Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-02-09
FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
AGRICULTURISTS.
Some Up-to-Date Hints About Cultivs-
tion of the Soil and Yields Thereof
HORTICULTURE. viticulturs and Floricul-
Turkestan Alfalfa

The unusually severe winter of 1898
1899 killed off probably half of the al
falfa of western Kansas, Nebraska,
Colorado and Wyoming, and many
fields in the central prairie states to
the eastward were badly damaged, but
the Turkeston alfalfa grown in the
states mentioned was not affected. At
the Wyoming Experiment station
plat of Turkestan alfalfa was exposed
for two weeks without injury to tenn
perature ofl35 degrees, the lowest
point reached being -45 degrees. In
California it was subjected without
damage to drouth which seriously in
jured ordinary alfalfa. In view of the
notable success of this plant in with
standing drouth and cold, it has been
decided to purchase a large amount of
seed grown in America from our i'm
ported stock and distribute it widely
over the arid west until it has been
thoroughly tested under all the differ
ent climatic and soil conditions exist
ing in that region. From the results
already secured, it is believed that this
one Introduction will add millions of
dollars to the annual hay product of
the United States.
At the Experiment station at Brook
ings, 8. D., with a minimum tempera-
ture last winter of 40 degrees below
zero with the ground bare, common al
falfa was killed, while this alfalfa from
the heart of Asia came through un-
harmed. One of the main instructions
of Secretary Wilson in sending the
writer on this trip in '97-'9S, of nearly
ten months, was to secure, If possible,
a hardy, drouth-resisting leguminous
forage plant, from the elevated table
lands of Asia. Upon reaching Russia
the government agricultural author
tiles at Moscow and st. Petersburg told
me OF this plant. Tt is distinct from
common alfalfa, which has come to us
largely IRON Spain. Botanically, the
difference is expressed by Russian au-
thorfties in naming Turkestan alfalfa
Medicago Sativa Turkestanica, while
common alfalfa is called Medicago Sa-
tiva. 1 learned, especially from Prince
Massalski, of the Department of Ag-
riculture at st. Petersburg, that it had
been found in parallel experiments east
CT the Caspian sea in the Merv oases
in Russian Turkestan that the native
alfalfa was vastly superior to the COM
mon alfalfa, especially where there was
lack of water, as it was able to give
satisfactory crops with minimum
supply Of water so small that the Eu-
ropean (common) alfalfa perisned from
drouth
Along the Volga river at the dry re-
gion experiment stations of eastern
European Russia, I found this plant
doing well, and when I got to the
desert and semi-desert regions of Tur-
comania, Bokhara, and the Semi
retchnisk province of Russian Turke-
stan, all east of the Caspian Sea, l
made careful study of the plant. Here
were camels by the thousands, and
clouds of dust often so thick that wet
sponge was found essential for rela-
tive comfort in breathing. I was so
pleased with what was seen of this
plant, that 1 did not stop until fully
$4,000 pounds of the seed was secured,
chiefly from the cotton-growing sec
tions among the Sarts, or native No
hammedanS. The main reason for
making the overland journey of over
1000 miles Q,30O by wagon, 700 by
sleigh from Tashkent, the capital of
Russian Turkestan, to Omsk, in Si-
IBERIA, via Kuldja, in western China,
was to trace this plant to its northern
limits, which was found to be near
Kopal, in Siberia latitude As de-
grees 10 minutes, longitude, 79 degrees
east of Greenwich.) Kuldja, in Sur
garia, western China, is in latitude 43
degrees so minutes, longitude, 81 de-
grees 20 minutes east, and was the
farthest point reached in my journey
(about half way around the globe).
Seed was secured from eight different
sources, but, of course, only small lots
could be obtained from the places vis-
tied in the overland journey. The in
teresting, and to me the most surpris-
ing fact, is that the alfalfa which
proved so hardy at Brookings was
from the cotton section of Turkestan,
SO that the plant stands cold as we'll
as drOuth- This indicates that in this
plant we have an alfalfa that will be
hardy to our northern borders and
probably north into Canada 1t is
gratifying to the writer that the rough
journey in Asia, in which the shadow
of the death angels wings fell upon
him more than once or twice, has ap-
parently resulted in giving the north
west, as well as the southwest, the
hardy forage plant desired by Secre-
tary WILSON,
It will be well to note that have no
seed of Turkestan alfalfa to sell, or
give away All the seed was distrib-
uted from Washington and the United
States Department of Agriculture takes
care of all applications To those who
lost their alfalfa fields last winter it
viii be good news that there is in ex-