GROWING BY IRRIGATION. 



291 



the 600', and it should come out below clear. If muddy, you 

 are cutting the land somewhere down the line, and losing some 

 of your seed, besides putting the land in bad condition for your 

 mowers. The land should be irrigated until it looks black, which 

 it will with sub-irrigation from one furrow to another; then 

 keep it nice and moist so that the seed will all sprout and come 

 up. If old land is used there may be trouble with weeds, which 



IRRIGATING ALFALFA IN MEXICO. 



will have to be mown off, and if this is not sufficient, they will 

 have to be pulled out by hand. In irrigating always irrigate 

 enough to keep the leaves wide and a beautiful green color. 

 Should they look a dusty color and a little pinched, they lack 

 water and the alfalfa will soon bud and bloom, perhaps 6" or 

 8" high, where if given sufficient water your alfalfa will grow 

 at the rate of an inch a day, and be ready to cut when about 

 one-fourth or one-half in bloom, about every thirty-five or 



