Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-05-30


why In Ordinary EArn PrAetiee the Lee.
ter Can Never He Probable.
Efforts are just now made to boom
m old plant, lucern. now called by its
Spanish name, alfalfa, as much SUE
perior to clover. and farmers who are
not well acquainted with the latter are
In danger of being misled. Expert
ence has proved the value of clover as
q green forage crop for hay and for it's
valuable effect upon the soil in improv-
ing it and preparing it for other crops.
It is quite safe to consider clover as
the most useful of all agricultural
plants of its kind and for the purposes
mentioned, for it will grow on any
kind of soil except swamp. is cheap
ly grown. is exceedingly nutritious
and wholesome fodder, and really
leaves the land in a more available
condition for succeeding crops than it
was previously. 1t is the best of that
class of crops known as ameliOrating
or improving to the soil, and it is con-
sequently invaluable in a regular rota-
ton. But it is not permanent crop.
and consequently not satisfactory to
1uOoO ldIUuOTS WIZ W dnt OtOII Nd1Us
able quality in one plant.
And it is said-but most untruly ex-
cept within narrow bOunds-that all
falra does possess every valuable quail
ity and is, so to speak. all that fancy
can paint it. In its place, no doubt.
this plant has every desirable quality
to a greater or less extent, but its
place is only where clover will not
flourish to perfection, and it grows
perfectly we'll only in dry, arid, hot
soils under irrigation. Lucern is an
Italian plant and was grown by the
ancient Romans. 1t thrives to perfec-
ton on the plains of Northern Italy,
where the crops are irrigated and reg.
ularly fertilized. Under these condi-
tons the yield frequently reaches
eighty tons of green fodder per acre,
which is cut and fed in its green state
to the cattle and horses. The growth
is so rapid that cuttings are made at
intervals of two weeks during the long
summer season. AS similar conditions
of soil, climate, and manner of culture
prevail in parts of California, the
growth is there equally luxuria ant.
especially on the exceedingly rich
marsh river bottoms. known as tule
lands. This plant is also very profit
ably grown in Colorado, Utah and
other localities in the West, where
the fertile soil yields its rich
produce under the system of irrigation
which seems most favorable for the
successful culture of the crop, which,
once sown, remains productive for
many years. 1t need not be said that
clover is not suited for this sort of
culture, and equally lucern is not suit
ed to the conditions under which
clover is grown successfully. Conse-
quently where one of these plants sue
ceeds the other fails, except in rare
cases, and even then with difficulty.
Lucern is essentially a crop for dry
arid, but rich soils and for irrigation !;
clover is essentially a plant for farm
culture in rotation with other crops.
1t lasts for only two or three years,
when the land must be again plowed
and sown with grain. It's growth is
rapid and strong from the first, and
weeds are quickly smothered by it's
dense shade. It is, however unneces-
sary to go into details in regard to Its
culture, except to remark that a fair
chance to prove its full value is rarely
given to it, and that under a proper
system of management it might be
made more valuable than it is gen.
orally.
Lucern requires rich soil. While
its roots are long and deep and it's
general character is much like that Of
clover, it can not gather its food from
the subsoil as the clover does. It be-
longs to the same family of plants that
clover does, but its stems are thinner
and more woody and it's foliage less
dense and leafy. Its flower is
| slenderer and of pale purple. It can
| not be grown as a by-crop or sown
with grain crop. It will not grow
| among weeds; it's first growth, even
on rich soil, is weak and slow and it
must have the whole land to itself and
requires help by cultivation. 1t is
! usually sOwn in drills twelve to twenty
inches apart and must be worked an
| nually at least, and if the soil is
weedy, intermediate cultivation is
| necessary. Its hard stem and small
leaves unfit it for making hay. and it's
best use is for green fodder for COWS,
horses, oxen Or sheep. 1t is often
pastured down, and it makes an ac-
ceptable food for swine. The expert
ence of the writer with this crop as
compared with clover during twenty
five years past has been that
two tons of clover hay or
ten tons of green clover can
be grown where lucern will not cover
the ground or grow more than three or
four inches high, and that at least fifty
dollars per acre in fertilizers and labor
are needed to produce any thing like a
yield equal to that of clover in any To-
cality where clover is grown. As a
substitute for clover, then, in ordinary
farm practice, lucern can never be
profitable, but where the conditions
are favorable for it, it is more valua-
BILE than clover is elsewhere, because
of its permanence, lasting. as it win
when irrigated and fortified, for
twenty-five or even fifty years.