34 CLOVER CULTURE. 



tion at almost any time during the season. In the more 

 northern sections, fewer cuttings are possible and of course 

 the yield is less per acre. The hay crop is taken when the 

 plant is just coming into bloom and before the stems have 

 been converted to woody fiber, to a great extent indigestible. 

 When a seed crop is desired one of the latter growths is al- 

 lowed to ripen, the yield sometimes reaching as high as ten 

 bushels per acre. 



While alfalfa is in the main a forage crop and its princi- 

 ple use that of a permanent meadow, it can be pastured with 

 safety after it has become well established and its roots have 

 penetrated to great depths. It is largely used in this way in 

 connection with the ranches of the mountain states, furnish- 

 ing, as it does by its last growth, a means of ripening the 

 vast herds of cattle that have been carried through the sum- 

 mer on the wild grasses of the ranges. It has proven equally 

 valuable on the great plains wherever there are suitable facili- 

 ties for irrigation, or where by reason of the nature of the 

 subsoil the roots ca.3. reach down in a year or two to perma- 

 nent moisture. It is not at all uncommon, in regions where 

 the sheet water or the underflow of the rivers of the plains, 

 such as the Arkansas or the Platte, is within reach, to find 

 alfalfa flourishing without irrigation after the second or third 

 year, or, in other words, after the roots have reached a perma- 

 nent supply of water. 



In sowing alfalfa for cultivation under irrigation the soil 

 must be well prepared. Alfalfa tolerates no slovenly culture. 

 There being no heavy clays in this region and the under soil 

 being, to a very great depth, as rich as the upper, this is a 

 comparatively easy matter. The seed is usually sown broad- 

 cast at the rate of from fifteen to twenty pounds per acre and 

 covered sufficiently to insure germination. 



Should weeds threaten to smother the young plant? 

 they should be clipped, setting the mower high, and in this 

 way the plants are allowed free access to air and sunlight. 

 In order to prevent weed growth, alfalfa is sometimes sown in 

 drills twelve or fifteen inches apart, and cultivated until per- 

 manently established. This is the English method of alfalfa 

 culture. 



A stand once secured, it lasts for many years with propel 

 care and management. It must not however be either mow- 

 ed or pastured until it has become well established. Some- 

 times, under very favorable conditions, one or two crops can 

 be taken the year it is sown and the second season three, but 



