The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1885-08-26
Alfalfa.


of men the means of satisfying them
exist unvalued and unnotieed. Centuries
later when new development is threate.
ned with interruption or abridgment
through the fault of nature 1t Is found
that there exists in nature an adequate
proyision for just such contingency
The revelation of new adaptations OF
familiar things is the modern miracle.
And one of the most recent of these is
tie discovery of new possibilities OF
adaptation to soil, climate and industry
of the long. familiar alfalfa or CHILEAN
clover. Some thousands of years ago
this plant was cultivatedin the province
Of Media for pasturage purposes Then
it was craried by the Greeks to the shores
of the Mediterranean, crept along them
to Spain was transferred to Spanish
Amer a, passed up through New Mexico
and California and is now being introd-
uced with somewhat remarkable results
into the Northwest as well as into the
Southern states. Its qualities and the
ends which it promises to serve are
worth little study. Alfalfa, as it is
called from the Spanish and is most
generally known is nearly related to
ordinary clover 1t differs in its especial
adaptation to deep and dry soils, in the
greater abundance of its yield and in its
perennial possession of soil where it has
once firmly taken root 1t fiOurishes best
where the soil is but moderately moist
its long tap-root often extending from
twelve totwenty feet and in some cases
thirty below the surface drawing water
supplies from graf depth. 1t requires
somewhat careful sowing but after that
has been done will yield an abundant
crop of hay and rich pasturage for year
after year without renewal. 1t has long
been cultivated largely in California,
where it's fitness tor dry soils makes 1t
valuable. The last census report placed
for the profusion of its yield and its ad-
mirable qualities as food for stock. The
report of the department of agriculture
for 1884 deals still more extensively
with the unfamiliar grass urging its
distribution through the Southern states.
A paper in that report on lucern as it is
called by the Mormons, prepared by an
expert expresses surprise that its culture
is not more general. Mr.. Henderson.
the writer is particularly interested in the
value of alfalfa at the South where clover
and ordinary grasses cannot stand the
heat of the sum- In Florida, as he re-
marked the cattle are lean starved-look
ing, miserable creatures. Everybody who
has travelled through that section knows
the quality of milk produced and has /
tried his patience and his teeth on the
tough beef which is all that the best
table can boast. Want of pasturage in
summer and of good food in winter for
cattle is the source of trouble. Even as
it is the South spends large sums for i'm
ported hay. But in Florida Mr.. Hen
derson saw luxriant growth of alfalfa,
raised as an experiment on little patch
25 feet by 100. That small area, less than
of and acre, kept COW in
fo,vA durirIs5 ttrv or,
ing the finest quality of milk and butter. |
One eighth ofan acre, it is said, will sup |
ply food for COW during the entire year. |
The value of such forage plant to the
South is doubtless great. A discovery |
more interesting to usis the probability |
that it is for no less Importance to the
immense stock and grazing interests of
the West and Northwest.
Some experiments already made would
indicate that alfalfa is to prove an invalu
able adjunct TO the cattle-raising bust
ness of Montana and Colorado. On one
Of his ranches in Montana Mr.. Thomas
L. Kimbell has 500 acres of this plant
and is preparing to extend its culture by
irrigation over some 5000 acres. As has
been stated lucern is best suited to dry
soil. Indeed the one thing fatal to it is
too much water. Average soils suited to
ordinary farming without irrigation have
to be drained before alfalfa can be sue
grown. The only satisfactory
report of its cultivation in the East
comes from Long Island where thesandy
soil supplies the requisite conditions. Its
hay-root averagingsix feet in length and
sometimes extending to three times that
depth sucks up the liquids of the subsoil
Land that refuses to sustain other plants
will support this and even arid sections
can be adapted to it by the mini
mum of irrigation. Obviously it Is
well calculated to clothe the
expanses of the Western in
terror where the rainfall is light and the
water supply scant. Experiment has
demonstrated that it does well in such
sections and that they can be by this
means made available for cattle raising.
A still more important and apparently
undiscovered quality is report
ed as the result of feeding caCtle on
alfalfa. 1t is said that the flesh of ami
mails thus fattened resembled not that of
grass-fed but of corn-fed beeves.
It is firm in texture and fine quality. In
a word the lucern is said to furnish
winter food for cattle equal to that of
the cornproducing states. 1t is evident
how great an advantage this fact if
demonstrated, will give to the cattle
business of the father Northwest. Cattle
sustain themselves on the ranges during
the winter but they are not ready for
market in the spring. They must first
fatten on the summers growth. Farther
south where corn is successfully raised
winter food is abundant. But
in this the Northern ranges nave been
greatly at disadvantage. 1t is possible
by the use of alfalfa, Which produces