Show ALFALFA MARKS 100 YEARS VEMS OF GROWTH IN UTAH TITAII AND WEST the 1050g 1050s mark n ventury ventury entury rentury en tury since sine the introduction lntrodictln intrtduction n alfalfa I 1 into nto utah and other wtern stern states dur during nit I 1 tto yam 71 hearp varii vearp it ft ha haq probably fn an rn 0 1 1. wont OKI important forage crop in fit liv state having been wen grown on up tip prox proximately proxlmately irately imately one half if ahe ihr ihe ir rig rlgated ted acream acreae acreaw acre ae to T save import ing the seed reed the early q0tit lictllfrs riq attempted atte apted pted to grow ft it and were successful M beyond xppctntloni exoectationit utah thus beca became ryie an important source of seed from 1900 to 1925 utah produced one fifth of the worlds world to supply of alfalfa seed and from one third to one ne half of the crop crol grown in 0 the united states origin and early history so called common alfalfa Is believed to h b native to south western asia it was probably planted and cared for by half civilized men ages before any history was written but sincel since the beginning of recorded hi his 1 tory it has played an important t part in the development of many cultures and civilizations it was an important forage plant in the ancient kingdoms of the I 1 medes medea and persians and was carried by them into greece at the time of their invasion of that country in 490 B C the romans knew of the value of alfalfa and its great yielding power and its habit of growing rapidly after cutting I 1 and its quick response to soil moisture they understood its I 1 need for a well prepared seed bed and of the importance of keeping down weeds during the first year of its growth they also knew of its tendency to produce bloat in cattle and of its ability to enrich the soil 1 the arabs spoke of alfalfa as a plant that thrives best with its head in the sun and its feet in the water this was their way of telling of its special adaptation ap tation to regions of intense sunlight and of its ready response to irrigation it was carried by the arabs into spain at the time of their invasion of that 4 country in 711 A D and later by the spaniards into south america and mexico where it gained prominence as a field crop during colonial days alfalfa was brought to the atlantic seaboard from europe under the name of lacem lucem ilucern but since conditions there were not conducive to its growth it did not become firmly established alfalfa is a dry climate crop for this reason it thrived well in california and utah after its introduction in 1850 according to hamilton gardner in his history of lehl lehi as reported by alter in 1920 alfalfa was first brought to utah by I 1 isaac sa goodwin in 1859 As a member of captain samuel bran nans company G goodwin had landed at san francisco in 1846 he later came to utah bringing with him a little alfalfa seed which he planted in lehi in ino 1860 from prom this seed seven plants were grown and cared for with patience and perseverance at last he was able to produce sufficient seed to enable him to sell some of it to his neighbors for one dollar per pound from which plantings were established for the production of hay alfalfa ma may also have been brought into utah tah prior to this time by immigrants from europe since the plant was well known during the early years of its culture in utah by its european name of lucern ilucern As apt description of what followed the introduction of alfalfa into utah is given by an early writer of the united states department of agriculture as follows where a spring or mountain stream moistened a bit of the desert the pioneers planted their precious seeds when the summers dried up the springs many of the tender crops brought from the old home died but the alfalfa if lived with the tenacity bred by a thousand rainless summers in its native home borne its roots followed the retreating moisture into the earth and held on alfalfa supplied the feed for the herds when they came home from the summer range and in turn the herds have sustained the people thus from the beginning alfalfa has played a vital part in the establishment of almost every community in the state alfalfa sd seed in 1909 according to the census the commercial growing of alfalfa seed was restricted chief ly because of unfavorable climatic conditions to utah kansas nebraska california arizona colorado oklahoma idaho montana and wyoming named in the order of total production A varying seed was reported elsewhere over the united states but in the humid regions the plant set a fair quality of seed only in the coccas occasional lonal of extreme drought in kansas good seed crops were harvested in seasons marked by i general failure of 0 other crops because of drought the alfalfa seed crop was looked upon as being exacting in its environmental requirements As one observer stated the crop is never assured until the seed is in the bags and another that even after the seed is in the bags the success of a season could not be fully realized until the effects of the weather on the seed crops of other states were known in utah in the early days of seed production crop failures were attributed to hot winds or to periods of cloudy sultry weather with little or no wind however untimely frosts seemed to I 1 be the cause of the greatest losses in production and was the factor about which early seed growers were most concerned seed yield and production the high peak in production of alfalfa seed in utah was attained in 1925 with a total output of more than 23 million pounds and an average acre yield of 320 pounds it is estimated that approximately 14 million pounds of this crop was grown within a radius of about 15 miles of delta in millard county and about 7 million pounds within a similar distance of myton in duchesne I 1 county production seems therefore to have been restricted at that time to a few areas of the state which for some reason seemed to be best suited to this crop at this time more than 40 percent of the irrigated acreage of the state was growing alfalfa with from 10 to 20 percent of it being devoted to the growing of alfalfa seed yields and total production of alfalfa seed in utah declined rapidly from 1825 1925 to 1923 drought and economic distress added to the troubles of seed growers and many were forced to liquidate their holdings more than one third urd of the alfalfa seed acreage in the state was lost or abandoned ed with the decline of seed yields scientists at the utah agricultural ri experiment station began to study the cause after much research came the important discovery that lygus dygus bugs were a major factor causing the I 1 low yields when this discovery was made it was found that there were no insecticides then available that would give economic control of the pest it was not until the development of DDT and the other new organic insecticides that successful control measures for this pest could be worked out since 1945 therevas therehas the there rehas has been a notable improvement in yields and total production of alfalfa seed in utah and other western states but it has been found that although alfalfa will not produce adequate yields of seed without the control of lygus dygus bugs there are other factors important to the production of high seed yields among which are soils solls and soil moisture variety of alfalfa cultural and management practices and insect pollination many factors are involved and these require the attention of workers in various branches of agricultural science utah agricultural experiment station |