Show ALFALFA AS FORAGE excels AH all other crops in yield production and value comes from the region of perila persia and belongs to the pea family in trod iced into south america by spaniards kiy bijas nc noeun lson irr cation tat uy by ellas ulan nelson elson ts lot As a borago alfalfa excels all crop crops in yield cost of production and feed ing tig value of rill crops it id to our chief one not only that but tee tae ba els 1 of agriculture for ar y no other scans than the ol 01 alfalfa can we so cheaply utako our voll highly productive alfalfa or lucerne botanically known as ago sativa la Is a native of asia coming coining from the region 0 of perua persia it belonga belongs to the pea fani fam ily alth also embrack q the clovers field peas ve getches vetches vet ches tebes eoy soy beans cow peas and espar cette As forage all these leguminous plants aro are charac terl zd by their high protein content they diner differ from other held field crop crops in that they are all ah e to utilize atmospheric nitrogen alfalfa wae was introduced by the spaniards into mexico chile and peru and it in 1 chiefly from these countries that it found its way into the western estern united states where it Is generally known by the spanish name alfalfa the cultivation of alfalfa tor for several hundred years in arid americ hi has produced a somewhat sumo what distinct A type known aa as the americana Amerl cani nr or I 1 west ern alfalfa this thin type succeeds eucce eds in the middle hocky mountain region from texas to south dakota eastward to the river and beyond and in the pacino pacific northwest it ie 11 the alfalfa with which we are famil tar besides this type four others are found in the united states the turkestan Tur Turk kettan estan type it at higher altI altitudes and in the more severo severe ell cli mates to the northward the taller but lees less hardy types the arabian and the peruvian are better adapted t to 0 the sou southwest thweat another type the ger man has the american in some of the eastern states not only does the farmer desire to get seed of good vitality but he also wants it free from weed seeds needs mot most of the weed seed seeds may be separated by proper cleaning la in most of the arid states alfalfa ta Is cah chiefly fly grown with irrigation while drought restating resisting and adapted to arid conditions it responds to irrl ration gation as no other forage crop does vast areas of sage brush lands arc brought under cultivation and a large percentage of these lands will and ought to be devoted to the culture of alfalfa tho the purpose of leveling and grad ing la Is to GO so faehn the land that wa ter may be evenly distributed over it it often however gome some extra leveling la is advisable to do away with ditches that would otherwise be required and that would cut up the land in irregular shapes it la Is a great mistake not to level the land well in the first instance Ina tance so that cropo crops can be readily irrigated for I 1 it Is done properly at the outset it Is 3 done for all time on the other hand it Is also a mistake to grade ex es essl vely when whan there a no real feces ity the best time to level in 1 in summer ot 01 in fall os as the soil sail la Is dryer then and hence not so heavy to move and there Is no trouble about the soil in n the spring when the soil Is moist or wet leveling cannot be done so ad the location of the ditches Is determined ter mined by the lay of the land anil and the system of applying water ater to be installed na in general we may say a that it la Is dosi desirable rable to run the ditches at right angle angles to the line fences whenever the lay of the land will per tutt wit it IL sucu such ditches of course will not have a uniform grade ahen ditches are lovsted in that way ay the lelda fields are rec rectangular ir and hence all farm operations can be more easily performed often it may b bw well to make fills so ua as to make ditches straight rather than following curved lines on many farms the lay of the land ie in euch such that the ditches can not bo be run at right angles to the line fences but must conform in a arieas uro ure to the contours making irregular shaped fields unavoidable under such conditions make the ditches on a grade of from 83 to 15 part of foot per feet As an a general thing we should figure to irrigate with the general slope of the land as by so doing water can be more evenly and expeditiously distributed tri over oter the land As regards the location of tte ditches and the details of the system of applying water each farm Is n problem in itself where the whole farm has one gen eral slope it Is a simple matter to de ermine termine where the ditches should go often however there are various dopes slope and the system of ditches must bo be constructed to suit |