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Show Alfalfa-Growing In Kansas By F D, Coburn ' ' .'. . ',' w. v. . ' - r;;' ' : ' yvv.,i.;.,..-;.a.c;--t ...... . 4.-"'1y v-v'JfA.A-;? ..:. ,. ' : iW?-Vr-A .,-J..i:. . --., :vyi. .. v. v'iT ??V4-v f -"- ' v );:-" -'L V. V-o-.V'tSry'- -, i ,:. V-lS'-i- !15 '.-4 --'v 1 w-. jT,'..r b,v .,-. vVr-r' iirrr7-'5vcv ":''' til !,ri-.'. '.rVf. -- -5 . .;, J : . 7CV - -v..- .v;rr;-:v.-: "' f, t'1.- J -j-vV: : - , .. . i vv f.t? V-;;.'V' ''"v" ' ,,; J. l4? '-v' :-trvi-'1 'C :.v--o5..-'4: .s - . r.v--,r;,.::vv?;-.;v.: ' 1 1 I. I ... finished Steers Ready for Market 1 Alfalfa is pronouncedly superior to prairie hay for beef production, and the more rspid the ctcnsion of the area of land devoti-d to iIk production ot alfalfa, f iitpi:nit-in iitpi:nit-in the less valuable and lower yielding native hay, (lie more rapid will be the production produc-tion of wealth from our boil. I I TyAXSAS Is unique In many things, but In ! I non niore than f-e nmmandlng position I she occupies In alf-.lfa growing, Herde-I Herde-I v. lopment In this Ind v uy is one of tho mar- vel M. ,,f her proline agriculture, and with al- faitfi as w ith w inter w h' t. no other ftalo op-I op-I u-oicIh'k hr in its ac: cage and production. Those who have known It longest and best are the one.; who esteem it most highly In fact, very f.-w who have once raised or used ii as a feed, a re fatbJ;ed to be without it, and as a rule th.-y contemn!.' to an enlarged acrn-aee acrn-aee and Its increased u-e. The marvelous fnct ronnrcled with this plant so old In agri-eiil.'uie, agri-eiil.'uie, is t mrw-a, as It does, to so nmnyVnl th beginning of the twentieth ccn-tury'as ccn-tury'as an ngricultural revelation. The credulity of tho e who are strango to alfalfa, however fajr minded. Is invariably t.ixed by a recitation o; the truth about this wonderful plant. Kve:i the facts cut in two leave him In a pertrrl.'d state of mind as to tho veracity or the saimy of the narrator, but tle experiences of th-ve who are actually Its giinver.K are ronvlm ing. An alfalfa field Is , ' perennial mid abiding blessing to those who 7are :o fortunafT' as to have It. yielding att-, att-, nui-ll;.-, w hether the reason be wet or dry. Its : (eial cuttings of' hay. unsurpassed In ton-nngo ton-nngo and quality. It Is i deed esteemed as a benefaction and doubly appreciated where It ' flourishes and other Hovers do noL Another feature, too, that the wide-awake farmer does not nviii. or minimize Is tho Improving ea'.-. ts of It roots, restoring and o).rlcMng rather than depleting the fertility of bis land, to the great bencllt of other succeeding suc-ceeding crops, A:; Is well known, nlf.tlfa is one of the olden old-en Mirage plants, ct to the husbandry of the . tmiicaii farmer It Is of but le-eent ac- quiri-ment. Kunsans were anion": the fore-Tiims fore-Tiims to correctly estimate its worth, and !t3 wide: pread introduction ino tho t'untlower stale has been one of tlie most Important 1 factors In Increasing h.-.n!; denosita and th.i per capita wealth. H Is noteworthy and sisniilrnnt that our un),-ec-deiHil prosperity dat'S from the lime alfalfa was first shown proper appreciation by our farmers. All who know alfulfa best esteem It as one of Iho richest (iciiulsltions to American agriculture, and in Karnes ronditU.is :;et.m naturally tidjpied to Its most abundant and economical pi oduc lion. In Kansas alfalfa growing was a prelude to prosperity, and Is the sUndi'.ist promoter f her progress, l'roin or.scurity it has steadily risen to the foremost rank among hay plants and has already resMlt.( n qUad-rupling qUad-rupling the state's output of tame h.(. in ' the alue of the lame hay crop , was $?.('"). ono, w hile that of l !(! was considerably ! ocr SH.noo.aoti. The annual value of products prod-ucts of live stock In that time has been doubled and alfalfa has made of Kansas. If j not llrst. one of the foremost stubs In dairy-j dairy-j ing. a mosl desirable branch of husbandry I that Intelligently and generally followed well-I well-I nigh Insures continued and enlarged prosper-! prosper-! Ity Alfalfa, It seems, supplies the one requisite re-quisite Providence fulled to ..ivlde in OKtlb-lishlng OKtlb-lishlng tho otherwise ivady-m.-ide conditions for dairying In Kansas, and II?.- uttemion b.-ing b.-ing given this branch, of intensive farming In nearly every iocalfty is having Its beneficial benefi-cial Influence commercially and socially. The w ide: pie-ad Introduction of alfalfa In the Sunflower Sun-flower state has been one of the most Important Impor-tant factors in the increase of bank deposits and the added wealth they re-present. It has increased the Klute's manufactures through grinding the hay Into meal and the preparation prepara-tion of various valuable stock food.v, which " add an important industry promising large development. The Increase In Its acreage here affords son.-, although no .idequate Idea of the growing appreciation in whlvh th planl Is held. It I. Just twontv years plncn the crop was lirf t thought of enough Importance Impor-tance to chronicle Its statistics, and at that groups, one of six northern and another of sjlx southern counties, may be used. These-, i with their .averages In 1891 and 1000 compared, com-pared, afford striking examples. Ti e shw.v- ' Ing for the six northern counties is us follows: fol-lows: Acres I8C1. Jewell 2!b; f.l.COJ Smith T.3 41,.t3j Phillips '. 111 ::.i,T"o ltepubllc 196 31.770 Mitchell c:o 2Wi Washington 200 21,130 Totals -''- 21fi,:i0? - An Increase In these .ix counth-H of 10,327 per cent, the stating of which sounds like ro i manco fir fable. I-'or the six southern conn I ties the showlnrj is thus: 1391. 1900. I Sedgwick 1,023 '29.32S Muller 303 3S.390 j Sumner 3S2 22 3St Cowley 416 22,010 Harper 100 12 Gil Barber 94 12.360 Totals 3.179 137.319 The increase in these six southern counties coun-ties of 1.220 per cent was not so large as In the six northern counties, but strikingly impressive im-pressive as an object lesson. These twelve counties combined hid la 1891 5,221 acres; In 1909 they had 33-2,317 acres, or an Increase of 6, 90 per cent. They had, too, in 1903. 30 per cent of the entire alfalfa al-falfa acreage eif the state. Ktin-as had in Itiuii alfalfa to the extent of 993.330 a. re i, or an increase of 13 per cent over 190S and 211.3 -p. r ei nt over 1901. and a gain of 2,7X9.0 pet cent over the area of 1S91. Alfalfa cm be grown in every county in the slate, arid each county has a greater or less ;ipa of It. ,Sc v-cnty-si veil counties showed Increases in 1009 aggregating: 119, 001 acres, and the net pam for the year was 113,230 acres. W hile J.-w.-l1 c. unty ha.- most alfalfa, Smith. Its neighbor on tiie v.i -a, ranks second, with M 'V.t in res. and Buti.'r. to the south find full her east, conns third, with 3S.300 acres, either counties coun-ties i,jlns over 20,000 acres were Phillips. Republic. Sedgx. It k. Mitchell. Dickinson. Cloud, Sumner, Cowley, Osborne, Marlon and Merh- r. on, ranking In the order named. I The largest tains ii: the year were reported report-ed by Phillips and Cowley of 3,370 and f.,.';63 acre:--, respectively, followed by Sumner with an increas-e of 4,791 acres. Smith 4.3 13 acres, l-'inney 4.313 acres, Mitchell 4.4 SO acres. Harper Har-per 4.437 acres and Barber 1.311 acres. Alfalfa is a wonderful plant, yielding under un-der widely varying conditions well-nigh iu-ct iu-ct edible growths of Incomparable forage , ei :omo brains are a requisite of Miccehs, even in grow ing alfalfa. To say that "any fool c-a u grow alfalfa" is quite misleading, but with fair tratment under fairly favorable conditions condi-tions it is bringing good fortune to thousands thou-sands of those growers who know It best and use a decent intelligence in their dealings with it. j Alfalfa since Its advent has sold more Kan-as land and at higher prices than any oilier one growth, commodity or influence. Lands with no sale and considered a, burden ' at a Z valuation have been quick sales at $40 to $73 per acre when seeded to this wonderful won-derful lorage. while others, although not by ary means the best, have paid their nwneia 10 and 12 per cent on valuations of $200 or more per acre. The cultivation and teeding of alfalfa mark the highest development of modern agriculture. Alfalfa Is one of n;l-tuie's n;l-tuie's precious gifts; it is the preserver and the conseivcr of the homestead. It does not fail from old .-ee. It loves the sunshine, con-verting con-verting the sunbt ams into coin In the pockets of the thrifty husbandman. It is the greatest mortgage lifter yet discoercd and Kansas Is Iti happy habitat. time the enumerators of the boir.l of agriculture agricul-ture returned the area for the state as 31. 331 acres. Now the alfalfa field of our state approximates ap-proximates l.OOO.OCO acres ami but three cultivated cul-tivated rrnns exceed It In annual area namely, wheat, corn find oats. In combination combina-tion with these altalfa furnishes Kansans in abundance with perhaps the best and cheapest cheap-est rations anywhere available for the main-ti main-ti nance of their live s.o.k, for the excellence of which they are fumed. The new convert and the would-be bgin-' rer who s.i ' ks light as to alfalfa is more than liable to lind himself befogp. d by the ast amount of twaddle In catalogues, bulletins and the rr-s, pictendlng to de-a ribe the superior su-perior qualities ami pceullarii i-s of the al-I.ged al-I.ged numerous different varieties, and the. importance of securing this one for a cold climate, that one for a dry climate and the others for certain latitudes and altitudes at prices, that ore pi eposterous. Generally spe-aking. mo'-t of the.-.. so-called varieties aie not In the mjiket and many of them never existed. The dealer may advertise and profess (po-slHy in good faith! to supply tla-m. but the chances arc that If their ills-, tory was traced It would reveal that at the farther end of the line they all came from the. hum. bin. The fact that a man In any gien locality has tried alf.lfa one tube without success suc-cess slf-nlllcs very little as to it adaptability there. Being unfa miliar with Its habits or requirements he may have done scarcely any of the simple thing.'! needful to Its prosperity. Thi'-, too, while- thinking he was right and . taking no little pain- His Ignorance niy In a single turn have been the eau-e of fuilure, or he may have gone wrong at eveiy turn. In either eent the rellectloii Is on him rather than on (be alfalfa. In the hands of a stranger to It alfalfa that has filled afteV one or two attempts to raise it has not as a rule bad a fair trial. Such failure should only rerve to make the rxpei linnter more determined and no householder house-holder who has two acres of ground and l.e-rps ,-, hors". n row, a pig or poultry siim;l I be sallsln d without having a part of Ids r. :!: In tlil g-r-;t. si of all forag? plants. J-iiiIure in..- eonie from various causes, and be the rcs.dt of Innocent Ignorance or general In. nicieni y, f.rwUJch the locality, soil e--n.Tita or . llni.it'e are in no way responsible. H u.irlu ionic, for example, from sow !ng seed 'aduii. raierl or otherwise impure, seed that was reason'. bly pure but In some way dnm-aqed dnm-aqed so that It as not germlnable; sowing too much or to., little s.- d; sowing at the wrong season ,,f year or at an unpropl-. unpropl-. lions date when weather conditions proved . unkind; or Improper sowing noon land iui-propi iui-propi rly pnp.irxl, unfortunately situated or foul with weed :td-; upon land so situated as to be too wit much of the year; on new-land. new-land. l;e pi iinllhc wlldness of which had not been subdued, or on old land lobbed of its fertility nnil hui.i.'--, by bng-continiied crop-pln.'r. crop-pln.'r. By l!ie firs! enumeration of the alfalfa acreage of Ka;.-a. in JS91, F!nn-y county .was found far In the lead by more than two one. with 3.717 aere : Her ch-scst competitor W;;- Kearny, the county next west, with 2.1SS acre.,. At that t iu-e Jewell, now the h-ader of all, with her 11.CH2 acres, had but 290 acres. One of the Mrlklng and interesting fea-tures fea-tures of alfalfa history in our state has been tin- shifting of the totality of increase. In 1S01 the v.e:,t was in the- lead and for (he ..following seven vears Finney county was foremost. In lxsS Butler, a southern county, obtained the lead and held It for one year, when Jewell, an extreme northern county, ientr.il from e.-.',t to west, gaimd supremacy ; and has maintained it constantly, of late w ith no real competitor. To llle'trate the tremendous percentage of Increase In al'alfa plantings In Kansas two |