Lyman’s Grimm ALFALFA U’ K sa ^ gg tt >" r2o^- « OC ui 2 2 g£s >0 P hotograph above shows Lyman’s Grimm Alfalfa on the left, as compared with common al- falfa on the right, grown on two adjacent square rods, sown in 1916 by the Agricultural Extension Divi- sion, University Farm, in co-operation with the County Agent of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. This winter of 1916 was an exceptionally severe winter, which killed the common alfalfa, while Lyman’s Grimm was uninjured as above shown. A. B. LYMAN Alfalfadale Farm EXCELSIOR, - - r MINNESOTA -vV ‘ LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. How I Discovered the Grimm Alfalfa In 1890, while teaching school some ten miles west of home in Carver County, I found the farmers growing alfalfa, or “Hwiger Klee” (everlasting clover) they called it. I took a sample of the hay home and showed its super- iority over red clover. The following spring my father purchased thirty pounds of alfalfa seed in Minneapolis and seeded two acres in barley and had a good stand. The next summer this cut three heavy crops of hay and there was quite another crop that we did not cut or pasture. In the spring we found the alfalfa all dead. This was a great disappointment and we were at a loss to know why it had winterkilled. Later I found that the Germans still had a perfect stand, and upon a care- ful inquiry found that they had suffered no loss whatever. I remember ask- ing one of the Germans in regard to his alfalfa and he replied, “I cut him three times,” and when I told him of ours killing, he said, “I lose me no one plant.” About that time an article appeared in the Farmers Tribune telling of the great feeding value of alfalfa, but it said that alfalfa could not be grown in Minnesota, except in Carver County, and attributed our success to soil con- ditions. I read between the lines and formed the opinion that these Germans had a hardy variety. Upon investigation I found that the successful growers were getting their seed from a man named Grimm, while those who planted other seed were not successful. I told many persons of my discovery, but they thought little of it, not realizing the value of alfalfa. In 1900 I was able to interest Prof. W. M. Hayes of our Experiment Sta- tion to the extent that during the following July, accompanied by Prof. An- drew Boss, he drove out to our place to investigate. They not only e.xamined our fields but the fields of the German farmers in different parts of the county. The farmers were questioned as to where they had received their seed, and after a most careful investigation had been made, Professor Hayes turned to Professor Boss and said, “This marks the beginning of alfalfa in Minnesota.” In March, 1903, he wrote Press Bulletin No. 20, in which he named this alfalfa Grimm, in honor of the old German who had developed it. Mr. Grimm had begun with 20 pounds of seed he had brought from Germany in 1857. For years he suffered loss by winterkilling, but he was persistent and w'ould not give up. He patiently saved seed from the plants that survived. By so doing he built up a hardy alfalfa. As early as 1904 the Department at Washington became interested in this hardy alfalfa. From Page 25 of the Annual Report of B. T. Galloway, Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, we copy the follow- ing; “Grimm Alfalfa — Experiments thus far conducted indicate that this is the hardiest variety of Medicago Sativa of which we have knowledge. LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. From Page 42 of the Annual Report of the Minnesota Agricultural Society of 1903, we copy the following: Prof. Hayes: This is a young man I want to make an e.xample of. When Mr. Lyman told me he had discovered this hardy alfalfa, I said to him, “You co-operate with the Experiment Station and I will co-operate with you, and we will give you a reputation as a seedsman.” I expect to co-operate in help- ing Mr. Lyman distribute this seed where it will be used for growing seed. We expect to distribute some of it through the Department of Agriculture that it may be grown in other places and the seed produced even more abun- dantly than in Minnesota. Ever since I saw those fields and saw the evidence among the Carver county farmers that this was a hardy variety it has been a very interesting matter. Prof. Spillman, Washington, D. C.: Mr. President, I am glad to see Pro- fessor Hayes take the stand that he does. I want to say a word about grow- ing alfalfa seed. I cannot help but be impressed with this paper read by Mr. Lyman this afternoon as of vital importance to the future of agriculture in the State of Minnesota and in the Dakotas. We have been searching the world for a variety of alfalfa that would do just what this variety does. . . . The value of that seed represents more than a million dollars to the State of Min- nesota. From report of Alfalfa Specialist F. Forbell of the Minnesota College of Agriculture, taken from Hoard’s Dairyman of September 7, 1917: During the summer of 1915, 168 fields were established by the writer in Southeastern Minnesota. On 47 of these fields Grimm was sown alongside of Liscomb alfalfa — a variety which has been developed in Minnesota and adver- tised to be quite as hardy as the Grimm. On most of the remaining fields South Dakota Common and Montana Common seed was sown. During the winter of 1915-1916 an ice sheet of from two to three inches deep covered this section for from four to six weeks. All of the clover, rye, most of the Lis- comb, and other common seed winterkilled; also much of the meadows and pastures. But the Grimm alfalfa came through the winter in excellent con- dition. LYMAN’S GRIMM One of the photographs from Mr. Forbell’s test plot, in which Lyman’s Grimm seed was used. LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. FROM GOVERNMENT BULLETIN NO. 209. BY CHARLES J. BRAND, BUREAU PLANT INDUSTRY, WASHINGTON, D. C. Page 21, Bulletin No. 209. “Recognition of the superiority of the Grimm variety over ordinary alfalfa by Mr. Lyman and through him by Prof. Hayes of the Minnesota Station, marked a third era in the evolution of alfalfa culture in the Northwest. The Grimm alfalfa is much hardier than the ordinary kinds obtained from Kansas, Utah and elsewhere, and there is even strong reason to believe that it is the hardiest known form of the cultivated plant. It not only endures extremely low temperatures with or without snow and other adverse conditions, but it can be cut with greater safety late in the fall and will bear more abuse in the way of pasturage than any other plant that has been compared with it until this time. There is some disagreement among investigators as to how Grimm alfalfa obtained its hardiness, but there is no difference of opinion that it is hardy.” Fig. 2. Montana (at the left) Compared With Stand of Grimm Alfalfa of Same Age (at the right). St. Anthony Park, Minn., August, 1909. In his annual report in 1907, the Secretary of Agriculture predicted that the further extension of alfalfa growing on large areas is a prize that will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. With due persistence and an intelligent use of present knowledge, the North and Northwest can now be- gin to collect at least a part of their ultimate share of this prize.” In the fall of 1904, I sold the Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C.. their first lot of Grimm seed. One year I shipped the U. S. Department of -■\griculture, twenty sacks of Grimm alfalfa. The next fall, 1 sold it another load of 4.000 lbs. 4 LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. I>. Hyron 15o!>l>, Institnto I.-eoturer, in an a(l(lr<^ss bt*foro the Tri-State Convention at l argo, N. D., 1918; “With all the millions of acres of alfalfa in lliG T'nited Slates there is yet need to import from Mediterranean countries more than one-finh of all the seed sown within our borders. This is what the T’nited States I)epartment of Agriculture has to say of this imported seed : Commercial Turkestan alfalfa seed is the cheapest seed on the Kuropean marki't. but sold by American seedsmen at a hiirher price than domestic seed; it is particu- larly imsiiitod to the humid eastern portion of the I'nited Stat<>s: it is mixed with a large assortment of foul and noxious weed seeds; it is not as hardy as other strains, recovers slowly after cutting, is of inferior hay yielding quality, and is an extremely poor seed producer. “What an arraignment! Can you beat it! And yet there are men who say we have no need of producing alfalfa seed, that we can import it cheaper from Kurope. These men are as cheap as is that seed. “Now listen to what the same authority says of the Grimm alfalfa: Extensive experiments eon ducted show conclusively that Grimm is thus far the most winter-hardy strain known. The very qualities that go for hardiness go also for drouth-resistance so that the Grimm is superior in this respect. No other strain recovers more quickly after cutting. It is one of the heaviest hay yielders in northern sections and possibly the best seed producer known. “This is the seed we grow. This is the seed we will grow in competition against the world. The day is not far distant when the nitrate beds of Chill will have become ohansted. but before that day dawns al- falfa will have come into its own. There will not be a farm in this I’nion upon wldch it will not be growing. Our Ameri- can farmers have already become purse- weary l>uying nitrates and are fast putting the alfalfa plant to work. A deterrent fac- tor has been the very great number of fail- nn‘s in the east to get alfalfa started, duo largely to the use of unsuitable seed. By reason of the climatic conditions — the freez- ing and thawing; the heaving and pulling action of the soils in all our eastern and central states — they require an alfalfa ex- ceptionally well developed in its root habit. This is just what the imported alfalfas have not — just what northern grown Grimm has.” Chazy, N. Y„ May 28, 1017. I^ir. A. B Lyman. Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: We are pleased to advise that the Grimm alfalfa purchased from yon is showing very satisfactory progress. It did not winter kill during the past season, has a good vigorous growth, and gives every indication of producing a large yield this year. Apparently it is well adapted to this section. Yours very truly, HEART’S DELIGHT FARM. .V 1»KKMANENT STAND OF ALFALFA M’iiiterkilling and Its Kcm«’d!v.s — By L, F. Garber. (The Country Gentleman, March 10, 19IT.) “But it still remains that even wli-i're every regulation of growing and haiulling alfalfa has been followed out. it may win- terkill. Where this oecurs then* is only one solution of the difTieulty: Use seeds of the hardiest-known varieties. There is all the difference in the world between various kinds of alfalfa. Some, like the Peruvian of the Southwest, cannot stand the slightest Northern frost. Others Mill weather through the hardest Minters and be ready for business the following spring. I Mill not say that any alfalfa is abso- lutely Minter-proof. but there are varieties that have a double-barreled, cast-iron hard- iness Miiich makes them nearly so. and far superior to the common kinds in Mith- Ftandlng the rigors of severe open Minter M’oather. There Is no doubt about it — the best alfalfas for tlm.so sections Miiere Minter- killing is a problem are the variegated strains. They are the hardiest, longest- lived and best all-round producing alLilfas yet discovered for the snoM’-bouud states. There are throe principal varieties or strains groMui here in the UnUed States — Grimm, Baltic and Cossack. The Grimm is by far the most Mudelj' groM’ii of the three. According to the records, Grimm alfalfa M’as introduced into Carver county. Min- nesota, in 1857, !).v Wondolin Grimm, an immigrant from Baden, Germany, lie brought M*ith him fifteen or tM'onty pounds of alfalfa S(*od, and soM'ed it in the spring of 1858. Just hoM* M'ell this first seeding of the “oM'iger Klee” — everlasting clover — as he called it, succeeded is not definitely known, but at least enough of the plants survived to furnish .seed for future soM'ings. and in 1807. 4S0 pounds M*ere threshed from throe acres. In after years it seems that Mr. Grimm’s neighbors attempfod to groM’ alfalfa M-ifh common seed produced in other states, but in nearly every case the stands M'inter- killed, M’hile the fields of Grimm M*ere not injured. The attention of the Minnesota station M’as called to this alfalfa in Ifmi. and by careful experimentation Grimm al- falfa M’as found to be far superior to com- mon kinds to M’ithstand unfavorable Min- tors. Since then its groM-th has been M-idelv extended in the alfalfa-seed-prodncing states of the West, but even now the Grimm seed Is high priced and it is rather hard to get the genuine article. The much-advertised Cossack alfalfa was produced in 1007 by the* I’nited States De- partment of AgrictilTure from Russia. It lias a more widely variegated floM-er than Grimm, but there is no evidence that it is superior in yields or hardiness in the humid states to Grimm or Baltic. 6 LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. The above picture was taken from the top of a mound on the County Farm at Vernon County, Viroqua, Wisconsin, and shows the second cutting of Lyman’s Grimm alfalfa that grew in 27 days. This field is four years old and withstood the winter in 1915 when other alfalfas and common clover were killed. Viroqua, Wis.. Mr, A. B. Lyman, Nov. 28, 1917. Excelsior, Minn. Under separate cover I am mailing you our “Annual Report” of our County Institution. From my knowledge of results of commercial alfalfa sown here 1 would not sow them at any price. This field produced over 6 tons per acre the past season, and is your Grimm. C. W. FOWELL, Supt. . Prof. C. H. Zavitz, of Guelph, Out., “the foremost agriculturist on the Continent,” recommends my Grimm alfalfa. ■\n eighty page hook .\lfalfa. can he had by sending 60c to the author. Prof. L. F. Graber. Madison, Wis., care the Wisconsin Alfalfa Order. It tells how to prepare the land, plant seed and harve.st the crop, etc. It will prove of great value to you. Write for Farmers’ Circular No. 1 “Plant Hardy Types of Alfalfa to Prevent Winter Killing’’ to A. M. Ten Eyck, Emerson-Brantingham Implement Company, at Rockford, Illinois. Mr. Ten Eyck is the Director of the Agricultural Extension Department of the Emerson-Brantingham Implement Co. This is a free circular and you should get a copy. 6 LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. The Editor of National Alfalfa Journal, in an article entitled “Alfalfa with a Real Pedigree,” writes in the issue of March, 1916, relative to Lyman’s Grimm, as follows: A n up-to-date farmer would hardly think of buying a pure bred cow wit'a- out getting her pedigree. The value of the pedigree has been taught until we understand that it is necessary to know from wdiat families have come the animals we buy. It is just as important that we have pedigrees of alfalfa seed. The editor has maintained this for some time, but has not said much about it because there wasn’t very much to say except theory. Here are some facts, however, and I present them because I know they will stand out as the very best argument that could be given. This is the story of what has been done, not what I think might be done. The story is about A. B. Lyman, the man who has put Grimm alfalfa on the map and who has had in use for some time an accurate system of pedigrees. He hasn’t started a registry book with a fee for each lot of seed registered. He has done all of the work of keeping pedigrees merely to feel sure in his own mind that he was selling his customers what he claimed. No doulit he had a vision that some day farmers would de- mand a pedigree of alfalfa and wanted to be pre- pared for it. Now what has been the result? Mr. Lyman can give an exact pedigree of every field planted from his seed. It all traces l>ack to the original stock brought to this country from Germany by Wendelin Grimm. No, this system does not prevent unscrupulous parties from trying to take advantage of the repu- tation gained by Grimm alfalfa, but it does en- able Mr. Lyman to prove that what he sells is what he claims it to be. He took me out into his seed house to show me some seed. It was in a double sack and the inside sack was sealed. This seal is broken when the seed is repacked for retail, but another seal is put on so that if a customer receives a package with the seal broken, he knows it has been tampered with by someone along the way, and he can immediatelj' get another shipment in its place so as to be sure that he is getting true Grimm. I hope that this story of Mr. Lyman’s methods will give someone else a hint and will bring about the production of more pedigreed seed. The average man who raises seed doesn’t know for sure just what kind of seed he is grow- ing, and, of course, cannot tell his customers what kind it is. If we need a pedigree registry like the livestock men, we’ll have it, but first we need a few men who are willing to keep their pedigrees as carefully as Mr. Lyman has. We would be glad to hear from you if you have any ideas on this subject.” A. B. LYMAN LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. SEED GROWING. The Grimm variety is a heavy seed producer. During the dry seasons profitable crops can be threshed in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and as far east as New York. It will seed best where the land is not too rich and the season is reasonably dry. Some of my customers in the Dakotas and Montana have threshed and sold over $200 worth of Grimm seed per acre. One of my customers has grown and sold over $40,000 of Lyman’s Grimm alfalfa seed from a $40 investment made in 1911. LIMING. Western land like the Dakotas, Montana, or Nebraska, as a rule does not need liming. This is also true of the larger part of Minnesota. Some soils are acid. Soil can be tested by your Experiment Station, or you can make your THE GRIMM IX CO.MP.iKISOX WITH OKDIX.VKY AEr.VEFA. TI 1 I.S photograph was ftirni.shoa by Prof. Philo K, Bllnn. Alfalfa Specialist of the Experiment .Station at Fort Collins, Colorado. Professor Illinn writes that they are typicai plants from their nursery [dots, plants grown singly 20 by 20 inches, also that the one plant is 10 inches across the crown and calls attention to the low growing an came through the winter again in line shape. I er acre and I think the second will l>e fully as heavy. I am very itrond of this fiebl. Yours truly. THEO. HOLLISTER. St. Paul, Minn., .fitly 5, 1017. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Proprietor, •■llfalfadale Farm, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: Your Grimm seed has been uniformly sati.sfactory. It is in fine shape and it looks to me as If the fields wonld be good for ten years more. Yours very truly, GEORGE T. SLADE, Vice President, N. P. Railway. 10 LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. Ames, Iowa, May 31, 1917. Mr. A. n. Lymnn. Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir; There are very definite ad- vantiijres in jrrowinjr (Trinim alfalfa in pro- ferenco to other strains and varieties. In the first place it is absolutely hardy so that there is no danger whatever of winter- killinff. In the second place, one may make four cuttinffS per year instead of three, as la customary with common varieties. With common varieties, it is necessary to leave a frood covering on the ground in the fall while with the Orimm the extra cutting may be made in the fall without danger to the alfalfa. The third advantage in growing Grimm, as compared with some other hardy sorts, is the fact that it makes a strong and vigorous growth late in the summer with a result that blue grass and other weeds are not nearly so troublesome. I think there is no doubt but that the value of the extra cutting of a single season would much more than cover the additional cost of Grimm seed. Yours truly, IT. n. nroiiES. Professor Iowa State College. Crystal Springs Stock Farm. Larimore, N. I)., Sept. 25. 1917. Mr. A. B. Lyman. Excelsior, Minn. I have had your Grimm and our common alfalfa planted under identical conditions. For two years there was no great difference. Last winter was very severe and the com- mon was badly hurt. Since the drouth struck us the common has all dried up w’hile the Grimm kept right on growing. It formed a splendid set of seed pods but the early frost ruined it. I am certain that we w’ould have had a fine seed crop if the frost had held off. A. STONEHOUSE. SHELDOX MANT^FACTT'lllXG CO. Nehawka, Neb., Sept. 15, 191G. Mr. A. B. Lyman. Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: When I placed an order some years ago for 10 lbs. of yonr Grimm alfalfa you wrote: “You will find it superior to- yoiir common In many ways. Do not seed it as heavy us it stools more.” To prove or disprove your statement I took two acres and seeded one with ten pounds of your Grimm and the other along side with 16 pounds of our common. The common came np the thickest and I thought the Grimm entirely too thin to be of any value. Time told the tale. The following spring the line of demarkation between these fields was very distinct. The Grimm is taller, covers the ground and is much heavier and better color than the common adjoining. This experiment should be of interest to you as eastern Nebraska is rec- ognized as one of the best alfalfa sections in the country. Yours truly, GEO. C. SHELDON. Mr. A. B. Lyman. Excelsior, Minn. We have one field of three acres and one of nine acres of your Grimm alfalfa. This season the nine acre field produced ,54.050 Ib.s. on the first cutting while the three acre field produced over six tons per acre in 1910. This is the older field. Tried com- mon alfalfa in comparison with your Grimm. It looked fine the first summer but all killed the second year. I have recom- mended your seed to a groat many people. Hoping this may Interest you, Y'ours trulv. W. II. ItANNEY, Supt. H. V. HOOD & SONS FARM, at Derry Village, New Hampshire. Fulton. N. Y., June 19, 1917. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: As you know, I piircha.sed 30 pounds of Grimm sikmI last year. The ground was in fine condition when we sowed the .seed, which was put in at the rate of about 14 pounds to the acre. This spring we find that we have as choice a piece of alfalfa as I have ever .seen any- where in the East. If anything, the stand is too heavy and it is possible that we would have done just ns well not to have sown quite so much .seed per acre. It would require considerable of an induce- ment for me to purchase other than your Grimm alfalfa for future seeding. Yours very truly. N. L. WHITAKEH. Sunnysido, Wash,, June 24, 1917. Mr. A. B. Lyman. Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: Last year I got two shipments of your Grimm seed. The three acres pro- duced three cuttings last year, 12 tons of cured hay in all. My neighbor seeded an adjoining field with common alfalfa at the same time and this spring had to rosetnl owing to winter killing. I do not think I lost a plant. To say that I am pleased with your s(»ed is putting it too mildly. I have got them all “skinned” about a ton to the acre, so I can’t kick. Uesi»ectfully. E. S. McOTTLLOH. ASHKFM BANK. Ashkum. 111., July 1, 1017. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Esq., Excelsior. Minn. Dear Sir: Your letter of the 27th nit. is duly received and in reply will say that I sowed the 10 pounds of Grimm alfalfa seed about two year.s ago in with oats, also 25 acres of the other kind. We were able to see that your Grimm looked much better early in the spring, and has stood the win ter better than the other seed. Everyone passing along this season wants to know why that part looks so much better than the rest of the field. We concluded it stood the severe cold weather better than any other kind we have used. Yours trulv, M. U. MEENTS. 11 LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. Augusta, Wis., August 21, 1916. Mr. A. n. Lyman. Excelsior, Miuu. Dear Mr. Lyman: My Grimm alfalfa was soediHl on Juno 1. 191."), without a nurso crop, on a light sandy soil. A piece of about two acres was prepared and inocu- lated with soil taken from an old alfalfa field. Half of this field was seeded in with Grimm and other half was seeded in with a hardy Montana alfalfa. Special care being taken that both seeds should bo grown under identical conditions. Both fields showed good stands in the fall, the Grimm being somewhat finer and not as coarse as the Montana. After a hard winter (the ground covered with ice much of the time because of the midwinter rains), wo hardly hoped to see any of the alfalfa in the Spring. The Grimm came up with a good stand and the hardy (?) Montana was entirely winter killed At the first cutting this year the Grimm was a very satisfactory stand. Yours truly, E. P. AF5AL. Cashier, Peoples State Bank. Milford, 111., I-’ebruary 8, 1916. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: I think every one in this vicin- ity knows that only Grimm alfalfa will sur- vive the winters in this soil anci rlimate. Enough other alfalfa has been tried and it is now generally known that west- ern alfalfa will not suc- ceed permanently here. I cannot understand why people are so apathetic in regard to alfalfa. The worst drawback we find is that it produces so many crops that it is always on hand, like a sore thumb. It has no regard at all for a farmer’s convenience when it needs cutting, it Just has to be cut. 1 have used perhaps 200 pounds of your seed and have always got a stand. It has never winter-killed. Hillsdale, Mich., July 11, 1917. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: I piircha.sed 16 pounds Grim:ii .seed in 1915, and can report great success with this field. I only sowed eight pounds per acre, and this field is much better than an adjoining field where 15 pounds per acre was sown. There has been a gn*at loss in tliis state during the past winter by alfalfa killing out, but the (jrimm came through the severe winter without any damage, and I cut a larger crop of hay than ever before. I consider (irlmm the cheapest to buy, be- cause it is sure. The loss comes w'hen one is not sure. Very truly, C. T. VAX AKEN. Kent, Ohio, July 2, 1017. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: Am glad to say my Grimm alfalfa did very nicely. Wo had 614 loads from 2^4 acres. Every one who has seen it of late says it is the best and most even piece they ever saw. It is needless for me to say 1 am more than pleased with my Grimm alfalfa. It stood waist high. I expect to want more of your seed next year. Y’our.s truly, J. F. MERKEL. Respectfully yours, DR. O. O. HALL. Mr. A. B. Lyman. Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: I am going to volunteer the belief that your (irimin alfafa is the thing for our climate of alternate freezing and thawing. Two acres of Grimm sown last fall on my farm at Areola have wintered splendidly and showed no upheaval; while four acres of ordinary seeding right beside it suffered badly. In a four-year-old plot of ordinary alfalfa in the same field, alfalfa roots 18 Inches long were upheaved by the alternate freezing and thawing, and lay flat on the ground. IRVIN P. KNIPE, Attorney-at-Law. 5 E. Airy St., Norristown, Pa. PHOTOGRAPH OF J. F. MERKEL FIELD. KENT, OHIO. Avondale, Maryland, June 30, 1917. Mr. A. B. Lyman. Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: The seed arrived in good shape. I sowed six pounds to the acre. This alfalfa came through last winter in fine shape. I made one crop and the second one is about ready for the mower. The first f’rop made two tons to the acre. This Grimm alfalfa was sowed Just next to some other seed and the winter killed almost all of this common alfalfa. JAMES ML BEACTIAM, Jr., Dairy Farmer. 12 LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. “Lyman’s Grimm” Planted by F. R. Stevens. Affrieulturist. for the Lehigh Valley II. U., of Geneva, N. Y. Mr. Stevens writes me as follows: “This Is one of our Grimm alfalfa plats seeded two and one-half feet apart on the hardest kind of Volusia silt soil, a soil that our experiment stations said would not grow alfalfa. I am more than pleased with .vour seed and look forward to a deeided increase of your variety as a result of these tests.” Leltoy, N. Y„ Nov. 27. 1014. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Mr. Lyman: In answer to the ques- tions regarding the Grimm alfalfa in your letter of the 11th, will say that the 20 pounds of seed I had of you in 1012. I sowed on July 8th at the rate of five pounds per acre. I sowed it with a grain drill, drills 7 inches apart and run them very shallow. I had prepared the land very carefully and applied one ton of lime per acre and inoculated it with about 300 pounds of soil from my old alfalfa field and gave it a good top-dressing of manure. I secured a good stand and this year, the second year of cutting, I secured fully as much hay per acre as from common alfalfa sown under the same conditions at the rate of 20 to 2.1 pounds of seed. It branches more and is more leaf.v than the common alfalfa and is about one week earlier in coming into bloom. The bloom was very much heavier than on the common, and varied from white and yellow through all the shades to very dark purple and black. Very rospootfully yours, (Signed) F. P. HAZELTOX. Mr. A. B. Lyman, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: Uepjying to your inquiry as to the condition of my fields set'ded with Grimm alfalfa seed, purchased from you, I wish to say that they are in splendid condition, I know of no alfalfa in my .section of the state where ns good a stand has be(*n secured and as vigorous a crop has been obtained, as that which I seeded with Grimm alfalfa purchased from you. One field has been in now four years, and last year’s crop was as heavy as the first cutting from the field. It is a pleasure to me to recommend the Grimm alfalfa seed grown by you as being the very best that can be purchased in m.v opinion for use in Minne- sota. It is very important that one pur- chasing alfalfa seed should be sure that the real (Trimm alfalfa seed, such as you raise, is obtained. M. D. MrXN. President, The American Jer.soy Cattle Club. St. Paul, Minnesota. Union Stock Yards, Chicago, 111., July 3, 1017. Mr, A. B. L.vman, Excelsior, Minn. In 1014 1 !)ought “.7 pounds of your Grimm alfalfa seed. This s(‘eding made an extra good stand and has withstood the winter.s since that time. The last winter as you know, was very hard and considerable al- falfa killed out. All of my Grimm alfalfa stood. I do not think a stalk was killed. Five acres of ordinary alfalfa which I had killed out, so that I plowed it up. Yours truly, F. W. TUBBS. 13 LYMAN’S GRIMM ALFALFA. The following photograph by Louis Klass of Maple Park, 111., tells the story better perhaps than any one else that has written me. Coomon Alfalfa Witter Killed Umao’s Grimm j //// “A SLKVIVAL OF TllF FITTEJ^T.” This pktiire was taken June 11, 1912, on the Pierce Center Stock ami Dairy Farm and represents an alhtlfa field. The part in the background was sown in (he fall of 19(K) and the part in the foresroiind in llUl to common northern grown seed — both were winter killed last winter. The central and remaining portion was sown in 1910 to Grimm's Hardv Seed secured from A. 15. Lyman. K.xcelsior. Minn., and is a thrifty survivor of the severe freezing of last winter, the only possible factor of influence being that of variety. —Louis II. Klass, Maple Park, 111. Milledgeville, Ga., April 4, 1917. Mr. A. n. Lyman. Proprietor, Excelsior, Minn. Dear Sir: In the fall of 1915 I bought a small quantity of Grimm alfalfa which I planted alongside of common alfalfa. 1 can now take off my hat to Grimm alfalfa, as it ha.s stooled and covered the ground. The main thing that I want to tell yon is that my common alfalfa has been killed to the ground twice this winter, but the Grimm stood the test. Yours very truly, L. II. ANDRI^WS. Haynes, X. D., Oct. 29, 1917. Mr. A. 15. Lyman, Excelsior, Minn. I have had grand success with your Grimm alfalfa. None of it has ever winter killed. 1 had thirteen acres of Cossack planted beside of (be Grimm. It killed completely root and branch the past winter while the goo