The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-17
BYwILL T. STEPHAN.

 man who hises both alfalfa and stock. And it might be incidentally mentioned that wherWer alfalfa is there, too. is stock andlcattle, and wherever good stock and nattle are being raised for profit, thef. too. will quickly come the growing ol alfalfa. The two seem in- separable.
 But the possibilities of alfalfa. the remarks b it's value as a substitute for cottoI interested man whose business 1t is to ask questions, to gather information and set it down as accurately as he may. There has been much written about alfalfa In South ern newspapers in recent months, but the averae man, the average news paper readtr, has a hazy idea of what 1t is. He E not quite sure whether it is a new Heakfast food, or the name of town in which the Japanese and Russians fought bloody battle. The well-inforned farmer. and. by the way 1t is not generally known that the in- telligent ftrmer has wider store of general information than the average intelligent business man. the well-in- formed farmer knows that alfalfa is one of the richest, one of the most fruitful of all forage plants.
 It is a Western, plant. sort of q Mormon product, for it is said to thrive best in the States like Idaho and Utah where the Mormons are numerous thrifty and powerful, and it is alsd vigorous, prolific and profitable in the far Western State of California. In those sections out West where irriga- ton is an important agricultural fac tor, alfalfa does especially well, so well that it has been said that this forage plant does best on irrigated land. The yield of alfalfa hay on irrigated acres in the west runs between eight and ten tons. On Southern acres on the prairie lands, the nutritious hay does not do SC well, but those that are growing 1t will contend stoutly that no other hay can approach it in yield or in fat-givine quantities.
 Growing of Alfalfa.
 It is one of the several experimental ideas of agriculture that has gained footing in Montgomery County in the very recent past. It has not been gdowr in the county longer than three or foul years. Albert billiard, an ex-newspa' per man and a successful farmer. was the pioneer alfalfa grower, so far al this county is concerned. MT. Dillart first planted it, and he sang its praise: so convincingly to his neighbors tha many of them became deeply interested in the growing of this fine forage. Ev' cry year the alfalfa acreage anou Montgomery has been practically dou bled. The largest grower Is J. Barnes on the Woodley Road. MI Barnes this year has. about 100 acre in alfalfa He has been steadily Tn creasing his acreage of alfalfa, and Il doing this, steadily increasing the mum ber of cattle and their importance t their owner.
 This forage is now being grown oi all the farms southeast of the cit, where stock and cattle are being rals cd. It is the forage plant on tn EBalTesz4 pIaeo, tho. Brookss place. tn Jones place and the Hagan stocl farm. It is d fine help in stock rais ing.
 admirer of the western forage plan He is thoroughly versed in its nature it's habits and the conditions unde which it prospers best. He is too. great believer in it's ultimate bepeht | middle Alabama.
 ''The advantages of alfalfa owe Johnson grass and other hay" said M Barnes, "afe numerous and convinctin In the first place it requires practicall no cultivation. Once plowed in. on 
 years with an occasional narrowing Johnson grass has to be plowed ever two or three years.
 "Then the yield of alfalfa is at leas 33 per cent greater than the yield froT the same amount of land planted I Johnson grass. In fact the increas will almost average one-half more tha the yield of Johnson grass. An acr of land that makes a ton and hal of hay from Johnson grass will mak three tons of alfalfa hay.
 Much Larger Yield.
 "A ton of Johnson grass hay is wort now $1O to S11 a ton. Alfalfa hay ca be sold for $15 a ton easily. It is nc difficult to figure out which Is the bes money proposition.
 'It is not generally known, but it fact that alfalfa thrives when plant ed on the same land with Johnso grass. The two combined make a extremely fine stock food. When tn two are grown together the yield ( an acre of land is increased at least
 third. In my opinion q farmer coul get rid of overplus of Johnson gras by sowing the land with alfalfa.
 "One of the strongest and bei reasons why alfalfa should be grow in this section Is the fact that ripens for cutting about May 1. Tn gives the farmer the chance to fee his stock during the blowing seasO with d forage raised during the sam year. If his corn supply is runnin short along the first of May when hi heaviest blowing season is upon hil his alfalfa hay will meet the difficult, In a report sent out from the UnioT town Experiment Station ProfessC Duggar stated that he had fed th | work stock during the heaviest blow 1 ing season. on alfalfa to the exclusio of corn. This same thing l did las spring for three weeks. For thre weeks the stock that did the plowin was fed on nothing but alfalfa an they thrived upon it.
 Tt is a well known and accepte fact, that alfalfa is the best food fo dairy cattle. It has more milk pro ducing properties than any othe forage known to us. It makes a mag
 nifcent winter pasturage for hogs. our climate the stock and cattle ca feed upon it in the winter month Chickens eat 1t eagerly and 1t is
 healthy fos1 for them.
 Fine Soil RenOvatOr.
 But one of its most valuable pro pertles has almost escaped notice. is a splendid soil renoVator It is 8 effective in renovating and restoring a acre of soil as if the land had bee planted in pea vines. It renders il benefits to the soil by storing up nitro gen. most expensive and valuable fer tilzer property. This is what Is mos | needed on our lands which have bee exhausted by cotton growing. In a
 official bulletin Professor Duggar ha declared that to plant an acre in aifalf | would confer the same value upon tn
 land as would s5 worth of nitrogen fel tilizer.