The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-22
DID MUCH Good.
Prof. j. I'll. Miller Talks of AL
falfa Train.
Impressed by Character of Men
Who Came.
SIX THOUSANDPEOPL
That Number Heard the Lee
tures-Made 70 Stops.
Purpose to Interest the Eastern
Kansas Farmers.

Prof. ]. H. Miller. of the Kansa.
State Agricultural college. who wa.
the director of the Santa Fe railway,
alfalfa train" which traversed the
eastern counties of the state las
week. believes the lectures will result
in great good.
Il was particularly impressed by
the stamp and character of the men
who came to hear u.s. he said al
Manhattan yesterday 'They were
men Who were open to conviction
The hard-headed old fellow, who al
ways makes his mind up in advance
ana VINO knows alfalfa can do nc
good on upland was not there, and Sc
our audiences were uniformly of a re-
ceptive mind; and 1 believe that every
man who came to hear US went back
TO his home resolved to SOW alfalfa
Our principal lecturers were Prof A
M. Ten Eyck and his assistant, G. c.
wheeler. On the train also were
LANES Atchinson of the Iowa Home
stead; 1. d. Graham of the Kansas
Farmer, and Edward Taylor of Ed
wardsville, and all took turn at
speaking. We made ~ stops and ad-
dressed about 5000 people.
I'VE found that in the entire 90
counties which we visited, there are
only about 41,000 acres planted in al
falfa this year. This. compared with
$1,000 acres in Jewell and Cloud
counties in north middle Kansas. was
something TO talk about. There had
been an impression that alfalfa could
not make good in upland soil, but we
had removed that somewhat by send
ing out advance literature. This
literature had attracted the attention
of thoughtful men, and so wherever
we made stops our audiences were
prepared to hear with open minds.
we went into eastern Kansas be-
cause that part of the state has not
been growing much alfalfa, and our
mission was to tell the farmers that
they can grow better alfalfa on that
SOIL than can be grown farther west,
hhe west is the soil for seed crops. but
the uplands Of the east grow the best
alfalfa crops of hay The uplands Of
than the adjacent valleys. The growth
Is not so fast, and thereby it makes a
inner quality of hay and it is not so
apt to become woody.
we pointed out to the farmers
also the rare fertility value of alfalfa
crops We advised them to plant
one-fourth of their areas in alfalfa.
ploW1ng up for corn, etc, after five
years, and planting alfalfa in other
ground. An alfalfa plant plowed I'M.
ger aIter I'VE years makes the best
fertiiizer in the world, and by that
rotation of crops a farmer will pro
duce more corn. more wheat. more
potatoes, more forage in 20 years
from 120 acres than from the whole
100 acres in the old way. Besides he
gets the value of the live stock and
dairy products thrown in. and the soil.
too, IS left in a more productive con-
dition.
THE first requisite, of course, is to
get good seed and the next to make a
good seed-bed Thus well started q
good stand of alfalfa is sure to follow
The time to plant is the early fall, al
though 1t may be safely done in the
spring If not done SO early as to ex-
pose the plant to late frosts The seed
bed may be made in valley or upland.
but in eastern Kansas the upland is
the better. The natural rainfall is
enough to nourish the plant. Besides
there is more mineral in the upland
IMAM IN the valley. and alfalfa needs
that OF course, the valley will pro-
duce more tons than the upland, but
the hay is not so nutritious. However
one, perhaps. offsets the other, and we
explode the foolish notion that alfalfa
can do no good on the upIands of
eastern Kansas.
But I will not undertake in this
brief statement to go into the tech
nique of alfalfa production. Farmers
who are seeking informatio on the
subject know that the experiment sta
ton at Manhattan will furnish all the
necessary literature upon application.
That is what we are here for and the
more letters we receive or visitors who
come personally, the more pleased and
gratiffed we are. For by that means
we know that our work IS appreciated.
1.-THE Santa Fe's alfalfa train ought
to rank in value and interest with it's
good roads train and its wheat train
It was my pleasure to travel on the
wheat train which was sent out last
summer. Prof. Ten Eyck and others
of the college faculty were also on
the train. and it is our information
that the stand of wheat this season,
in the counties we visited on that trip
and on others, Is better than in any
other section of the state. I, PERSONAL
ly, have been in Pratt county and
know this to be true. and others give
like testimony. We have been told by
local dealers in agricultural imple-