and East, is indicated to us by the enormous increase 
in our sales of HENDERSON’S RE-CLEANED ALFALFA SEED. 
Yet Alfalfa growing in the Northeast is only in its infancy and we 
predict, in the near future, a vast increase in the acreage devoted 
to its cultivation. Alfalfa is a true leguminous plant, and a peren- 
nial, 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 contained 
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 author- 
ity that the amount of fertilizer, that will come from an acre of good 
Alfalfa is equal 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, totalling 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 ideal food for 
fattening all farm animals, one supplementing the other. Alfalfa 
and Barley, Alfalfa and Wheat, or Alfalfa and Oats are all 
excellent combinations. The diagram on this page shows the per- 
centage of nutrients in an acre of Alfalfa, com- 
pared 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 differ- 
ent 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 
TIMOTHY 
1/2 ATons - 
(3,000 Ibs.) 
per acre - 
- Digestible ~ 
Nutrients 
| 46% equal - 
1380. Ibs: -: 
Digestible nutrients of five principal feeds on one acre 
ground limestone per acre. The preparation of the seed-bed is im- 
portant, and the best growers disk and harrow the land before 
plowing, thus preparing a seed-bed and turning it under, while with 
a single plowing the bottom would be cloddy, loose and not con- 
nected with the soil below the furrow. A firm connection is neces- 
sary to permit the capillary rise of water which encourages rapid 
germination, enables the young roots to push through the firm 
soil, and thus promote the rapid growth, and establishment of the 
plants. Alfalfa requires little attention the first season unless there 
is a growth of twelve inches or more before cold weather. This 
should be clipped back to eight inches or so and will then be in 
a good condition for wintering. Full cuttings can be taken off the 
following summer and fall. The crop should be cut when the 
plants are about one-tenth in bloom, being at that stage much 
more digestible than when older. 
The time to sow in the North and Eastern 
States is June, July or August, 30 to 40 lbs. per 
acre if broadcasted or 25 to 30 
ALEALEA - 
Ibs. if drilled in; in the South 
sow in February or September. CORN ; 4 Tons 
(See cut.) SILAGE (8,000 Ibs. ) 
Price, Henderson’s Superior er’acre 
Alfalfa Seed, 34c. per Ib.; : PE Syne 
$18.50 per 12 Tons . Digestible 
bushel of 60 24,000 Ibs. : s 
Ibs.; $30.00 SHELLED |RmMReM fons 
per 100 lbs. oe thes a 
Digestible 
CORN 
tush s ba ; Nutrients. _ 
16% * 
equal 
3840 Ibs 
> 
Write for our new pamphlet “ALFALFA ON NORTHERN FARMS” free to all applicants 
