Transcriber’s Notes Texts printed in italics and bold face have been transcribed between _underscores_ and =equal signs= respectively. Small capitals have been replaced with ALL CAPITALS. More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text. [Illustration: _F. D. Coburn_ It is the pleasure of the publishers to present to those who are interested in alfalfa, the man who declined an appointment as United States Senator, that he might continue to direct the affairs of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture in general and of farmers in particular.--Orange Judd Company.] The Book of Alfalfa HISTORY, CULTIVATION AND MERITS. ITS USES AS A FORAGE AND FERTILIZER. [Illustration] * * * * _Spanish clover, such as has Usurped the Occident and dwells On Sacramento’s sundown hills, And all the verdant valley fills With fragrance sweet and delicate As wooing breath of woman is._ --_Joaquin Miller_. _By_ F. D. COBURN Secretary Kansas Department of Agriculture. Illustrated 1912 ORANGE JUDD COMPANY New York Copyright, 1906 by ORANGE JUDD COMPANY New Revised Edition Copyrighted 1907 by ORANGE JUDD COMPANY _All Rights Reserved_ _Printed in the U. S. A._ [Illustration: THERE ARE SOME SILENT SUBSOILERS THAT DO THEIR WORK WITH EASE, AND IN THEIR WAY, MORE EFFECTUALLY THAN ANY TEAM OR PLOW EVER HITCHED. THE CLOVER PLANT IS RIGHTEOUSLY FAMED AS ONE OF THESE, BUT ALFALFA IS ITS SUPERIOR. ITS ROOTS WORK, SUNDAY AS WELL AS SATURDAY, NIGHT AND DAY; THEY STRIKE 5, 10, 15 OR 20 FEET DEEP, MAKING INNUMERABLE PERFORATIONS, WHILE STORING UP NITROGEN, AND WHEN THESE ROOTS DECAY THEY LEAVE NOT ONLY A GENEROUS SUPPLY OF FERTILITY FOR ANY DESIRED CROP, BUT MILLIONS OF OPENINGS INTO WHICH THE AIR AND RAIN OF HEAVEN FIND THEIR WAY, AND HELP TO CONSTITUTE AN UNFAILING RESERVOIR OF WEALTH, UPON WHICH THE HUSBANDMAN CAN DRAW WITH LITTLE FEAR OF PROTEST OR OVERDRAFTS.] “Its long, branching roots penetrate far down, push and crowd the earth this way and that, and thus constitute a gigantic subsoiler. These become an immense magazine of fertility. As soon as cut, they begin to decay and liberate the vast reservoir of fertilizing matter below the plow, to be drawn upon by other crops for years to come.” The Author’s Foreword This volume, however strong its statements in favor of alfalfa may appear to those unacquainted with that plant’s productivity and beneficence, is by no means presented as an argument that everyone should raise alfalfa. It is intended rather as a conservative setting forth of what others have found alfalfa to be and do under wide variations of soil, climate, condition and locality; of its characteristics and uses; the most approved methods of its raising and utilization, and the estimates of it by those who have known it most intimately and longest as a farm forage crop and a restorer and renovator of the soil.