East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-11-14
OREGON NEEDS
ALFALFA FIELDS
PRESS BULLETIN ISSUED BY
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
Prof. James Dryden OF o. A. c., Says
Alfalfa VIII Furnish Forage Crop
Necessary TO Supply Dairy Herds
With Green Feed the Year Round,
Thus Making Oregon the Greatest
Dairy State In the Union.
(By James Dryden.)


There is a good deal of milk in the
ground that was not spilled and cried
over. but II is there nevertheless AT
certain seasons OF the year the Thou
sand-headed Kale pulls the milk out
OF Mother Earth and the cow pulls
bucket. There Is a period. however
during the summer when the cows
go hungry and the milk languishes in
the ground because there is no green
thing 10 pull II out and coax the COW
to fiji the milk bucket.
Western oregon is one OF the best
dairy sections OF the union. With
mild, open winters In which kale
flourishes and furnishes green succu-
lent food. the dairy bushes thrives
all the year around with the eXcep-
ton OF short period during the sum
mer. During this period the land Isl
out OF commission, the cows barely
subsist on the pasture fields and there
is no profit to the farmer. Forty
cent butter and scarcity Of good
fresh milk Is the evidence OF a lack
OF green food.
Forage Crop Needed.
What Is needed in the valley is a
forage crop that will utilize the soil
and furnish green food and pasture
during the dry season. VIII alfalfa
fill the bill? II alfalfa could be rails
ed extensively and successfully i'll
al, a
add immensely to the value of the
farms in the Willamette valley. I'll
would increase the dairy products
and the poultry products; it would
cheaper the production of pork and
beef and mutton. A good summer
forage crop is the one thing needful. |
Alfalfa has been grown for 1000
years In the Mediterranean region. 1t |
has been grown successfully in arid
America for half century. gen.
tieman travelling over what was then
regarded as land unfit for settle
ment in western Nebraska by reason
of its aridity, discovered a thrifty |
green alfalfa plant growing where |
no other green thing could be found |
for miles around That was a dem |
onstration that satisfied the gentle
man and he purchased a large tract |
OF land for a trifle. On the sdme
land he has since fed $4,000 sheep |
in one season on alfalfa. Alfalfa
goes down into the depths of the soil
for moisture and through wireless
communication with the atmosphere
brings down from above food which
feeds the plant and enriches the soil.
Increased Acreage I'm Kansas.
Since 1891 the acreage of alfalfa
In Kansas has Increased from 34,3SS
to $4,000 in 1906. A recent bulle-
tin from that state says of alfalfa:
1.-THE steer feeders and mutton feed
ers of Kansas. Colorado and Ne
braska would be lost without it,"
At the Kansas station 1t is stated:
"A gain of 500 pounds of pork was
made from a ton of alfalfa, and a lit
tie less than that amount of gain
was made from an acre of alfalfa
pacture." Again. I'VE found that
100 pounds OF alfalfa hay saved 96
pounds OF corn" Figuring on the
basis of these experiments II Is stated
that with green alfalfa producing
10 tons per acre 100000 pounds) it
would produce 1000 pounds of pork,
which, at cents per pound, would
be worth $50 per acre"
Director Burkett of the Kansas
station says: "By promoting the sue
ressful production of alfalfa the sta
ton has not only extended the do l
minion of an imperial forage crop, t
but in doing so has discharged its t
own entire expense, and in addition +
has added millions of dollars to the a
wealth of the state"
At the Ontario agricultural college Il
IN 10 years 30 cuttings, yielding over +
five tons an 'cre, were made. An ex- e
pertinent showed, its great soil en- {
riching qualities. Wheat grown af- o
ler alfalfa yielded els bushels per \
aere and after timothy sod 42.1 BUSH n
IFS. In the two succeeding years the
alfalfa sod produced S0.2 bushels Of
barley and "a bushels of corn, while \
he timothy sod produced 1871 BUSH II
,ls barley and 17.9 bushels corn. The a
.hree crops on the alfalfa sod were &
worth about $50 while those on the
timothy sod were worth about $5s.
At the oregon Agricultural College II