The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1883-12-07
ALFALFA AS A FORAGE CROP.
7he Enpcrte"ce Of n Practical P.onter
ac,M Whit zee call Lucernc.

"h Vh"t zee cdH Lucernc.
Editors country Gentlemen: Few if anv
forage plants have yet become so valuable
Tor stock as alfalfa. 1t was introduced into
California from Chill many years ago. 1t
IS the same as the lucerne Of Europe IEcN
cdgo sdtica 1t mnSt have been cultivated,
as Its name indicates. by the Celtic nation.
Even as far back as in the days of Cuum-
ella or the hrst century, one or two historians
notice IT, and another mentions it, without
name, as having been known in Greece
900 years before the Christian era Afalf
belongs to the clover family, rs a poreuial,
aud Is found at the present day growing
wild IN tae western part of South America
It's growth is wonderful, enormous and rapid
IN some soils and localities. It's roots. some
say, extend down until they find water
even twenty feet into and through the
hardest subsuil
The plant is not only perennial, but
perpetual IN every sense of the word The
roots arc so strong and large in sandy soils
that to p!oW them up, or even turn the sod.
Is next to IN imposS:hility. They easily
stop double team. After becoming well
set 1t Will thrive in almost any climate and
soil. The product from its cultivation is
greater in value and size than any known
forage plant. AID the success attending ali
the efforts made at raising is simply won.
d'rful. In the cotton States, after the first
yea the average yield is reported to be six
or eight tons Of dry hay per acre In Kern
county. California, one farmer keeps twenty
mead oi sheep per acre the year round An
other near Sau Jose pastures six cows on
three and onc>half acres. In San Bernar-
dino Valley eight cuttings are made anuu-
ally. Another farmer in the same county
Grazes l,5O0 sheep upon his alfalfa. giving
them only one acre per day, and when they
arc upon the twentieth acre. the hurdles
are returned to the first acre where he finds
the new growth eight to ten iuchcs high.
In Dallas county, Texas, it is success. two
crops OF TWO tons each being cut annually.
In Nebraska and Nevada it thrives as
well, making. even on sage brush land.
where nothing has ever been known to grow,
over six tons per acre of good, dry hay. and
seed enough from forty acres to amour, to
$4,000 more.
30 much for ITS productice qualities. It's
value Is inchlcu!ab!c. The tcs,imy Of huns
dred>, as well rs the carenl experiments of
many practical and scientific farmers, proves
beyond all controversy tha, alfalfa for horses.
cattle S@sh se VOWS s ssfPsessay Bssd i lsp hfsp sq5 nd
plant. This is putting it pretty stron gly,
but 1t is nevertheless true in many sections
In California Immense herds Of cattle are
tat'ened exclusively upon it, they being far
superior to any brought from pastures
al al.
lures In its green and diicd state it is
equally good for all kinds Of stock. For
milk it cxcc|s all other covers both in in
crcasiDg the milk and butter and improving
thoir flavor. Wycolf says: "Fcr mich
COWS. it is superior t" I'll oyher hay; it ex>
cites the secr"tions" The State Board Of
Agriculture of California says that The tcs,
tinony OF all dairymcn lis that COWS taken
from the native grasses and pnstured upon
1t viii increase IN product OF milk butter
and cheese, from sixty to seventy per cent
and that sheep growers state that their
Hocks grezed upon it are entirely free from
the skin disease so prevalent in California"
From California alfalfa is being pushed
rapidly eastward. Colorado is fast becom
ing green with it, So far it has failed nos
where where it has received anv attenti N
the first season. Three and four cuttings.
producing from five to nine tons per acre
were made on farm adjoining our college
grounds, last summer, and the hay has be- n
sold, baled, at SlS and $40 per ton. Our
eastern fri:nds will fnd alfalfa, in their
aI!nvial SOILS much more profitable and bets
ter than clover or the grasses Only one
difficulty attends its cultivation, which is
that when once well rooted it can never be
eradica'ed, except by flooding and freezing
it ont.
For Dec pasture we find no plant bet,
ter. The honey made from it is almost
equal to that from white clover. 1t will
flourish in any soil and climate whose tens
peraturc does not reach mere than twenty
degrees below zero. The ground should be
put into good order, and be well narrowed
and pulverized. Sow twenty pounds per
acre, and cover two inches deep, in April
or May, and cut it only once the first year
y. +. BLOUNT.
Agricultural College, Colorado