Chapter IV: Alfalfa (2)

North of parallel 40 deg., that is, north of the latitude of Columbus, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado, speaking in a general way, alfalfa is more commonly sown in the spring, but not usually so early as clover, lest the young plants, which are more tender than clover plants, should be nipped by spring frosts. This danger is frequently present in the region of the upper Missouri. East of the Mississippi it may usually be advisable to sow in the spring some distance south from the latitude named. West from the same are areas where early autumn sowing is frequently the best. In much of the Southern and Southwestern States, early autumn sowing is considered better practice than spring sowing, but to this there are exceptions. Under some conditions alternate freezing and thawing of the land near the surface tend to throw out young plants, as, for instance, those autumn sown, more readily than plants from spring-sown seed.

Alfalfa is usually sown much the same as medium red clover (see page 75), but there are the following points of difference: 1. Since alfalfa is more commonly sown in dry areas, it is more important, relatively, that the seed shall be buried more uniformly and deeply in the soil in such areas. 2. Since it is liable to be more injured, relatively, by a nurse crop than the clovers, it is more frequently sown without one. And 3. Since it is expected to furnish food for a much longer term of years than any of the clovers, it is relatively more important that the seed shall be sown with a view to seek a uniform and sufficient stand of the plants.

Whether the seed is sown by hand, or by any of the hand machines in use, the results will usually prove satisfactory, but in climates where moisture is deficient, decidedly better results are obtained from sowing the seed with some form of seed drill. A press drill is preferred in soils so light and open as to dry out easily or to lift easily with the wind. Under conditions of ample moisture, a light covering with a harrow will suffice, but under conditions the opposite, more covering is necessary. In areas where spring and early autumn showers are frequent, the roller will provide a sufficient covering, especially where the soils are well charged with a clay content. On other soils, as those which cover much of the prairie, the seed should be buried from 1 to 2 inches deep.

Where alfalfa is much sown on soils well supplied with humus, and on the soils which prevail in the Rocky Mountain region, many growers sow the seed with the grain drill, and before sowing they first mix the seed with some material, as earth, some kind of coarse meal, bran or other substance to make it feed out more regularly. In some instances one-half of the seed is sown the first time the drill is driven over the land, and the balance is sown by driving again over the same at right angles to the drill marks previously made. When thus sown, the plants are more evenly distributed over the soil, and produce, it is thought, a more uniform quality of stalk. This method meets, in part, at least, the objection sometimes made to drill sowing, that it does not distribute the plants sufficiently in the soil.

In the Northern and Atlantic States, also west of the Cascade Mountains, and in some parts of the South, alfalfa is frequently sown with a nurse crop, and under favorable conditions the results are usually satisfactory, if the nurse crop is not sown too thickly. The best nurse crops in the areas named are barley and winter rye, but oats will answer also, if sown thinly and cut for hay. It has also been sown quite successfully along with winter wheat in the spring and also with spring wheat. When sown with winter wheat or winter rye, it is usually advantageous to cover the seed well with the harrow. In many instances, however, even in these areas, it is thought better to sow the seed without a nurse crop, in order that the plants may have all the benefit from moisture and sunlight which it is possible to give them. This is specially desirable when the fear is present that they may succumb the first winter to the severity of the weather. As weeds grow rapidly along with the plants, the mower should be run over the field from one to three times during the season. If the mowing is done at the proper time, it will not be necessary to remove what has been cut off by the mower. It may be allowed to lie as a mulch on the land. But should the growth of weeds be excessive before the mowing is done, it would then be necessary to remove them, in order to avoid smothering the plants. The clipping back of the alfalfa plants is helpful, rather than hurtful. When not thus clipped back the leaves frequently assume a yellowish tint on the top of the plants, which gradually extends downward until the greater portion of the leaves may be thus affected. Such condition frequently betokens a lack of nitrogen, but it may also be induced by other causes. When it does appear, the mower should at once be used and also as often as it appears. As soon as mowed off the plants usually stool out, sending up fresh shoots more numerously. They thus form a crown, somewhat like the crown in clover plants. Root growth is also strengthened, and the plants are thus made much stronger for going into the winter. Each clipping during the season, of course, cuts down weeds and prevents them from making seed. If not thus clipped, they would frequently injure the crop more by shade and crowding than would a nurse crop. The mulch thus made through clipping back the plants is in many instances quite helpful to them, because of the check which it gives to the escape of ground moisture. There is some difference in the view held as to whether close clipping is preferable, but the balance of authority is in favor of reasonably close clipping.

Alfalfa is usually sown alone, but in some instances it maybe advantageous to sow more or less of some other kind or kinds of grass or clover along with it. When grown for hay it is usually preferable to sow the seed without admixture. But there may be instances in which medium red or alsike clover may improve the crop the first year or two that it is mown for hay. But where red clover grows much more vigorously than alfalfa the first season, it should not be thus sown in any considerable quantities, or the clover plants will injure the alfalfa plants by crowding and overshading. Nevertheless, alfalfa may frequently with profit form a considerable factor in clover grown as pasture.

Where the main purpose of sowing alfalfa is to provide pasture, various grasses and clovers may be sown along with it, and in varying quantities, according to the attendant conditions. The choice of the variety or varieties to sow along with the alfalfa should be based on the needs of the stock to be pastured, and on the degree of the vigor with which these grow and maintain themselves in the locality. In the Northern States and Eastern Canada timothy and Russian brome grass (_Bromus inermis_) may be chosen. In areas with Southern Illinois as a center, red top and timothy should be satisfactory. In the Southern States, the claims of orchard grass and tall oat grass would probably be paramount. In areas with Iowa as a center, nothing would be more suitable, probably, than Russian brome grass. In the mountain States, with Wyoming as a center, timothy and alsike clover would be suitable. In the dry upland country in Washington and Oregon, Russian brome grass or tall oat grass would answer the purpose. In many areas the plan of sowing clover chiefly with the alfalfa is a good one, providing the alfalfa is cut for a year or two, and is then grazed, as by that time grasses indigenous to the locality, or which grow well in the same, come in to such an extent as to form a very considerable proportion of the pasture. Blue grass frequently behaves thus in the North, and crab grass in the South.

The amounts of seed to sow will vary with the character of the soil and climate, with the use that is to be made of the alfalfa, and with the manner in which it is sown. On soils and in climates quite favorable to the growth of alfalfa it is common to sow more seed than in those with less adaptation, and with a view, probably, to check coarseness in the growth of the stems. If sown thinly in such areas, the rank growth which follows would be coarse. This explains why in the Western and mountain States more seed is usually sown than in the Eastern and Northern States. Averaging the whole country, 20 pounds of seed per acre is more frequently mentioned as the proper amount to sow than any other quantity. In the Northern States many growers sow 15 pounds per acre, and judging by the yield obtained, this amount of seed has proved satisfactory. Some growers even mention 10 to 12 pounds as satisfactory. The amounts last named are certainly too small for average conditions. Fifteen to 20 pounds may be fixed upon as the proper amounts to sow on soil in good condition for speedy germination. But many growers claim satisfactory results from sowing larger amounts of seed than those named. Under semi-arid conditions, where irrigation cannot be given, a moderate amount of seed will be more satisfactory than very thick seeding, as when sown too thickly the plants would suffer more from want of moisture than if sown more thinly. The aim should be to obtain a stand that will cover the ground evenly and as thickly as will admit of the vigorous growing of the plants. Because of the relatively long duration of the period of the growth of alfalfa fields, it is specially important that good stands shall be obtained at the first, and for the further reason that the plants will then be better able to contend with intruding weeds, the great bane of alfalfa meadows.

When alfalfa is grown mainly for seed, it should be more thinly sown than when it is grown for hay or soiling food. It has been noticed that when the plants stand thickly beyond a certain degree, they do not seed well. Twelve to 16 pounds have been mentioned as quite enough to sow for such production in the mountain States. Where both objects are important, medium thick sowing would be the most suitable.

When sown in combinations such as have been named above, it will be necessary to modify somewhat the amounts of alfalfa seed sown, according to the proportion of the other seeds sown with the alfalfa. But since many grasses are more aggressive than alfalfa, it is not necessary to reduce the amount of alfalfa seed sown proportionately to the amounts of the other seeds that may be sown along with it. In many instances it may be proper not to reduce the amount of the alfalfa seed at all, as some of these grasses will soon crowd the alfalfa plants, to their injury, even though the usual amount of seed should be sown. The amount of the grasses sown with the alfalfa will, of course, vary. It will seldom be necessary in any instance to sow more than 6 or 7 pounds per acre, and under many conditions not more than 5 pounds. When alfalfa is sown with timothy and clover in temporary meadows or pastures, it is seldom necessary to sow more than 3 to 5 pounds per acre, and the same is true of it when sown in a permanent pasture. The crop is so little grown for hay in mixtures, that it is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the nature of these, or the respective amounts of seed to sow in making them.

When alfalfa is sown with the grain, there will be a saving of seed to the extent of at least 20 per cent., as compared with broadcast sowing. This arises from the more general sprouting of all the seeds, since they are planted at a more uniform depth, and from the subsequent loss of a smaller percentage of the plants through drought, and it may be other causes. But when sowing broadcast, it will in many instances prove more satisfactory to add 20 per cent. to the amounts mentioned above, as suitable for being sown without admixture with other grasses and clovers, rather than to deduct 20 per cent. from these amounts when sowing the seed with the drill.

=Cultivating.=--Under some conditions, it is, in a sense, necessary to sow alfalfa in rows, and to give it cultivation during the first season and sometimes for a longer period. In some parts of Florida, for instance, the most satisfactory results have been obtained from sowing in rows with 12 to 24 inches between the rows, and then to cultivate between these as may be necessary to keep down the growth of weeds. Under some conditions also in the Atlantic States, the most satisfactory results have been obtained from sowing alfalfa in rows 14 to 16 inches apart and cultivating between them. Even hand hoeing the first season may be justifiable along the line of the rows for small areas, but with the price of labor as at present, would be too costly for large areas. When grown in rows as indicated in the Atlantic States and westward from these, the yields of seed have been more satisfactory than when sown broadcast, but the crop is less satisfactory for hay, owing to the coarse and uneven character of the stems. The amounts of seed wanted for such sowing will, of course, vary chiefly with the distance between the rows. As small an amount as 6 pounds or even less will in some instances suffice per acre.

=Pasturing.=--The practice of pasturing alfalfa the first season, especially where it cannot be irrigated, is usually condemned, lest it should weaken the plants unduly for entering the winter. It would seem probable, however, that under some conditions such grazing would be helpful rather than hurtful. The cropping of the plants by stock, in the influence which it exerts upon the plants, is akin to that which arises from cutting them back frequently during the summer. The animals thus grazed will also crop down weeds. This, at least, is true of sheep. The author has succeeded in getting a good stand of alfalfa by sowing seed at the rate of 15 pounds per acre, along with 2 to 4 pounds of Dwarf Essex rape seed, and grazing the same with sheep. Other growers, during recent years, have succeeded similarly. The grazing should not begin until the plants have made a good start, but it should not be deferred so long that the rape and the weeds will unduly shade the alfalfa plants. The pasturing should not be too close, nor should it be so long continued that the alfalfa plants will not be able to provide a good growth in the early autumn before the advent of winter.

The management of the spring-sown crop the first season requires careful attention in areas where the hazard exists in any considerable degree that the plants may take serious harm at that season, or, indeed, fail altogether. In Western areas, from Canada to Kentucky and Missouri, it is important that the stubbles of the grain shall be cut high, amid which alfalfa grows when it is sown with a nurse crop. When not thus sown, it is of prime importance that the plants shall stand up several inches above the surface of the ground before the advent of winter. This is specially important in States west of the Mississippi River. The objects effected are three-fold. First, the snow is arrested and held for the protection of the plants, and to furnish them with moisture when the snow melts. The extent to which the stubbles and the erect young alfalfa plants will hold snow is simply surprising. On the exposed prairies, the snow usually drifts so completely from unprotected lands, that during almost any winter a large proportion of the area will be quite bare. The melting of the snow thus held is also of much value to the crop in the moisture which it brings to it, especially in areas where the rainfall is less than normal. Second, the plants are thus protected from the sweep of the cold winds which blow so much of the season in the unprotected prairie, and which are frequently fatal to various winter crops. Third, they are also protected from the intensity of the frost, which may in some instances kill young alfalfa plants in areas northward.

In the Northern States east of Minnesota, the New England States, and the provinces of Canada east of Lake Huron, the considerable covering on the ground is not so important, relatively, to protect the plants against the coming winter, but it is also of considerable importance, as sometimes the early snows melt so completely that the fields are left bare in midwinter. The warm temperatures which melt the snow may be followed by a cold wave, which may be greatly injurious to the plants. There may be instances, as where the snow usually falls very deeply, in which the covering left would prove excessive, and so tend to smother the plants; hence, sometimes it may be necessary to guard against too much covering.

If the plants should lack age or vigor on entering the first winter, a top-dressing of farmyard manure will render great service in protecting them. This, however, is only practicable with comparatively limited areas. It is sometimes practiced in the North Atlantic States, where the manure thus applied will prove greatly helpful to the growth of the alfalfa during the following season. These precautions to guard against the severity of winter weather are not nearly so necessary in the Rocky Mountain States where irrigation is practiced. In these, alfalfa spring sown is sometimes pastured during the following winter, and without any great harm to the crop. Thus greatly do conditions vary.

It may also be well to remember that where rainfall is usually plentiful and sometimes excessive, that a better stand of the young plants can be obtained when the rainfall is moderate than when it is copious. Saturated ground is hurtful to the young plants. They will not grow properly under such conditions and are likely to assume a sickly appearance. Mildew may appear and the plants may fail in patches. And this may happen on land which will ordinarily produce reasonably good crops of alfalfa after they have once been established.

The value of alfalfa in providing pasture is more restricted than in providing hay. This arises in part from the injury which may come to the plants from grazing too closely at certain times, and in a greater degree from injury which may result to certain animals which may feed upon the plants, more especially cattle and sheep, through bloating, to which it frequently gives rise.

This plant is pre-eminently a pasture for swine. They may be grazed upon it with profit all the season, from spring until fall. No plant now grown in the United States will furnish so much grazing from a given area in localities well adapted to its growth. Swine are very fond of it. Some growers do not feed any grain supplement to their swine when grazing on alfalfa, but it is generally believed that, under average conditions, it is wise to supplement the alfalfa pasture daily with a light feed of grain, carbonaceous in character, as of rye, corn or barley, and that this should be gradually increased with the advancement of the grazing season. One acre of alfalfa will provide pasture for 5 to 15 head of swine, through all the grazing season, dependent upon the degree of the favorable character of the conditions for growth in the alfalfa, the age of the swine, and the extent to which the pasture is supplemented with grain. But in some instances the area named will graze at least 15 hogs through all the growing season without a grain supplement.

Swine may be turned in to graze on alfalfa when well set, as soon as it begins to grow freely in the spring. It should be so managed that the grazing will be kept reasonably tender and succulent. For swine pasture the plants should never be allowed to reach the blossoming stage. This can be managed by running the field mower over the pasture occasionally when the stems are growing long and coarse. Close and prolonged grazing by swine will tend to shorten the period of the life of the alfalfa. The extent to which this result will follow will depend upon soil and climatic conditions and the closeness of the grazing. To avoid such a result and also to secure the utilization of the food to the utmost, some growers advocate cutting the alfalfa and feeding it to swine as soiling. The advisability of handling it thus will be dependent to some extent on the relative price of labor.

The best results, relatively, from growing alfalfa to provide pasture will be found in the Western valleys, where alfalfa grows with much vigor, and in certain areas of the South, where it grows freely and can be pastured during much of the year. In areas eminently adapted to the growth of clover, it is not so necessary to grow alfalfa for such a use. In Western areas, where Canada field peas are a success, and especially where artichokes are not hidden from swine by frost, pork can be grown very cheaply, and without the necessity of harvesting any very large portion of these crops, except through grazing them down by swine.

Such conditions would be highly favorable to the maintenance of health in the swine, and the quality of the pork made would be of the best. In some instances a small stack of Canada field peas is put up in the swine pasture that the swine may help themselves from the same the following year, as in rainless or nearly rainless climates, where such grain will keep long without injury.

Alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for horses, more especially when they are not at work. Like other succulent pastures, it tends too much to induce laxness in the bowels with horses which graze it, without any dry fodder supplement. But it has high adaptation for providing pasture for brood mares, colts, and horses that are idle or working but little. While it induces abundant milk production in brood mares, and induces quick and large growth in colts until matured, it is thought by some practical horsemen that horses grown chiefly on alfalfa have not the staying power and endurance of those, for instance, that are grazed chiefly on Kentucky blue grass and some other grasses. There is probably some truth in the surmise, and if so, the objection raised could be met by dividing the grazing either through alternating the same with other pastures or by growing some other grass or grasses along with the alfalfa.

The alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for cattle, whether they are grown as stockers, are kept for milk producing, or are being fattened for beef. For the two purposes first named it has high excellence, and it will also produce good beef, but alfalfa grazing alone will not finish animals for the block quite so well without a grain supplement as with one. But the danger is usually present to a greater or less degree that cattle thus grazed may suffer from bloat, induced by eating the green alfalfa. This danger increases with the humidity of the atmosphere, with the succulence of the alfalfa, and with the degree of the moisture resting on it, as from dew or rain. This explains why in some sections the losses from this source are much greater than in others. It also explains why such losses are greater in some areas than in others. It is considered that grazing alfalfa with cattle in the mountain valleys is less hazardous than in areas East and Southeast, as the atmosphere is less humid, the danger from the succulence can be better controlled by the amount of irrigating water supplied, and because of the infrequency of the rainfall. Nevertheless, the losses from bloat are sometimes severe in both cattle and sheep in the mountain States, notwithstanding that some seasons large herds are grazed upon alfalfa through the entire season without any loss.

Cattle grazed upon alfalfa may be so managed that the extent of this hazard will be very much lessened, if not entirely obviated, but with large herds some of the precautionary methods now to be submitted may not always be practicable. They should never be turned in to graze upon alfalfa when hungry. Some grazers adopt the plan of leaving them on the grazing continuously when once put in to graze. Others leave them in for a limited time each day at the first, increasing the duration of the pasturing period from day to day. After managing them thus for a week or two, the animals are only removed from the pasture for such purposes as milking. Others, again, feed some alfalfa or other food in the morning before turning them on to alfalfa pastures. Another plan adopted is to graze them on a field of other grazing, located, if possible, beside the alfalfa field, until after the dew has lifted, and then to open the gate into the alfalfa pasture. This is readily practicable with a herd of cows, but not to anything like the same extent with a large herd being grown for beef.

The danger from bloat in pasturing sheep upon alfalfa is at least as great as in pasturing cattle on the same, and the methods of managing them while thus being grazed are not far different. So, too, the experiences in such grazing are very similar. The losses from such grazing some seasons have been slight. Other seasons they have proved so heavy as to make such grazing unprofitable. When sheep are being grazed on alfalfa, a light feed of grain given in the early morning reduces materially the danger from bloat. It also enables the flock-master to finish his sheep or lambs for the market cheaply and in fine form, since this small grain factor, not necessarily more than half a pound a day, whether given as wheat, rye, barley, oats or corn, puts the ration practically in balance for the purpose named, and it may be given to the sheep daily in troughs without taking them out of the pasture.

It is thought that there is more danger to cattle and sheep from grazing on alfalfa than on any of the clovers, and probably such is the case. But whether this is true or not, the danger is very considerable, and is enhanced by the presence of frost as well as the presence of moisture, from much succulence in the plants, from rain and from dew. So great is the danger that the inexperienced should proceed with much caution in such grazing. When bloat does occur, the method of dealing with it is given on page 95.

The tendency to produce bloat in alfalfa pastures decreases with the extent to which other grasses are present in the pastures. Should alfalfa be grown, therefore, for the purpose of providing pasture, some other grass or grasses should be sown along with it. Which of these should be thus sown ought to depend chiefly on the adaptation of the grasses for producing vigorous growth under the conditions present. In the States east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio, and in all of Canada east from Lake Huron, alfalfa may be made an important feature in pastures variously composed. For instance, on suitable soils alfalfa may be made an important feature in pastures composed otherwise of medium red and alsike clover and timothy. The author can speak from experience as to the slightness of the danger from grazing cattle and sheep on such pastures. In the Southern States tall oat grass could be sown with the alfalfa, and probably orchard grass. In some areas alfalfa will maintain its hold on lands smitten with Johnson grass, both producing freely. In much of Kansas meadow fescue would answer the purpose, northward brome grass would probably answer, and in some places timothy. In Idaho and the States adjoining, tall oat grass, meadow fescue and orchard grass will all be helpful, and in some of the mountain States it has been found that when alsike clover is grown freely in alfalfa pastures, the tendency to bloat is not only lessened in the animals grazing, but the value of the pasture, especially for winter grazing, is greatly improved. Some grazers, especially in the mountain States, have adopted the plan of sowing other pastures, as wheat or barley, beside the alfalfa pastures, and these are made accessible at will to the animals that are being grazed. The plan has some commendable features, but grazing animals thus does not reduce the danger as much as when they are grazed on pastures in which other grasses grow up amid alfalfa. In some of the Western States pure alfalfa meadows are grazed through successive seasons with but little loss, but in such instances the grazing began in the spring and was continuous. Judicious care should be exercised in grazing alfalfa lest the stand of the plants shall be injured. The liability to injury in the plants from injudicious grazing increases with the lack of adaptation in the soil and climate for abundant and prolonged growth in the alfalfa.

In a large majority of instances, as previously intimated, it is not wise to graze down alfalfa at all closely the season of sowing, and in some instances it should not then be grazed to any extent, lest the plants be unduly weakened for entering the winter. In cold areas the hazard is much greater from such grazing than in those that are mild, and likewise, it is greater when the growth is only moderately vigorous than in areas where alfalfa grows with the vigor of a weed, as in Western mountain valleys. In areas where the winters are cold, and especially where the snowfall is light and the winds have a wide sweep, the animals which graze upon alfalfa should be removed in time to allow the plants to grow up to the height of several inches before the advent of winter. The growth thus secured will catch and hold the snow, and the protection thus furnished is greatly helpful to the preservation and vigor of the plants. Experience has shown that in Northern areas pasturing alfalfa in winter, especially when the ground is bare and frozen, brings imminent hazard to the plants. On the other hand, grazing in winter in the mountain valleys, when as far north as Central Montana, may be practiced with little or no hazard to the stand of plants when these have become well established. In such areas alfalfa may be grazed practically as may be desired, providing this grazing is not too close.

Cattle injure alfalfa less than other animals when they graze upon it, as they do not crop it too closely; swine injure it more, if the grazing is constant. Horses do even greater injury, through biting the crowns of the plants too closely; but sheep injure alfalfa pastures more than any of these animals, when the grazing is close, owing to the extent to which they trim off the leaves.

=As Soiling Food.=--For being fed as soiling food, alfalfa has the very highest adaptation, owing, 1. To the long period covered by the growth. 2. To the rapidity of the growth resulting in large relative production. 3. To the palatability of the green food produced. 4. To the entire safety to the animals fed. And 5. To its high feeding value. In Louisiana, for instance, alfalfa may be made to furnish soiling food for nine months in the year. In the North, of course, the duration of production is much less, but it is seldom less than five months. The growth is so rapid that cuttings for soiling food may usually be made at intervals of four to six weeks, according to season and climate; hence, the cuttings for soiling food will run all the way from two to eight or nine each season. It is so palatable that horses, mules, cattle, sheep and swine relish it highly. When wilted a little before being fed, the danger of producing bloat is eliminated. Its feeding value is nearly the same as that of the medium red clover, thus making it in itself what may be termed a balanced or perfect food for horses, mules, cattle and sheep until development is completed and subsequently when they are at rest; that is, when they are not producing, as in the form of labor or milk.

The highest use, probably, from feeding alfalfa when green will arise from feeding it to milch cows. Its high protein content in combination with its succulence pre-eminently adapts it to such a use. Wherever alfalfa can be grown and will produce even two cuttings a year, it will serve a good purpose in producing milk. Every dairyman dependent more or less on soiling food will find it to his advantage to grow alfalfa where it may be grown in good form. When fed to milch cows, some meal added, carbonaceous in character, as corn or non-saccharine sorghum seed, may prove a paying investment, and it may also be advisable to alternate the green alfalfa, morning or evening, with such other green crops as oats and peas, millet, rape, corn or sorghum when in season, to provide variety. But even though alfalfa alone should be thus made to supplement the pastures, the outcome should be at least fairly satisfactory. When fed to horses that are working, some care must be exercised in feeding it, lest too lax a condition of the bowels should be induced, and a grain factor should be fed at the same time. It has frequently been given to sheep that were being fitted for show purposes, but may also be fed green to the entire flock, with a view to supplement the pastures. It has special adaptation for promoting large growth in lambs, and, indeed, in any kind of young stock to which it may be fed. When fed to swine, a small grain supplement properly chosen and fed will insure more satisfactory growth. It is thought that more satisfactory results will be obtained from allowing the alfalfa to get fairly well on toward the blossoming stage before beginning to feed, and to continue to feed until in full bloom. This in practice may not always be possible, but usually an approximation to it may be reached, especially when the production of the alfalfa will more than supply the needs in soiling food. The ideal plan is to commence cutting the alfalfa as soon as a good growth is made, cutting enough daily or every other day to supply the needs of the animals. If the growth becomes too much advanced before the field is gone over thus, the balance should be made into hay, and the cutting should begin again where it began previously.

There is no question but that considerably more food can be obtained from a given area when green alfalfa is fed in the soiling form, instead of being grazed. The difference in such production would not be easy to determine, but of the fact stated there cannot be any doubt. Ordinarily, each cutting of green alfalfa for soiling should not produce less than 4 tons; hence, where 8 cuttings can be secured, not fewer than 32 tons of soiling food could be obtained per season. But whether the increase from soiling alfalfa, as compared with pasturing the same, would repay the cost of the extra labor, will depend upon conditions that vary with time and place. Alfalfa fields thus managed or cut for hay will also produce for a longer period than when the fields are grazed.

Continuity in the production of soiling food may not be possible some seasons in the absence of irrigation; hence, under such conditions provision should always be made for a supply of such other soiling foods as may be needed, and of a character that will make it practical to turn them into dry fodder when not wanted as soiling food. But where irrigating waters are unfailing, it is quite possible to furnish soiling food from alfalfa soils through practically all the growing season. Dairymen thus located are in a dairyman's paradise.

Alfalfa, like clover, may be made into silage. In dry climates this would seem to be unnecessary, but in rainy climates it may be wise in some instances to make alfalfa ensilage, the better to insure the curing of the crop. What has been said with reference to clover ensilage will apply almost equally to alfalfa. (See page 103.) It would be more desirable, usually, to make the first cutting from alfalfa into ensilage than later cuttings, because of the showery character of the weather at that season, but the strong objection stands in the way of doing so, that no carbonaceous food, as corn, sorghum or soy beans, is ready for going into the silo then as they are later, with a view of aiding in the better preservation of the ensilage and of making a better balanced ration. Good alfalfa silage is more easily made when the alfalfa has been run through a cutting-box than when in the uncut forms.

=Harvesting for Hay.=--The best time to harvest alfalfa for hay is just after the blossoms begin to appear. Ordinarily, not more than one-third of the blossoms are out when the harvesting should begin, but when the hay is to be fed to horses the cutting may be deferred until more than half the blooms are out. If cut earlier, the loss of weight in the crop will be considerable, as much as 30 to 45 per cent., as compared with cutting when in full bloom. If cut later, the stems become over-woody, and the loss of leaves in curing will be much greater. When the cutting is delayed beyond the period of early bloom, the growth of the next cutting is retarded, and when it is deferred until some of the leaves turn yellow or until some seed is formed, in many situations the influence on the succeeding crop is seriously adverse, and in some instances this influence would seem to react against the vigorous growth of the plant during the remainder of the season. In other instances, as where the conditions are quite favorable to the growth of the plant, these results are not present in so marked a degree. When large areas of alfalfa are to be harvested, the importance of beginning early cannot easily be overestimated. It would be much better to sacrifice something in loss of weight in the hay, through cutting too early, than to meet with greater loss in weight in the next crop or crops by cutting too long deferred.

Much that has been said about the harvesting of medium, red clover will apply equally to alfalfa. (See page 95.) The mowing should begin as soon as the dew has lifted in the morning. The tedder should follow after the hay has wilted somewhat, and later, the horse rake, the aim being to get the crop made into winrows, preferably small, before nightfall, and when the weather is uncertain, the aim should be also to put the hay up into small cocks the same evening. This may not always be practicable. If the loss of leaves is likely to be considerable when raking the hay, raking should be deferred until the influence of evening dews begins to be felt. After the hay has become wilted it should not be stirred or handled any more than is really necessary, that loss of leaves and of the tips of the stems and branches may be avoided, and the handling during the curing process should be done to the greatest extent practicable before or after the sunshine has waxed strong. In showery weather, when small areas are being harvested, hay caps can be used with profit. Where large areas are to be harvested and where there is no danger of rain, the crop when nicely wilted is drawn into winrows, and in these the curing is completed without further stirring or handling. From the winrows it is drawn usually on rakes of a certain make, and the rake loads thus slid over the ground are lifted bodily onto the stack by the use of the "rickers." (See page 100.)

=Storing.=--When cured in cocks, these are preferably made small to facilitate quick curing, but usually from two to four days are necessary to complete the curing. If the cocks require opening out before being drawn, the work should be done with care. Ordinary stacking and storing may be done in practically the same way as in handling medium red clover, and the same care is necessary in protecting the stacks. In areas where considerable rain falls in the autumn, hay sheds will prove a great convenience in storing alfalfa in the absence of better facilities. In the Eastern States alfalfa is sometimes stored in mows undercured, by putting it into the mow in alternate layers with straw. The straw not only aids in preserving the alfalfa in good condition, but the alfalfa imparts an aroma to the straw which induces live stock to eat it readily. In showery weather this method of curing alfalfa merits careful attention where straw can be had near at hand and in sufficient quantities.

The method is sometimes adopted of cutting alfalfa even for hay by using the self-rake reaper. The sheaves thus made are allowed to lie on the ground undisturbed until they are ready for being drawn. By this method of cutting, the loss of leaves is almost entirely avoided, but there are these objections to it: that it exposes unduly to sunlight during the curing process, and in case of rain the sheaves are easily saturated and do not dry readily unless turned over.

Rain falling on alfalfa will injure it quite as much as it does red clover. (See page 96.) In climates with much rainfall in May or June, when the first cutting of alfalfa is ready for being harvested, according to locality, in instances not a few much difficulty is found in curing alfalfa without loss. Sometimes the entire cutting will be rendered practically useless by rain. Because of this, as previously intimated, it may be well to arrange, where practicable, to cut the first crop of the season for soiling food.

The number of cuttings during the year depends on such conditions as relate to the length of the season, the character of the soil, the abundance of moisture present, and the use to which the alfalfa is put. In some of the river bottoms southward in the Rocky Mountains, where irrigating waters are plentiful, it is claimed that alfalfa may be made to furnish one cutting for soiling food every month in the year. Even in the Northern western valleys, as many as five or six cuttings for the use named may be obtained. North from the Ohio and Potomac rivers three to five cuttings of soiling food may be looked for each season, and south of these rivers even a larger number. North of the same rivers the hay crops run from two to four, and southward from the same they are seldom less than three. In the western valleys they range from three to five or six, according to location. In States bordering on the semi-arid States eastward and some distance south of the Canadian boundary, from three to four cuttings may usually be expected. In Colorado and States north and south from the same, two good crops of alfalfa may be cut from spring-sown seed the same season, but where irrigation is not practiced it is seldom that one crop of hay is harvested under similar conditions of sowing. But in the semi-arid belt not more than one cutting is usually obtained each season in the absence of water. But the number of cuttings will be reduced when one of these is a seed crop. When a seed crop is taken, the vitality of the plants is apparently so much reduced for the season that the subsequent growth is much less vigorous than if seed had not been thus taken.

The yield of hay from each cutting will, of course, vary much with conditions, but it is seldom less than a ton. An approximate average would place the average cutting at about 1-1/4 tons, but as much as 2 tons have been obtained per acre at a cutting, and, again, not more than 1/2 ton. In New Jersey an average of 4.57 tons per acre was obtained under good conditions of management, but without irrigation, at the experiment station for three years in succession. In Kansas, 4 to 6 tons per acre may usually be expected from good soils. In Tulare County, California, as much as 6 to 10 tons have been secured under irrigation.

The yields from the various cuttings are by no means uniform, especially in the absence of irrigation. They are much influenced by rainfall. In such areas, the second cutting is usually the best for the season, the subsequent cuttings being considerably less. Where irrigation is practiced, the crops are much more uniform, but even in mild climates, as the season advances, there is a tendency to lesser yields, indicative of the necessity of at least partial rest for plants during a portion of the year. The yields of alfalfa are usually exceeded by those of no other crop, where the conditions are quite favorable to its growth, even in the absence of irrigation. At the New Jersey Experiment Station, as stated in Bulletin No. 148, one acre of alfalfa produced 36,540 pounds of green food; of corn, 24,000; of red clover, 14,000; of crimson clover, 14,000; of millet, 16,000; of cow peas, 16,000; and of oats and peas, 14,000 pounds. But where only two, or even three, cuttings can be obtained per year, some crops may produce larger yields than alfalfa. In the distinctive alfalfa belt in the West, no forage crop can be grown that will compare with it in the yields obtained. The protein in alfalfa is also relatively high. At the station quoted above it was found one ton of alfalfa contained 265 pounds of protein; hence, its high relative value as a food; red clover, 246 pounds; timothy, 118 pounds; and wheat bran, 118 pounds. At the Delaware Experiment Station, in Bulletin No. 55, it is stated that maximum crops of cow peas and of crimson clover gave 720 pounds of protein, while a maximum crop of alfalfa gave 1230 pounds.

Where alfalfa is irrigated, it is usual to apply irrigating waters just after each cutting of the crop. It is a matter of some importance that the water shall be applied at once as soon as the previous crop has been harvested, otherwise time will be lost in growing the next crop. There are instances where it is necessary to apply water before the first crop is grown, but usually the moisture which falls in the winter and spring will suffice to produce the first crop of the season. Some irrigators apply water some time previous to harvesting the crop, but not so late as to leave the ground in a soft condition when mowing is begun. The amount of water required will vary with the soil, the season of the year, the distance of the ground water from the surface, and the precipitation. The more porous the soil and subsoil, the hotter the weather, the less the precipitation and the farther below the surface, up to a certain limit, the greater will be the amount of water needed. There are situations, as in some of the islands in the Yellowstone River, in which ground water is so near the surface that alfalfa grown on these is able to get enough of water from this subterranean source to produce good crops. Care should be taken not to apply water in excess of the needs of the crop, or the yields will be proportionately reduced. The amounts that will best serve the end sought can only be ascertained by actual test. Caution is also necessary where the winters are cold not to apply water late or in excessive quantities, lest a sappy condition of the plants shall be induced, which will make them succumb to the cold of the winter following. Moreover, on some soils alfalfa fields will produce good crops, if irrigated only the first season, until the roots get down to moisture, the irrigating waters being utilized when more needed.

Alfalfa hay is fed freely to all kinds of domestic animals on the farm, and with results that should prove highly satisfactory. Properly fed, it is an excellent food for horses and mules. It not only serves to maintain flesh, but it is favorable to glossiness in the coat. Horses that are working hard should be accustomed to it gradually. When it is fed to them too freely at the first, it induces too much of a laxity in the bowels, too free urination, and profuse sweating. When fed to such horses or mules, some authorities claim that several weeks should be covered in getting them on to what is termed a "full feed" of alfalfa. When fed to milch cows, free lactation results. Alfalfa fine in character is now manufactured into food suitable for calves and other young stock. Cattle and sheep are now fattened for slaughter on alfalfa hay fed alone, but when thus fattened the finish made is not equal to that resulting from adding grain to the alfalfa. To meet the needs of the best markets, alfalfa alone does not produce enough of fat or of firmness in the flesh, but it has been claimed, and probably it is true, that one-half the amount of grain required for finishing along with carbonaceous fodder, such as corn stalks or timothy, will give equally good and quick increase when fed with alfalfa hay. It is most excellent fodder on which to grow cattle and sheep, even in the absence of a grain supplement. The later cuttings of the season are thought to be the most suitable for calves and also for sheep and lambs, because of the greater fineness of the fodder and the greater abundance of leaves on it. Alfalfa hay is used with much advantage in wintering swine, especially brood sows. Swine have been wintered on alfalfa hay without any grain supplement where the winters are mild, but they will fare much better with a grain supplement. It is thought that half the usual amount of grain fed will produce equal results when fed with alfalfa, to those obtained from feeding a full allowance of grain in its absence. Alfalfa and sorghum properly grown make an excellent food for swine, and the two may be profitably fed thus where the conditions may be over-dry for corn, but not for sorghum. When feeding alfalfa, the aim should be to use it in conjunction with a carbonaceous food, as corn. Fortunate is the country which grows good crops of corn and alfalfa.

=Securing Seed.=--Localities differ much in their capacity to produce alfalfa seed. The best crops of seed are now grown west and southwest of the Mississippi River. Certain areas in the semi-arid country east of and between the ranges of the Western mountains seem to have special adaptation for growing seed. At the present time the greatest seed-producing States are Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and California. But in some areas east of that river paying crops can be grown. It has also been noticed that when the crop is sown less thickly than it is usually sown for hay, the plants seed more freely, when sown with sufficient distance between the rows to admit of cultivating the crop, and when such cultivation is given, the influence on seed production is also markedly favorable; such treatment given to the varieties of recent introduction may possibly result in the production of seed from the same, notwithstanding that they bear seed very shyly when grown in the ordinary way.