10 



ducted for two and the second for three years. The results of these 

 experiments show that the phosphatic fertilizers gave the greatest yield 

 of Alfalfa per acre. Of the different fertilizers used, the superphosphate 

 gave the highest yield per acre in the first experiment, and the Thomas' 

 phosphate powder the highest and the superphosphate the second highest 

 in the other experiment. The greatest average annual yield of green 

 Alfalfa per acre was produced on the land which had received the super- 

 phosphate at the time the seed was sown, but this increase, over the crop 

 produced on the unfertilized land, was only one-half of a ton per acre. 



Uses of Alfalfa. 



Alfalfa can be used in Ontario for the production of hay, green 

 fodder, pasture, seed, green manure, silage, a cover crop in orchards, 

 etc. It is quite probable that its use in this Province will be in about the 

 order in which the list is here given. 



For the production of hay it is a most valuable crop. Under favor- 

 able conditions it produces large yields of hay of excellent quality. Very 

 great care, however, should be taken to cut the Alfalfa just as it is start- 

 ing to come into blossom, and always before it is more than one-third in 

 bloom, as the crop very rapidly depreciates in digestibility after it has 

 reached the stage of maturity referred to above. Great care should also 

 be taken to not allow the Alfalfa to lie very long in the hot, dry sunshine, 

 as the leaves soon become crisp and are easily broken from the plants. 

 As the leaves are the richest part of the Alfalfa, special care should be 

 exerted to have as few as possible lost. After the crop becomes sufficiently 

 wilted it should be raked into winrows, and the curing process should 

 be finished in the winrows or in the cocks. 



The green fodder produced by Alfalfa is both nourishing and appetiz- 

 ing. It is often an advantage to start to cut Alfalfa for green fodder 

 some time before it has started to bloom. The portion of the crop which 

 cannot be used for this purpose before one-third of the blossoms have 

 made their appearance should be cut and cured into hay. The fact that 

 Alfalfa is a perennial plant, as well as the fact that it produces two, three 

 or four cuttings in the one season, makes it a very desirable crop to use 

 for the production of green fodder for feeding to farm stock. 



In the average results of experiments conducted at the College in 

 four different years, Alfalfa, when grown alone, gave a greater yield of 

 pasture per acre than any one of the following crops : Common Red 

 Clover, Mammoth Clover, Alsike Clover, White Clover, Yellow Trefoil, 

 Sainfoin, or Burnet. When grown and pastured alone, however, there 

 seems to be even a little greater risk of cattle and sheep becoming bloated 

 when pasturing on Alfalfa than when pasturing on clover. There ; s 

 also a danger of either cattle or sheep eating the Alfalfa so closely to the 

 ground that they are apt to injure the crowns of the roots, and in some 

 cases entirely kill the plants. Some very excellent results have been 

 obtained from pasturing hogs and poultry on Alfalfa. 



