HOW I DISCOVERED 
GRIMM ALFALFA 
THE 
In 1890 while teaching school some ten miles west of home in Carver 
county we found the farmers growing alfalfa or “Ewiger Klee” (everlasting 
clover) they called it. I took a sample of the hay home and showed its 
superiority over red clover. The following spring my father purchased 
thirty pounds of alfalfa seed in Minneapolis and seeded two acres in barley 
and had a good stand. The next summer this cut three heavy crops of hay 
and there was quite a fourth crop that we did not cut or pasture. In the 
spring we found the alfalfa all dead. This was a great disappointment and 
we were at a loss to know why it had winter killed. 
Later we found that the Germans still had a perfect stand and upon 
careful inquiry found that they had suffered no loss whatever. I remember 
asking one of the Germans in regard to his alfalfa and he replied, “I cut 
him three times” and when I told him of ours killing he said, “I lose me no 
one plant.” 
At this time an article appeared in the Farmers Tribune telling of the 
great feeding value of alfalfa but it said that alfalfa could not be grown 
in Minnesota except in Carver County and attributed our success to soil 
conditions. I read between the lines and formed the opinion that these 
Germans had a hardy variety. Upon investigation I found that the success- 
ful growers were getting their seed from a man named Grimm, while those 
that planted other seed were not successful. I told many of my discovery 
but they thought little of it, not realizing the value of alfalfa. 
In 1900 I told Prof. W. M. Hayes of our Experiment Station. He took 
a great interest and the following July accompanied by Prof. Andrew Boss 
drove out to our place to investigate. They not only examined our fields but 
the fields of the German farmers in different parts of the county. The farm- 
ers were questioned as to where they had received their seed. After a most 
careful examination Prof. Hayes turned to Prof. Boss and said “This marks 
the beginning of alfalfa for Minnesota.” 
In March, 1903, he wrote Press Bulletin No. 20 in which he named this 
alfalfa Grimm, in honor of the old German that had developed it. Mr. 
Grimm had begun with 20 pounds of seed he had brought from Germany in 
1857. For years he suffered loss by winter killing, but he was persistent 
and would not give up. He patiently saved seed from the plants that sur- 
vived. By so doing he built up a hardy alfalfa. As early as 1904 the Depart- 
ment at Washington became interested in this hardy alfalfa. From Page 25 
of the Annual Report of B. T. Galloway, Chief of the Bureau of Plant In- 
dustry, we copy the following: “Grimm Alfalfa— Experiments thus far 
conducted indicate that this is the hardiest variety of Medicago Sativa of 
which we have knowledge. In an experiment in co-operation with Prof. 
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