Adaptation To Eastern Needs
Categories:
ALFALFA
The introduction of alfalfa into the
eastern half of the United States will prove a boon to its depleted
soils, encouraging the feeding of livestock and adding to the value of
manures. It will affect soils directly, as does red clover, when
farmers appreciate the fact that its rightful place on their farms is
in rotation with grain. Under western conditions, where no other crop
can compete with it in value, as is the c
se in semi-arid belts, its
ability to produce crops for a long term of years adds much to its
value, but in eastern agriculture this characteristic is not needed. On
most soils of the east it will not remain productive for more than four
to six years, and that fact detracts little from its value. It should
fit into crop-rotations, adding fertility for grain crops. When grown
in a six-years rotation with corn and oats or other small grain, it
furnishes a rich sod for the corn, and the manure made from the hay
helps to solve the farmer's fertility problem.