“ There are only two conditions under which it will not grow. When rock is found within four or five feet of the surface and the soil is dry down to the rock, or where the soil is not drained and is wet a considerable part of the year. The young alfalfa plant is one of the weakest grown and is especially feeble in securing from the soil the nitrogen it needs to develop it. Mature alfalfa plants obtain their nitrogen from the air while their deep growing roots gather potash and phosphoric acid from the subsoil. Alfalfa from one seeding can be expected to live from three to fifteen or more years. ”

“ Its value as a stock food and as an article of commerce has made it one of the foremost of Kansas crops. The experiment station at Manhattan has investigated its properties and tested its worth, and the recommendation given it has done to increase its growth in Kansas. The statistics of 1908 show alfalfa production in six counties as being less than 100 acres per county, thirty-three counties have areas from 10,000 to 35,000 acres each, and Jewell county had 60,018 acres in alfalfa, the acreage of the whole state reaching 878,283. ”

“ It has a pea blossom and a leaf of three leaflets; is adapted to a wide range of soils and climate, and is considered by good authorities to be the best forage plant ever discovered. It is now grown in every county in Kansas and 90 per cent of the arable land is suitable for its production. ”