Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1909-01-15
ALFALFA FOR OREGON.
Is Proving Good Forage Crop for the
Milk Cow.
By James Dryden. Oregon Agricultural College.
Corvallis.

There IS great deal OF milk IN the
ground that was not spilled and cried
over, but it is there nevertheless. At
certain seasons of the year the Thous-
and-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 flourishes |
and furnishes green succulent food, the
dairy business thrives all the year
around with the exception of a 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 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 exten-
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 thrift
ty green alfalfa plant growing where
no other green thing could be found for
miles around. That was demonstra-
tion that satisfied the gentleman and
he purchased large tract of land for
trife. 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, 900 in 1906. A recent bulletin
e from that state says of alfalfa: "The
e steer feeders and mutton feeders ot
y Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska woule
'' be lost without it..
{, At the Kansas station it is stated
"a gain of 800 pounds of pork was
made from ton of alfalfa, and little
:, less than that amount of gain was
y made from an acre of alfalfa pasture. .
= Again, "We found that 100 pounds Of
!. alfalfa hay saved SO pounds of corn. y
!. Figuring on the basis of these expert
l. ments it is stated that with green al
l. falfa producing ten tons per acre co.
: 900 pounds) it would produce 1900
pounds of pork, which, at a cents pei
J., pound would be worth $50 per acre."
Director Burkett, of the Kansas sta
o tion, says: "By promoting the sue
1t cessful production of alfalfa the sta
" tion has not only extended the domin
II ion of an imperial forage crop, but il
so doing has discharged its own entire
: e expense, and in addition has added mil
- lions of dollars to the wealth of th'
state"
70 At the Ontario agricultural college
in ten years 80 cuttings, yielding ove
l. tons an acre, were made. An exper
iment showed this great soil enrich
10 ing qualities. Wheat grown after al
re falfa yielded 61.5 bushels per acre ant
h after timothy sod 42.1 bushels. In tn
% two succeeding years the alfalfa so'
s, produced 30.2 bushels of barley and @
l. bushels of corn, while the timothy so
20 produced 1877 bushels barley and IT,.
bushels corn. The three crops on tn
alfalfa sod were worth about 500 whil
w W those on the timothy sod were wort
=, about $50.
~ At the Oregon Agricultural colleg
II alfalfa has been growing successful
r. for several years, and tests are bein
ne made by the agronomists with differen
at varieties to determine which will sui
lis the conditions best in this state. TIL
station men are glad at all times
III answer questions in regard to its cult
er vation.
to A lew miles from Corvallis Mr.. W
ar H. Hamlin cut this year 200 tons of a
We falfa hay. 1t yielded about 2h tor
ke to the acre in two cuttings. Befor
We seeding to alfalfa the land had bee
he Cropped out" In fourteen year
III fourteen grain crops had been take
{" from the land, and Mr.. Hamln e,
J., plains that on richer land the yield
ns ~, much heavier. He further explain
n. that the oldest stand yields the bes
showing that it takes several years o
nd certain classes of soil for the alfalfa