The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1909-01-22
ALFALFA FOR OREGON.
Is Proving Good Forage Crop for the
Milk Cow.

|
| over, but it is there nevertheless. AT
certain seasons of the year the Thous-
and-H Headed kale pulls the milk out of
mother earth and the cow pulls it out
of the kale and puts it in the bucket.
There is period, however, during the
summer when the cows go hungry and
the milk languishes in the ground be-
cause there is no green thing to pull it
out and coax the cow to fill the milk
| bucket.
Western Oregon is one Of the best
dairy sections of the union. With mild
open winters in. which kale fiourishes
and furnishes green succulent food, the
dairy business thrives all the year
around with the exception of short
period during the summer. During
this period the land is out of commits
sion, the cows barely subsist on the
pasture fields and there is no profit to
| the farmer. Forty-cent butter and a
scarcity Of good fresh milk is the evil
dence of a lack Of green food.
What is needed in the valley is for
age crop that will utilize the soil and
furnish green food and pasture during
| the dry season. Will alfalfa fill the
bill? If alfalfa could be raised extern
| sively and successfully it would change
the face of nature and add immensely
to the value of the farms in the Will
lamette valley. 1t would increase the
dairy products and the poultry pro-
ducts; it would cheaper the production
of pork and beef and mutton.
Alfalfa has been grown for two
thousands years in the Mediterranean
region. 1t has been grown successful
ly in arid parts of America for half a
century. A gentleman travelling over
what was then regarded as land unfit
for settlement in Western Nebraska by
reason of its aridity discovered a thrift
ty green alfalfa plant growing where
no other green thing could be found for
miles around. That was a demonstra-
tion that satisfied the gentleman and
| he purchased a large tract of land for
a trifie. On the same land he has since
| fed fifty thousand 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.
Since 1891 the acreage of alfalfa in
Kansas has increased from 34,388 to
615, 1000 in 1906. A recent bulletin
from that state says of alfalfa: '"The
steer feeders and mutton feeders of
Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska would
be lost without it. -
At the Kansas station it is stated +:
IA gain of 800 pounds of pork was
made from ton of alfalfa, and little
less than that amount of gain was
made from an acre of alfalfa pasture. /"
Again, eve found that 100 pounds of
alfalfa hay saved So pounds of corn. "
Figuring on the basis of these expert
ments it is stated that with green al
falfa producing ten tons per acre co.
900 pounds) it would produce 1000
pounds of pork. which, at cents per
pound would be worth $50 per acre.
Director Burkett, of the Kansas sta
tion, says: "By promoting the sue
cessful production of alfalfa the sta
tion has not only extended the domin-
ion of an imperial forage crop, but in
SO doing has discharged its own entire
expense, and in addition has added mill
lions of dollars to the wealth of the
state. =
At the Ontario agricultural college
in ten years 80 cuttings, yielding over
5 tons an acre, were made. An exper-
iment showed this great soil enrich
ing qualities. Wheat grown after al
falfa yielded GLIB bushels per acre and
after timothy sod AZ. ] bushels. In the
two succeeding years the alfalfa sod
produced 30.2 bushels of barley and "a
bushels of corn, while the timothy sod
produced 1877 bushels barley and 17.9
bushels corn. The three crops on the
alfalfa sod were worth about $50 while
those on the timothy sod were worth
about $50.
At the Oregon Agricultural college
alfalfa has been growing successfully
for several years, and tests are being
made by the agronomists with different
varieties to determine which will suit
\ the conditions best in this state. The
station men are glad at all times to
answer questions in regard to its culti-
vation.
A few miles from Corvallis Mr.. W..
H. Hamlin cut this year 200 tons of al
falfa hay. 1t yielded about 21a tons
to the acre in two cuttings. Before
seeding to alfalfa the land had been
"cropped out" Tn fourteen years
fourteen grain crops had been taken
from the land, and MIR. Hamlin ex-
plains that on richer land the yield is
much heavier. He further explains
that the oldest stand yields the best,
showing that it takes several years on
certain classes of soil for the alfalfa to
make good growth.
1t looks as though an alfalfa cam
paign would be worth millions to this
| state.
i @, What is meant by $50 per cent
$40 per cent, - and so on, dynamitef
The nercnnfa oaS S,.ivan refars to tns