Alfalfa in Kansas: Report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture for the Quarter Ending June, 1916 (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from Alfalfa in Kansas: Report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture for the Quarter Ending June, 1916

Because of diverse opinions and experiences such as these the progress of alfalfa was slow in the years immediately following its introduction. Skepticism, however, was banished and mistaken beliefs rectified as the merits of the plant became better known through more extensive and intimate acquaintance. Those who early recognized its value persistently urged its growing, and their estimates of its worth have been more than justified by subsequent events.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Alfalfa in Kansas: Report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture for the Quarter Ending June, 1916

Nowhere are conditions more favorable to the profitable production of alfalfa than in Kansas. The rise in importance of this legume is one of the wonders of our agriculture. Its advent was epochal in the state's history. That it has contributed handsomely to the present-day affluence of the Kansas farmer can not be gainsaid; that it will be more largely depended upon in the future is certain. Appreciating the advantages of alfalfa, the husbandmen of Kansas confidently look forward to broader expansion in the possibilities of our agriculture, to increased per capita wealth and enhanced land values, to better homes and greater comforts.

While the plant is now held in universal esteem, the fact is recalled that during the first years of its introduction there was much diversity of opinion as to the real value of alfalfa. New and strange to our agriculture, its entrance to Kansas quite naturally was not met with a spontaneous and unanimous welcome. It had, to be sure, its staunch advocates, but there were many who deemed it of doubtful worth and by some it was promptly rejected. So late as 1887 one of the correspondents of the State Board of Agriculture, a keenly observant farmer-scientist of Rooks county, wrote:

"It is a plant having many warm friends and also a squad of bitter enemies. I have read much in favor of it, and much condemning it in the severest terms."

Some persons believed alfalfa to be poisonous, doubtless because of the tendency to bloat ruminants when they were allowed to graze on it at will, and many reports were to the effect that stock refused to eat it. An example of the latter is given by a pioneer settler of Geary county, now living in Shawnee, who wrote:

"My neighbor in Geary county, along in the early seventies, tried alfalfa. The seed was sown on sandy soil and grew vigorously. When it had attained a height of about sixteen inches an armful was cut for the horses, but they wouldn't even taste it. The grower concluded, therefore, that it was a noxious weed."

Because of diverse opinions and experiences such as these the progress of alfalfa was slow in the years immediately following its introduction. Skepticism, however, was banished and mistaken beliefs rectified as the merits of the plant became better known through more extensive and intimate acquaintance. Those who early recognized its value persistently urged its growing, and their estimates of its worth have been more than justified by subsequent events.

A careful search of the records discloses that alfalfa was first mentioned in the reports of the State Board of Agriculture in 1877, when Alfred Gray was the Board's secretary. He observed that:

"In the West - in fact, throughout Kansas - alfalfa promises to be eminently successful.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.