268 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



fair to presume that alfalfa will be one of the staple crops 

 in Michigan. On the station grounds at the agricultural 

 college fields of alfalfa have been continuously maintained 

 from 1897 to 1904. There are fields here sown in 1903 

 bearing their three crops each year, yielding from 5 to 

 7 tons of dry hay annually per acre. There has been some 

 difficulty in getting pure and vigorous seed. 



MINNESOTA. 



Prof. W. M. Liggett, Director Minnesota experiment 

 station. — Our experience with alfalfa has extended over 

 12 or 15 years. In the early days of this station, it was 

 not very successfully grown. During the past eight or 

 10 years, however, the changes in soil due to manures and 

 cultivation and the discovery of several varieties of alfalfa 

 which appear to be hardy, have made it possible to grow it 

 successfully in nearly every part of the state. For the past 

 five years we have cut three crops of alfalfa hay, yielding 

 from 4 to 5J4 tons per acre each year. With the land 

 properly prepared and some attention given to seeding 

 at the right time, there is no difficulty in growing it on 

 the state farm. Occasionally it will winterkill. We were 

 unfortunate enough to have a heavy, driving rain during 

 March of the present year which froze as it fell and 

 smothered the alfalfa crop. We are not discouraged, 

 however, as the clover crop in southeastern Minnesota 

 was killed at the same time and from the same cause. We 

 regard alfalfa just as sure as Red clover. It is sometimes 

 a little difficult to get a stand under careless methods of 

 farming. With the land nicely prepared and with a 

 good supply of humus in such condition that the plant 



