The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-07-30
Alfalfa.

We want TO bring 70 the notice OF
Southern farmers what is being donT
in one Southern State louisiana iii
the production of alfalfa and what 4
source of profit it is found to be. In
that State Il considerable number OF
cotton planters have for several years
grown the crop eXperimcntally. anu
within the past two or three years
have become so satisfied of ii proflt'
ableneSS that they are now growing IL
largely for market. One of these gen
Element. Mr.. W. l.. Foster. who has
four hundred acres planted. says: I'll
seems to NE that this queen OF Ill
hay and forage plants is too little un'
derstood, otherwise there would ret
be a ton o. hay shipped into Louisiana.
On the contrary. there would be thou
sands OF tons shipped out OF the State
ut a better profit than is made on cot
ton. even ut present high prices. l
an not chemist or botaniSt enough To
say on what lands IL the State 1t Will
grow profitably. bat believe that with
proper nurSing it can be made 10 grow
anywhere in the State. | have seen II
grown luxuriouSly OH the poor and
worn hill land of the Experiment Sta
ton in North Louisiana. but much time
and expense was :equlred. On the
riyHS lands between Baton Rouge and
~ Orleans it seems to thrive well.
and on the Red River it seems TO be
perfectly at home. l may say II a
use it as Il profit crop or u low. Stiff,
red lands that will not produce profit
ably any other crop. Its value as Il
feed for horses. mules. COWS and hogs
is unequnaled by any other food. Hogs
will make splendid growth on it and
fatten readily without any other feed,
and that. too. with twenty or twenty
five to the acre. where it grows Vel.
Again. it is a fine fertilizer crop. Your
land is improving each year it grows
on it. and when you wish to get rid
of it (Which will be never unless you
want to plant it somewhere elsel 1t is
as easily killed as oats or corn. :
l am free to say that if alfalfa hay
is worth as many dollars per ton as
cotton is worth cents per pound, l
would prefer TO raise the alfalfa. On
our soils. with ordinary seasons for
growing and harvesting, we get three
to FIVE cuttings, averaging from one
half to a ton of cured hay per cutting,
and bringing in our market at Shreve'
port from SIS to S1J per ton. The cost
of handling varies, of course, with the
seasons. 1t costs just as mucl TO cut
and rake one-half ton per acre as II
does to cut and rake 4 ton per acre,
From my experience. and my alfalfa
account, 1t costs an average Of S1.2o tC
81 per ton to put in shape for the
market. An intelligent negro Eear oul
plantation. who works twenty mules
raising cotton. told me he had sold
$500 worth of surplus hay per yeal
off twenty acres. For the last two
wears off sixty acres lie has sold enough
to very nearly make his cotton crol
clear. I think 4 very conservative eS
ktimate would be SD TO $50 per acre net
per year. not counting the p~asturage
in fall, winter and spring. My adv''t
TO every one who works land would
be TO plant Il small patch Of alfalfa
for trial. If he succeeded with it he
would have the most valuable crol
that grows: if lie failed it would be the
most laudable failure he ever made
In 1900 my OverSeer made with wage
hands 253 bales of cotton costing il
money outlay $500 ard bringing on
the market S1O.j15. In 1901 the same
mar with the same labor. on poorer
land. harvested 100 tons of alfalfa,
selling in carload lots for So per ton,
or a total valuation Of $4,000, with Z
money outlay for labor and machinery
repairs Of $500. In one case IT re
quired about forty-fiye per cent. of
the gross value of the cotton to get
it ready for the market; in the other i,
required only ten per cent. OF the
gross value of the alfalfa to put it on
the market"
With such testimony as this from q
Southern grower in favor of the crop
there should he no hesitancy on the
part of all Southern farmers in making
an effort to secure q stand of alfalfa
Southern Planter.