The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1901-06-15

coast Of South America. where. e.
capped from cultivation, II II said TO
DO yet found growing Wild over large
areas. There, in the semi-arid regions
Of the Andes, It no doubt received q
great strengthening Of it, strong ten
dency to survive In Q scorching q
upon q parched earth. From Chill 1t
reached California In 1854. and there.
mainly under irrigation. nourishes to-
day 10 perhaps In no other place In
the world. 1t rapidly spread eastward
and 10 now grown largely throughout
the humid az we'll as the arid and
semi-arid regions Of the western states
and territories. while gradually ind
ing favor farther east.
Eastward from the Pacific coast was
not. however, the only route Of intro
duction Of alfalfa into America. 1t
was early known In Germany and 9th
Ell northern countries Of Europe, but
never became so popular there as
farther south. As early as 1920. years
before It reached California. It was
6AS"A ~ ANOW AVAn SSSAAS
been little appreciated.
It is interesting to know that such
old-time authorities as Columella and
Jethro Tull were familiar with alfalfa.
French lucerne was introduced Into
England as early as 1850. but seems to
have been much neglected for many
years. In 1865 a farmer in Kent had
R1,.koo- nn.a~ Ia L. okoknA $hQt at
that time alfalfa was. recognized as
increasing the milk of kline. but an au-
thority who knew it we'll asserted that
cattle were apt to grow tired of IT.;
and were Subject to be bloated by
It." These statements are interesting
from the fact that SO many consider
alfalfa a new plant.
What Kin Of Corn, Shall I Plsnt3
Last spring the Vermont Expert
ment Station. planted four varieties OF
corn on three different parts of its
farm. Sanford, Red Cob, Leaning and
a large Virginia corn were chosen.
They were separately harvested. en-
| silaged and fed. The Sanford grew 6
feet tall, and matured; the Red Cob,
81 feet and partly glazed its ears; the
Leaning and Virginia .corns. 9h and
In feet respectively, the ears arriv-
ing at the milk stage. The yields OF
green fodder per acre were Sanford 8.
Red Cob IA, Leaning 16, and Virginia
II tons. The yields Of food matter
to the acre were Sanford 2M. Red Cob
3A, Leaning 3 and Virginia corr 3 Is
tons.
The Sanford corn, being most ma
ture, kept best in the silo and came
out with an exceedingly small loss.
The Red Cob corn lost comparatively
little. the other two immature corns
much, as such wet material always
must, in the silo or out of 1t. AS a
result, therefore, the actual food which
reached the cows managers from an
acre of Sanford corn which only grew
9 tons Of green fodder, was nearly as
great as from an acre Of the Virginia
corn which grew II tons, and greater
than from an acre of Leaning corn
which grew 16 tons. The Red Cob
matured better than hitherto at the
station farm and It's food yield ex.
ceeded that Of the Sanford slightly
This result 10 exceptional.
The Sanford ailesses was the best and
| heartiest OF the four and the lows did
better on 1t than on either Of the
other silages.
These trials confirm others hitherto
made ut the Vermont and other sta.
lions. They show that the extra growth
Of the big varieties over those like the
Sanford is practically all water. He
who grows such must handle in the
field, on the wagons and on the silage
cutter from 4 to 8 tons Of extra water
to the acre. He must furnish silo room
for 1t and then laboriously lift It ont
Of the silo and carry It to the cattle.
This extra water has no food value
whatever. It is better and cheaper all
around to water the cattle in some
other way.
Moral: Don't.