The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-09-22
oo,Ne TO GRASS.
The Improved Farming and Alfalfa
Patches Of the West. ~

VI - EE H IN.
In all Of tile older states the tend.
ency to seed down the land to grass
has been a notable one for many years.
Should the man who has lived for Il
turn to the home Of his ancestors IL
some state farther east he will not un.
likely be surprised to find that the
small farm, which is %perchance re-
membered as n closely cultivated ana
moderately productive homestead.
wherein a little of everything was
produced, has been bought up by the
owner Of a grass farm near by and
that now many Of the fences arc gone.
the buildings either removed or In
ruins and that grass for pasturage and
grass for hay Is the leading feature.
possibly the exclusive crop.
There are several reasons for this.
Impoverished land recuperates when
In grass. This Is especially true II a
part or all Of the pasturage is a clover.
In these days Of low prices the land
owner Is often at a loss as to a method
of farming which will pay expenses.
To increase the product without in
creasing the expense or to decrease the
expense more than the decrease In
value Of the product Is often found a
necessity. The man who cannot do
one or other Of these things Is likely
to want to sell out to the man who can
or to find himself falling behind and
sold out. After land has been seeded
to grass the expense is only the mar.
vesting until %reseeding Is necessary.
II p%astured, the expense Of harvesting
is nearly eliminated. The value OF the
product may be less than when cult
waited crops are produced, but the ex-
pense is far less, SO that II there are
margins Of profit In either ease those
Of the grass farmer have greatly eX.
ceeded those Of the grain farmer.
In much of the west the possibility
Of seeding land to grass after once
destroying the prairie sod has been Sc
riously questioned. The prairie grass
es are rich and nutritious, but their
yield is not generally heavy and In
many parts Is uncertain, especially In
dry years like the present. Where
large areas are available at small cost
the production Of cattle on prairie or
foothill grass is profitable. In some
sections which a few years ago were
taken by settlers who have found mix.
ed farming under existing conditions
Improbable the country is going back
to cattle-not quite after the methods
Of the old range cattle days which pre-
ceded the settlement by farmers. but
in q way a little more civilized. Large
areas are inclosed. A better kind Of
grass farming Is also being introduced.
one which gives value to land and sub.
stitutes farm homes for half civilized
ranches, and this ear the extension
Of alfalfa patches all over the west.
Alfalfa Is not n grass. botanically.
but Is a clover or a legume Of the pea
vine family. 1t makes three to four
crops a year. Under favorable condi'
lions It never needs %reseeding. 1t en-.
riches the land on which It grows
while yielding from three to five tons
an acre a season. Where irrigation Is
practicable alfalfa IL the most prolific
and profitable crop. We Of Colorado
have finally come to find this out and
are now growing alfalfa with n set
purpose In view, and we never fear any
great surplus. concludes the Denver
Field and Farm.