PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES 303 



along without alfalfa. I have lOO acres, from which are 

 cut from 2 to 2j^ tons of hay per acre, and from 800 to 

 1300 bushels of seed each year, and it has not been irri- 

 gated for 15 years. Last year the seed yield was 968 

 bushels, and the grasshoppers damaged it considerably; 

 the seed brought 10 cents per pound on the track here. 

 We make good beef from the hay alone, and have done 

 so on the threshed straw. 



VERMONT. 



Prof /. L. Hill, Director Vermont experiment sta- 

 tion, in Bulletin No. X14 says that popular interest in 

 the question of alfalfa culture was never so great in Ver- 

 mont as it is today. The result of 56 trials at as many 

 Vermont points are summarized : as, permanent successes, 

 12; temporary successes, ten; success at outset, eight; 

 seeming success, five; questionable, seven; failure, 14. 

 Thirty-six per cent of the trials may fairly be said to 

 have been a success, and 68 per cent of these were located 

 in the Champlain valley. Only 10 of the 56 alfalfa 

 growers appear to have sown more than an acre. It 

 should be noted that success with a fraction of an acre 

 does not of necessity imply that an equal degree of suc- 

 cess would be attained with plantings on larger areas. 

 The preeminence of the Champlain valley in alfalfa grow- 

 ing seems to be due to the character of the farming in 

 that section and to the nature of its soil Failures may 

 generally be ascribed to one or more of several unfavor- 

 able soil or weather conditions, to weeds, to disease, or 

 to seed which either is inferior or from an unsuitable 

 source. There seems to be a sufficient proportion of 



