290 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



as the first always contains more or less foul stuff, and 

 the third will not mature seed. I dispose of hay at from 

 $4 to $ro a ton — ^the same price as other hay in the same 

 market — and it is in great demand for milch cows. The 

 seed costs me from lo to i6 cents a pound. The straw 

 makes good feed, but of course is not so good as the 

 hay. For feeding farm animals, alfalfa is superior to 

 clover or timothy. We produce as fine beef here, by feed- 

 ing alfalfa alone, as can be done in Kansas or elsewhere 

 by feeding ordinary hay and corn. The pasturage is 

 profitable and satisfactory for horses and sheep, and for 

 hogs it is unsurpassed — ^they will grow and fatten on it 

 without other food. Cattle on the pasture sometimes 

 bloat, but not when they are used to it, or when It is dry. 

 I keep about 150 head, and in eight years have lost but 

 two. The roots will grow to, but not Into, water, and 

 thrive in deep gravelly or sandy soil. The plant sends 

 down a large, straight taproot, which, as it approaches 

 water, branches and spreads out into numerous small 

 rootlets. 



Prof. George C Watson, Director Pennsylvania ex- 

 periment station, — ^During the past five or six years the 

 experiment station has received many letters requesting 

 information pertaining to the growth and cultivation of 

 alfalfa. From these communications it has been learned 

 that many farmers have attempted to grow alfalfa on land 

 that is not at all well suited for this purpose, and conse- 

 quently, many failures have resulted. The first attempts 

 to grow alfalfa were made wholly by spring seeding, 

 which, in most instances, has proved quite unsatisfactory. 



