136 Richard Frotscher's Almanac and Garden Manual 



Having received many enquiries on the culture of Alfalfa, I reprint 

 the following letter, written by E. M. Hudson, Esq., a close observer 

 on the subject, to give information thereon : 



YlLLA FrIEDHEIM, 



Mobile Coiintif, Ala., September 7, 1S7S. 

 Mr. E. Feotscher, New Orleans, La. : 



Dear Sir -. — l^our letter of the 3d inst. has just reached me, and I 

 cheerfully comply witn your request to give you the results of my ex- 

 l)eriments with Lucerne or Alfalfa, and my opinion of it as a forage 

 plant for the South. 



I preface my statement with the observation that my experiments 

 have been conducted on a naturally poor, piney woods soil (which 

 would be classed as a sandy soil), varying in depth from six inches to 

 one foot. But I have a good red clay sub-soil, which enables the soil 

 to retain the fertilizers applied to it, thus rendering it susceptible of 

 permanent enriching. 



Three years since, when my attention w^as ilrst directed to Alfalfa, 

 I sought the advice of the editor of the Journal of Progress, Professor 

 Stelle, who informed me that, after attempting for several years to 

 cultivate it, he had desisted. He stated that the plant, at Citronelle, 

 in this county, died out every summer, not being able to withstand 

 the hot suns of our climate. Discouraged but not dismayed, I deter- 

 mined to test the matter on a small scale at first. Having procured 

 some seed in March, 1876, I planted them on a border in my garden^ 

 and gave neither manure nor work that season. The early summer 

 here that year w^as very dry ; there was no rain whatever from the 

 first of June to the 23d of July, and from the 2d of August to the 15th of 

 November not a drop of rain fell on my place. Yet, during all this 

 time, my Alfalfa remained fresh, bloomed, and was cut two or three 

 times. On the 1st of November I dug some of it to examine the habit 

 of root-growth, and to my astonishment found it necessary to go 22 

 inches below the surface to reach anything like the end of the top 

 roots. At once it was apparent that the plant was, by its very habit 

 of growth, adapted to hot and dry climates. It is indeed a "child of 

 the sun." 



Encouraged by this experiment, in which I purposely refrained from 

 giving the Alfalfa any cai-e beyond cutting it occasionally, last year^ 

 I proceeded on a larger scale, planting both spring and fall, as I have 

 done again this year to ascertain the best season for putting in the 

 seed. My experience teaches that there is no preference to be given to 

 spring sowings over those of autumn, 2^^^ov'ided only, there be enough 

 moisture in the soil to make the seed germinate, which they do .more 

 quickly and more surely than the best turnips. Two winters have 

 proved to me that the Alfalfa remains green throughout the winter in 

 this latitude, 25 miles North of Mobile, and at an altitude of 400 feet 

 above tide-water. Therefore I should prefer fall sowing which will 

 give the first cutting from the first of March to the 1st of April follow- 

 ing. This season my first cutting was made on the 1st of April ; and 

 I have cut it since regularly every four or six weeks, according to the 

 weather, to cure for hay. Meanwhile a portion has been cut almost 



