38 CLOVER CULTURE. 



young plants severely if fhey germinate too early. On the uplands I 

 would sow not less than twenty five pounds nf seed to the acre, and on 

 the low lands, twenty pounds. &ow broadcast, either by hand, or with a 

 gras* seed attachment to a drill or disc harrow. C >ver the seed well with 

 ome implement that suits the nature of the soil. If sown by hand the 

 di*c harrow, run shallow, will afford the ^est covering; then apply a 

 heavy roller. On the uplands it should always be sown by itself. If 

 sown with oats, barl y, or the like, the young plants are apt to be killed 

 by exposure to the sun aft^r the "nurse crop" has been removed. On 

 irrigated land ther i is but little danger of this kind, and the seed'is gen- 

 erally sown with some spring crop. I prefer, in all cases, to sow broad- 

 cast. When young or n^wly cut the ground is not then so exposed to the 

 scorching sun as when it stands in rows. 



The first year is always the most precarious period. No stock should 

 <ever be allowed on it that year and care should be taken that it is not 

 choked out by weeds. To kill these run over the ground two or three 

 times with the mower during the season and set the finger-bar high, 

 ^especially the first time, to avoid injuring the young plants. On the 

 uplands a second year of this treatment may occasionally be necessary. 

 Whin pastured, care should be taken that it is not over-stocked; for, if 

 iin addition to a drouth and a weary search for water on the part of the 

 roots, it is kept grazed to the ground, the crop will be brought to an 

 untimely end. It makes one of the best pastures for hogs imaginable, 

 but for the good of the crop they should not be put on till it is thoroughly 

 established. They "should be prevented from rooting by ringing their 

 noses and they should not be kept on long enough at, a time to injure it. 



For hay the crop should be cut every time it comes in bloom, no mat- 

 ter what its height may be. It does not grow any taller after it begins to 

 bloom, and if allowed to go to seed it will drop its leaves, and, moreover, 

 will make little or no growth after that for the rest of the year. Cut it 

 when about one-fourth in bloom. The hay is very brittle, and the leaves, 

 the best part of it, break off easily in handling. To diminish this waste 

 it must be cured with care. The best practice is to rake in the afternoon 

 what has been c t in the forenoon, put it into good sized cocks and let it 

 cure there thoroughly before it is stacked. If the crop is light and the 

 un strong, the rake may follow soon after the mower. If dried too 

 much in the swath, there will be little besides the dry stalks left when 

 the crop is raked. To keep alfalfa hay well the stack must be covered, 

 or it must be housed. It does not shed rain well and a single soaking 

 rain will cause it to mould and spoil. Growers of alfalfa in western Kan- 

 sas prefer, for these reasons, to dispose of the crop as soon as possible 

 after it is secured. It sells usually in the towns to local consumers for 

 about $3.00 a ton. Some of io is baled and shipped to other points, but 

 the frieght rates are so high as to make this impracticable, unless it can 

 be sold to unusual advantage. On low lands, or when under irrigation, 

 the fields are usually cut three times and sometimes four during the 

 season. It is a usual practice to take two crops of hay and to let the 

 third crop go to seed. Sometimes, however, an early frost will catch this 

 crop before the seed matures, and, of course, blast the prospects of 

 -seed. So, to make it sure, the second crop is often taken for seed. The 

 seed can be threshed and cleaned on an ordinary separator. The yield 

 on thi bottom lands fs reported to have fallen off in late years. V/hen 

 first started the alfalfa crop frequently yielded from ten to twelve bushels 

 of seed to the acre; now it is said to average only between five and seven 

 bushels. This is for the vicinity of Garden City. On the uplands the 

 yield is nearly as good. There is a large demand for the seed from seed- 

 men and it sells at from $3.50 to $4.00 per bushel, and these prices are 

 likely to remain stationary for some years to come -until the supply has 



