UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
| BULLETIN No. 881 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
ayje-'^^su 
Washington, D. C. 
August 10, 1920 
EFFECT OF ALFALFA ON THE SUBSEQUENT YIELDS 
OF IRRIGATED FIELD CROPS. 
By C. S. Scofield, 
Agriculturist in Charge, Office of Western Irrigation Agriculture. 
CONTENTS. 
Aim of the experiments 1 
Description of the experiments 2 
Results of the experiments 3 
Irish potatoes 3 
Page. 
Results of the experiments— Continued. 
Oats 7 
Sugar beets 9 
Summary 12 
AIM OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 
It has long been recognized that the growing of alfalfa has a 
beneficial effect upon the producing capacity of irrigated lands; in 
other words, crops grown on land following alfalfa give larger yields 
than those following nonleguminous crops. In the series of experi- 
ments here reported it is aimed to show the extent of this beneficial 
effect as observed with three common field crops in several different 
rotations at three different locations in the northern Great Plains. 
These experiments were conducted by the Bureau of Plant Industry 
at the following places: (1) The Scottsbluff Field Station/ located 
on the North Platte Reclamation Project, near Mitchell, Nebr.; 
(2) the Belle Fourche Field Station, located on the Belle Fourche 
Reclamation Project, near Newell, S. Dak.; and (3) the Huntley 
Field Station, 2 located on the Huntley Reclamation Project, near 
Huntley, Mont. These stations are so situated as to be representa- 
tive of conditions on much of the irrigated land in the northern 
Great Plains, and it is believed that the results secured are generally 
applicable to that region. 3 
i The work of this field station is conducted and supported cooperatively by the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture and the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. 
2 The work of this field station is conducted and supported cooperatively by the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. 
3 For a brief description of the agricultural and soil conditions of this region, see Scofield, C. S., Effect 
of farm manure in stimulating the yields of irrigated field crops. In Jour. Agr. Research, v. 15, No. 9, 
pp. 493-503. 1918. 
185530°— 20— Bull. 881 
