alfalfa just referred to were not successful.

But it is not alone in the areas named that alfalfa has proved so
helpful to agriculture. In Central Asia and northward it has for long
centuries furnished the Tartars with the principal forage crop grown. In
Turkestan and other places it will grow under conditions so dry as to
forbid the vigorous growth of many hardy grasses. In Southern Asia, from
India to Arabia, it has lost none of the popular favor accorded to it
long centuries ago. In Southern Russia it is extensively grown, and up
and down the basin of the Danube. In the Mediterranean provinces of
Southern Europe it is still one of the leading forage crops. In France
it stands high in the popular estimate, and also in some parts of
Germany. And even in humid England it is grown more or less freely on
dry, calcareous soils. And the day is doubtless near when in many parts
of Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Eastern South America this great
fodder plant will be found capable of yielding abundant harvests. In
some parts of Argentina it has been claimed that it grows like a weed.

It is believed by many that alfalfa if exposed to very low temperatures
will perish and that it cannot stand as much winter exposure as medium
red or alsike clover. This is only true of some varieties. Other
varieties, as the Turkestan, for instance, will endure lower
temperatures and more exposure than the clovers named. Alfalfa has been
grown with some success at the government experiment station, Indian
Head, Sask, Canada, and yet it sometimes winter kills in Texas. As with
clover, it is injured most by exposure to sweeping winds blowing over it
in winter when the mercury is low, and the injury is more fatal just
after the removal of a snow covering and when the plants are young. Ice
forming over the fields after a sudden thaw and remaining for a time is
very liable to kill the plants. It can stand considerably more summer
heat than any of the clovers grown northward, as witnessed in the good
crops grown in some parts of Louisiana during the hottest weather of
summer. Nevertheless, with reference to temperatures, what may be termed
a mild climate, such as characterizes Southern France in Europe and
Western California in the United States, is best adapted to its growth.

It is better adapted to climates that are dry, where the plants can be
irrigated, as then rains do not interfere with the harvesting of the
hay. Even in the absence of i