16 The Bulletin. 



the alfalfa is sown be of such a character as to run together and 

 harden when dry, it will frequently be found advisable to run over 

 the field with a light harrow to break the crust formed should a rain 

 fall before the seed have sprouted very much ; because if this is not 

 done a large percentage of the young and tender plants will perish 

 in their futile efforts to reach the air and sunshine. 



TREATMENT FIEST YEAR. 



With alfalfa, the first year is the most critical period of its life, 

 for if proper treatment is not given it, failure will almost invariably 

 result, notwithstanding the fact that the young plants may have 

 started growth with every prospect of success. During the first 

 spring and summer it should be mowed off 2 to 3 inches above the 

 ground, whenever the plants have attained a height of 7 to 10 inches 

 or begin to bloom, and more frequently if the alfalfa shows signs 

 of failing, resulting usually from being overshadowed and robbed of 

 moisture and plant-food by grass and weeds, or from attacks of 

 fungous disease of the leaves, which is indicated by their turn- 

 ing yellow and falling. These frequent clippings will not only 

 tend largely to keep the grass and weeds in subjection, but will 

 also stimulate a stronger and more vigorous growth of the young 

 plants, as well as inducing a branching of old and multiplying of new 

 stems of the same plant. The clippings may be done with a mowing 

 machine, elevating the cutter-bar slightly, if necessary, so that the 

 cutting will not be too close to the gTOund. During the first year, 

 if the cuttings are only small, they should usually be left on the 

 ground to protect and improve the soil. The number of cuttings per 

 year will be governed largely by the fertility of the soil and the kind 

 of seasons. Alfalfa, whether spring or fall-sown, during the first and 

 succeeding years, should not, under I^orth Carolina conditions, be 

 clipped after the fifteenth of September ; because the growth made 

 during the fall months should go to form a protection of the crowns 

 and roots of the plants against the cold of winter. 



Treatment in Succeeding Years. — During the spring and sum- 

 mer of the second and succeeding years alfalfa should be cut when 

 about one-tenth to one-fifth of the flowers have bloomed — which is 

 usually about a month before red clover is ready — or at any other 

 stage of growth before this if the plants are not growing thriftily. 

 If cut at this stage, it will not only be better for the plants, but a less 

 woody and more palatable and highly digestible hay is secured. 

 When the cutting is delayed, the leaves of the plants, which ordina- 

 rily constitute from 40 to 50 per cent of the plant, and contain from 

 two to four times as much protein, pound for pound, as the stems, 

 turn yellow and fall off; hence especial efforts should be directed in 

 saving in good condition, both by proper cutting and curing, all the 

 leaves produced by the plants. "Wliere alfalfa is being grown for hay. 



