Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1913-10-23
Prof. Hansen
Continued from Page q

terial protection; in fact. | feel that
our experience has fully justified your
claims, and with your permission and
cooperation we intend to continue our
efforts"
In short, the hardiness,-drouth-re-
sistance and cold-resiStance-of the
various a~lfalSas has been proved again
and again under most trying condl-
tons. The plants have been found to
be sturdy growers, that will stand
pasturing, will come up again and
again after being cut by hail, eaten
off by rabbits, and trampled down
and eaten by horses. Their palatahil-
ity has been proved convincingly; all
sorts Of stock thrive upon them. They
produce seed plentifully. One plant
of Cossack alfalfa in 1911 yielded
three ounces of seeds, or 41,430.
Moreover, five hundred stems to one
plant has been found to be not I'M
common. In fact, this number is be-
coming the South Dakota standard.
With such results, there is little
wonder that the interest of the peo-
pie became intense, that alfalfa be-
came n of South Dakota's main sub
iects Of conversation The demand
was for more seed, and men were ac-
tually elected to the last legislature
on alfalfa tickets, pledging their sup.
port for appropriations to extend al
falfa seed-growing and to get seed in
other ways.
In the meantime Professor Hansen
was working upon this very problem
of seed supply. He wished both to
increase the seed grown and to make
the available supply go as far as pos
sible. He found one a of doing
both things. He introduced the trans
planting of alfalfas by horsepower ma
chinery. He had observed that the
sowing of seed broadcast was waste
full. He did a little arithmetical prob
lem, and discovered that by trans
planting he could make one pound OF
seed go as far as eight hundred and
forty go under the broadcast method
of seeding. Experiment showed him
also that by transplanting, with the
plants properly spaced according to
conditions of soil. elevation, or moist.
ure, the tap-roots could be broken up
into lateral systems. giving stronger
growths both for seed or hay. Trans.
planting meant nurseries, and today
South Dakota as a state has nearly a
score of these devoted wholly to al.
falfas. The machine used by the Pro.
~fessor is an adapted tobacco planter,
with which plants can be set at the
rate OF six thousand an hour.
So much progress had been made
by the time the legislature OF 1913 met
that there was little difficulty In oh
tanning appropriations for further
work. Whereas in 1911 the legis
ture appropriated only $1,000 for al
falfa work for the next biennial per
iod, in 1913 the legislature appropriat
ed s25. 900 ID push the work. This
was provided for in two bills, in eacl
lof which appeared the name OF Pro
~fessor Hansen, n providing fol
$500 a year for two years to further
the production 81 alfalfa seed and IL
continue experiemnts at hon,e, ant
the other setting apart $4,000 To send
Professor Hansen to Russia and Si
IBERIA to get such supplies of seed al
he could there. These two acts, with
their tribute to Professor Hansen and
his work. ere. perhaps, the BEST evi
dence Of the feeling througout South
Dakota toward the new ~alfalfas.
The Legislature having provided TIE
funds, Professor Hansen pushed The
campaign yigorously He aaw To i,
that his nurseries we're in shape fol
another summers work. and forced
the business of transplanting, setting
out nor than nvs hundred thousand