120 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 
Alfalfa is ready to cut for seed when about half of the pods 
have turned brown and the seeds can be easily rubbed out. If al- 
lowed to develop too far, some of the earliest ripened and most 
valuable seeds will be lost by shattering. 
Harvesting can be done as for Red Clover seed, the handling 
of the crop being as careful as possible to avoid shattering. For 
threshing, an ordinary threshing machine may be used, though a 
clover huller is better. 
Quality of seed: The seeds are kidney-shaped and yellowish 
brown, about twice as long as broad. In ordinary Alfalfa their 
surface is shiny; in the Turkestan variety, owing to a coat of waxy 
substance which can be easily rubbed off, the surface is dull. The 
standard weight is sixty pounds to a bushel. 
Impurities: Alfalfa plants are very tender when young and are 
easily crowded out by weeds. Running the mowing machine over 
the field several times during the first season not only destroys the 
weeds but also strengthens the young Alfalfa plants. Although in 
old fields the plants are generally very vigorous, they are sometimes 
choked out in spots by aggressive weeds. To avoid this, the seed 
should be as clean as possible. The weed seeds most commonly 
found in commercial Alfalfa are Green Foxtail, Ribgrass, Ragweed, 
Lamb’s Quarets, Chicory, Yellow Foxtail and Smartweed. Noxious 
weed seeds less frequently found are Docks, Wild Mustard, Night- 
flowering Catchfly, Bladder Campion, False Flax and Canada 
Thistle. 
Diseases: Alfalfa is less troubled with diseases than is Red 
Clover. Its worst enemy is Dodder. Alfalfa Dodder, which is 
generally Cuscuta Epithymum Murr., is a yellowish parasite without 
leaves, consisting of a mass of fine threads from which are developed 
numerous roots called suckers. These suckers penetrate the Alfalfa 
stems where they absorb the food ready for the use of the host plant. 
The flowers are white and crowded into rounded clusters. Dodder 
appears at first in insignificant patches scattered throughout the 
field. These patches, however, steadily increase and after a few 
years a field may be so badly infested that the crop is ruined. The 
best way to avoid this pest is to secure seed absolutely free from it. 
Should Dodder have established itself in a field, however, the intested 
plants should be immediately destroyed. Mowing will only remove 
the Dodder on the upper parts of the Alfalfa; it will not affect that 
on or near the crown where it lives during the winter. 
