I know it is a great temptation to cut a fourth crop or to pasture it 

 off late in the fall. Sometimes we are short of feed and we just have 

 to take the hazard. But in doing so we are apt to kill the goose 

 that lays the golden eggs. 



Late Cutting Reduces Vigor 



The field may be only partially ruined by winter's freezing, but 

 the late cutting so weakens the remaining plants that their growth 

 the following spring will be less vigorous, and the blue-grass and 

 weeds may soon get the best of the alfalfa. (See Fig. 37.) 



Fig. 45. Eight inches of fall growth holds the snow for whiter protection. 



The old standard eight-inch rule that alfalfa should have eight 

 inches of growth before freezing weather sets in will solve the 

 winterkilling problem on many farms. Alfalfa needs this much 

 stubble to hold the snow for winter protection. 



May Kill in Spite Care Taken 



But it still remains that even where every regulation of growing 

 and handling alfalfa has been followed out, it may winterkill. Where 

 this occurs there is only one solution of the difficulty: Use seeds of 

 the hardiest-known varieties. 



There is all the difference in the world between various kinds of 

 alfalfa. Some, like the Peruvian of the Southwest, cannot stand 

 the slightest Northern frost. Others will weather through the hardest 

 winters and be ready for business the following spring. (See Fig. 50,) 



I will not say that any alfalfa is absolutely winter-proof, but there 

 are varieties that have a double-barreled, cast-iron hardiness which 

 makes them nearly so, and far superior to the common kinds in with- 

 standing the rigors of severe open winter weather. (See Fig. 51.) 



Common American Alfalfa 



There are few commercial varieties of alfalfa grown here in the 

 United States. The common purple-flowered alfalfa is the great 



53 



