ALFALFA 



237 



many enemies. When once introduced into such a field 

 the conditions for the development of the parasite are 

 very favorable. So we find that Alfalfa is subject to 

 more than a dozen fungous diseases, some of which at 

 times become very destructive. 



The Alfalfa Leaf Spot is the most widespread of these 

 fungous diseases, as it is present in nearly every alfalfa 

 field and often causes the dropping of a large part of the 

 leaves. The small brownish black spots are thickly 

 scattered over the leaflets, which soon become yellow 

 and fall away. Early cutting helps to check the trouble. 



Alfalfa is especially Hkely to be injured by the para- 

 sitic plant called Dodder. This is not a fungous but a 

 true flowering plant that grows upon the stems of other 

 plants and sucks out nutriment from them. It grows 

 from seed and is introduced to the field because Dodder 

 seed is mixed with the Alfalfa seed. Consequently seed 

 for planting should be carefully examined, and if the 

 Dodder seeds are present it should not be planted. 



