Show MANY VARIETIES OF ALFALFA plant attain highest state of food value on land of west favors dry climate the plant Is a called lucern probably after the town of that name in switzerland it came to thil this country from chile it was once grown on the plains or of babylon and Is in more widely cultivated than any other plant ita its height Is 1 two and one half halt to three feet sometimes stories are told that alfalfa will go down 59 50 to 60 feet feel in search of water that cannot be con firmed the roots in light d hy 7 soil go down as deep as 15 or 20 foot feet in our mi middle addle western black loam and clay soils the he roots penetrate three or four feet seldom more but spread out in search of food alfalfa will main maintain taia a at good stand for 20 years or even longer in the dry light soils of 0 tha tar far west on the billy hilly soils of the east it will die out in from five to ton years when the stem Is cut off it dies down to tho the crown of the root and the core wore frequently it Is cut tho the more stems it will send up prom from two to four crops per annum are tire cut in the country east of the kil purl river in the pacific states from four to six crops are cut there are several varieties of alfalfa much betom than others while some varieties will stand more cold than others it grows well in fairly well in north dakota luxuriously in kansas and nebraska and Is grown to some extent ii southern and east ern states but ita its best beat growth Is on the semiarid ld lands of the west it attains its highest state of food value on irrigated farm lands of the west vest because the dry climate allows it to bo be perfectly cured and ham harvested ested east of the Mise missouri ourt river it Is grown best on high lands it requires a good eoll soil not too heavy with a subsoil as it will not grow well it lie its roots are in wa ter it must have a soil frao from add acid it doea not grow well on gravelly upland where tho the subsoil Is not with water unless the rainfall la is normal |