270 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



it is doubtful if this admixture is good, but when 

 alsike clover is sown for meadow or pasture it is 

 evident that on suitable soils, well drained and sweet, 

 alfalfa makes a good ally. A mixture of equal parts 

 of seed will give a stand of alsike with a lesser pro- 

 portion of alfalfa plants. Or the mixture may be 

 in proportion of 2 of alfalfa to 1 of alsike clover, 

 which will give a pretty evenly divided meadow. 

 Cattle and pigs love to graze on such a field as this. 



Alfalfa and Brome Grass. Brome grass (Bromus 

 inermis) is a good grass for pasture and in some 

 places makes pretty good meadow. It is a cold-re- 

 sistant, heat-resistant, drouth-resistant grass, very 

 vigorous on good soil. It makes a dense growth of 

 leaves down close to the earth and the stem or top 

 is not very important, being light and feathery. 

 Animals like brome grass exceedingly well as a 

 pasture grass. The writer knows of no other grass 

 so palatable to sheep and cattle. It is probable that 

 it is the best pasture grass yet introduced into 

 America, where it is adapted to the soil. It likes 

 rich land and when grown alone with no clovers in- 

 termixed it seems soon to suffer for nitrogen and 

 falls off greatly in yield of forage. When mixed 

 with alfalfa or red clover it seems to receive fer- 

 tilization from association with its sister plant and 

 yields very much more heavily. 



Brome grass loves to grow in alfalfa. It is prob- 

 ably the best plant to sow with it when the alfalfa 

 is to be grazed with cattle or sheep. Alfalfa is not 

 always a safe pasture for cattle or sheep when sown 



