The Yale expositor., 1913-06-19
ALFALFA GROWING.
Alfalfa Should Be Grown on Every
Farm In ST. Clair County

Alfalfa Should Be Grown on Every
Farm In ST. Clair County.
| The alfalfa automobile campaign
crew will carry with them a series of
| large charts which will be used TO
emphasize the arguments for growing
alfalfa on every farm in ST. Clair
county. Some of the points thus en-
phasiZed are as follows:
A Profitable Crop.
II is a profitable crop because of it's
abundant yields, three cuttings per
year being nothing unsual. The aver
age yield of alfalfa is about double
the yield of clover.
Alfalfa increases farm values be-
cause il enriches the soil instead of
depicting it as grain crops do. Corn,
| or wheat, or any other grain crop
grown on alfalfa sod yields much
more abundantly than the same crops
grown on the same field before al
falfa was grown.
| Alfalfa is the premier crop-be-
cause it eXcels every other crop in
yield per >acTe--in feeding value-as
| a drouth resister-and as a soil en-
richer. Alfalfa is no harder to grow
than clover, and therefore because of
| its many excellent qualities should
be grown on every farm.
Alfalfa in the United States.
| Only about 100000 acres of al
falfa are grown in the United States
today, as compared with about So
600, 900 Gres of timothy and clover
46,000,000 acres of wheat, and more
| than 100 100000 acres of corn. Of
| L.
21S,000 acres of this crop is grown
east of the Mississippi river.
Nearly 100000 acres of alfalfa, or
one-fifth of the entire area is grown
in the state of Kansas alone. In the
rank of states growing alfalfa, Ne
braska is second; Colorado, third;
California, fourth Michigan ranks
twenty-second Prof Perry G. Holds
predicts that 10000 acres will be
growing in this state within two
years.
Alfalfa, the Most Valuable Forage
Crop.
According to the 1910 census of the
| hay crop, the state of Wisconsin
grew $4,000 acres of alfalfa which
average 2.S tons per acre fI the en-
tire state, and the average acre value
| of the crop was $31 90 During the
same year, the combined acreage of
| timothy and clover averaged 1.6Nons
per acre valued at $1400. 1t costs
no more to grow an acre of alfalfa
than 1t does TO grow an acre of tim
othy or clover. Therefore, assuming
that the cost Of growing an acre of
clover or timothy to be $1,000, the
farmer would clear $4.O0 per acre in
| growing these crops, where as the
same farmer If he grew alfalfa would
| reap a profit of S21.00 per acre.
Alfalfa out-Yields other Hay Crops,
BY means of series Of experiments
carried on over number of years, the
average yield of alfalfa per acre has
been found to be "a tons, whereas
red clover yielded only 20 tons; tim
othy 2.3 tons; brom grass 1.3 tons.
Not only does alfalfa yield more
than twice the tonnage of red clover,
but it also makes a much more val
liable feed
In view of the foregoing, why
should the farmers of the United
States keep on growing $4,000, 900
acres of timothy and clover, and only
| 100000 acres of alfalfa? Would it
not be much more profitable to simp-
ly reverse the figures, and grow 50,-
| 100000 acres of alfalfa, and only 81
| 100000 acres of clover and timothy?
Think 1t over.
Save the Alfalfa Leaves.
OF the entire alfalfa plant, the
stalk comprises so per cent, and the
leaf 40 per cent, whereas, the quanti-
| ~ rf fha fnff In, ha or oil fy Ixy
40 per cent, while the protein in the
leaf is 60 per cent. Moreover only 20
| per cent of the fat is to be found in
the stalk, while so per cent is in the
leaf. 1t is, therefore, very important
that the alfalfa be harvested at the
proper time, and carefully handled so
that all the leaves will be saved.
Alfalfa is Rich in DioestibIe Protein.
OF all crops alfalfa stands at the
head of the list, alphabetically and
otherwise. In the matter of diges-
| tible protein, alfalfa leads with 1913
per cent. This startling disclosure
may not be very easy for every one
TO understand, as it is expressed in
| percentages, but not the yield per
acre.
Alfalfa Is Highest in Digestible Pro-
tein Per Acre.
By careful analysis It has been
found that alfalfa yield S75 pounds of
digestible protein per acre. as COM
pared with 491 pounds in clover.
This is very remarkable showing In
favor of alfalfa.
Protein is the most essential ele-
ment in feed stuffs therefore, it will
readily be seen how valuable alfalfa
is as compared with clover.
Grow Your Protein-Don't Buy 1t.
IL has been found that alfalfa is
equal to bran in protein content.
Wheat bran costs about $21.00 per
ton, whereas alfalfa can be grown for
$5.15 per ton as shown by the figures
and facts. Why should any one buy
what bran when 1t costs 4 times as
much as alfalfa, and alfalfa makes
| just as good feed as bran?
Alfalfa Enriches the Land.
Not only does alfalfa yield much
more abundant harvest than the 9th