The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits / Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer
It is the pleasure of the publishers to present to those who are interested in alfalfa, the man who declined an appointment as United States Senator, that he might continue to direct the affairs of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture in general and of farmers in particular.—Orange Judd Company.
Spanish clover, such as has Usurped the Occident and dwells On Sacramento’s sundown hills, And all the verdant valley fills With fragrance sweet and delicate As wooing breath of woman is. — Joaquin Miller .
By F. D. COBURN Secretary Kansas Department of Agriculture.
Illustrated
1912 Orange Judd Company New York
Copyright, 1906 by Orange Judd Company
New Revised Edition Copyrighted 1907 by Orange Judd Company
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the U. S. A.
THERE ARE SOME SILENT SUBSOILERS THAT DO THEIR WORK WITH EASE, AND IN THEIR WAY, MORE EFFECTUALLY THAN ANY TEAM OR PLOW EVER HITCHED. THE CLOVER PLANT IS RIGHTEOUSLY FAMED AS ONE OF THESE, BUT ALFALFA IS ITS SUPERIOR. ITS ROOTS WORK, SUNDAY AS WELL AS SATURDAY, NIGHT AND DAY; THEY STRIKE 5, 10, 15 OR 20 FEET DEEP, MAKING INNUMERABLE PERFORATIONS, WHILE STORING UP NITROGEN, AND WHEN THESE ROOTS DECAY THEY LEAVE NOT ONLY A GENEROUS SUPPLY OF FERTILITY FOR ANY DESIRED CROP, BUT MILLIONS OF OPENINGS INTO WHICH THE AIR AND RAIN OF HEAVEN FIND THEIR WAY, AND HELP TO CONSTITUTE AN UNFAILING RESERVOIR OF WEALTH, UPON WHICH THE HUSBANDMAN CAN DRAW WITH LITTLE FEAR OF PROTEST OR OVERDRAFTS.
“Its long, branching roots penetrate far down, push and crowd the earth this way and that, and thus constitute a gigantic subsoiler. These become an immense magazine of fertility. As soon as cut, they begin to decay and liberate the vast reservoir of fertilizing matter below the plow, to be drawn upon by other crops for years to come.”
This volume, however strong its statements in favor of alfalfa may appear to those unacquainted with that plant’s productivity and beneficence, is by no means presented as an argument that everyone should raise alfalfa. It is intended rather as a conservative setting forth of what others have found alfalfa to be and do under wide variations of soil, climate, condition and locality; of its characteristics and uses; the most approved methods of its raising and utilization, and the estimates of it by those who have known it most intimately and longest as a farm forage crop and a restorer and renovator of the soil.
F. D. Coburn
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The Author’s Foreword
Publisher’s Announcement
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
HAS ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN
AMERICA INDEBTED TO SPAIN
THE NAME AND ITS ORIGIN
ITS WONDERFUL ROOT SYSTEM
VARIETIES AND PECULIARITIES
AN OPINION FROM HEADQUARTERS
ITS WIDE DISTRIBUTION
NOT PARTICULAR AS TO SOIL
THE ORACLES REFUTED
A NEW YORK EXAMPLE
COMPARED WITH CLOVER
COMPARISONS WITH SEVERAL GRASSES
COMPARED WITH CORN
INDIVIDUAL INSTANCES OF CASH RETURNS
SOME REPORTS OF YIELDS
SOME MONEY COMPARISONS
NO SUCCESS WITHOUT GOOD SEED
IMPORTANCE OF SIMILAR CONDITIONS
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF SEED
IMPURITIES AND ADULTERATIONS
ADULTERANTS DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED
THE CHIEF ADULTERANT
A COMMON WEED IN IMPORTED ALFALFA SEED
DODDER SEED
VARIATE, YET UNIFORM
SOIL PREPARATION
KEEP DOWN THE WEEDS
FALL SOWING
RECENT PLOWING NOT DESIRABLE
INTRODUCE BACTERIA BY PREPARATORY SOWING
ALL CROPS DEMAND CONDITIONS
SPRING OR FALL SOWING—WHICH?
DISADVANTAGES OF SPRING SOWING
SEEDING BY DRILL OR BROADCAST?
HOW MUCH SEED TO THE ACRE?
WITH OR WITHOUT A NURSE CROP?
INOCULATING THE SOIL
BUYING INFECTED SOIL
DANGERS OF INOCULATION BY SOIL TRANSFER
OTHER METHODS OF INOCULATION
KEEP ON TRYING
CLIPPING IS AN INVIGORANT
MANURING
DISKING
RESEEDING
ALFALFA UNDER IRRIGATION
INFLUENCE OF IRRIGATION UPON COMPOSITION
WIDE VARIATIONS IN CONTENT
WATER REQUIRED BY ALFALFA; QUANTITY AND DATE OF APPLICATION
DATE OF HARVEST AND YIELD OF HAY
CALLS FOR INTELLIGENCE AND PAINSTAKING
GREAT VALUE OF LEAVES
WHEN TO CUT
MOST PROTEIN IN EARLY CUTTINGS
CONSTANT WATCHFULNESS DEMANDED
LOSSES IN CURING
HARVESTING IN HUMID REGIONS
THE USE OF HAY-CAPS
HARVESTING FOR SEED
YIELDS OF SEED
THE THIRD CUTTING FOR SEED
CARE IN CURING
PUTTING INTO WINTER QUARTERS
STORING IN THE BARN
LOSSES FROM STACKING
THE HAY SHED
CONDITIONS FOR STACKING
STORING AS SILAGE
OFTEN PROFITABLE TO ENSILE THE FIRST CUTTING
SUGGESTIONS FOR SILOING
BALING
POOR STUFF
GRADING AND GRADES OF ALFALFA HAY
PASTURING NOT ALWAYS ECONOMY
ALFALFA A TENDER PLANT
A GOOD SWINE PASTURE
DANGERS TO CATTLE AND SHEEP
EXPERIENCES WITH CATTLE
GENERALLY DANGEROUS TO SHEEP
A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION
RULES FOR PASTURING
TROCAR AND CANNULA
ALFALFA AS A SOILING CROP
SOME COMPARISONS
A METHOD FOR THE SMALL FARMER
AS AN APPETIZER
FOOD VALUE OF SEVERAL FODDER CROPS
ANALYSES OF FEEDSTUFFS
RELATIVE VALUES OF DIFFERENT CUTTINGS
CROP COMPARISONS
COMPARATIVE CROP AND FEEDING VALUES
COMPARATIVE VALUES OF ALFALFA HAY AND OTHER FEED STUFFS FOR PROTEIN
THE BALANCED RATION
MAKING A BALANCED RATION
VARIATIONS IN ANALYSIS
SOME FEEDING TESTS
FEEDING TOO MUCH ALFALFA
MAKING A MARGIN
SOME MILKING TEST VALUATIONS
SELLING FARM PRODUCTS THROUGH THE COW
AN ESSENTIAL IN MILK PRODUCTION
HOGS WILL EAT HAY
A VALUABLE FEEDING TEST
A NEBRASKA TEST
CUT ALFALFA EARLY FOR HOGS
GOOD FOR WORK HORSES
CRESCEUS EATS ALFALFA
TOO MUCH HAY FED
PRODUCES RAPID GROWTH
HOW TO PREVENT BLOATING
THE BEE FERTILIZES THE ALFALFA
HOW THE FERTILIZING IS ACCOMPLISHED
THE HONEY PRODUCT
BETTER THAN MEDICINE
MAY INFLUENCE EGG FERTILITY
AIDS IN PREPARING FOR MARKET
PROFESSOR COTTRELL ON ALFALFA MEAL
SOLVING THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
THE TOWN COW NEEDS ALFALFA
A CHEAP FEED FOR HORSES
MAINTAINING FERTILITY
VALUE OF STUBBLE AND ROOTS
EFFECTS ON SUCCEEDING CROPS
ROTATION A NECESSITY
SPREADS THE BACTERIA OVER THE FARM
AN OLD-NEW THEORY
IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES
SUGGESTIONS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
SWEET CLOVER SOIL USED TO INOCULATE ALFALFA FIELDS
EFFECT ON LAND VALUES
ENHANCES DAIRY INTERESTS
DODDER
LEAF SPOT
ROOT ROT
GOPHERS AND PRAIRIE DOGS
GRASSHOPPERS
ARMY WORMS
BIND WEED
ALFALFA IN THE ORCHARD
SOME ALFALFA “MUSTS” AND “DON’TS”
MEASURING HAY IN THE STACK
ALABAMA
ARIZONA
CALIFORNIA
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
DELAWARE
GEORGIA
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
IOWA.
KANSAS.
KENTUCKY
LOUISIANA.
MASSACHUSETTS.
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSOURI
MONTANA
NEBRASKA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH DAKOTA
OHIO
OKLAHOMA
OREGON
PENNSYLVANIA
RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
UTAH
VERMONT
VIRGINIA
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN
WYOMING
INDEX.
Transcriber’s Notes
