LEGUMINOUS FORAGE CROPS IQI 



orchard grass and alfalfa, rye and alfalfa, and tall oat grass 

 and alfalfa. 1 Orchard grass is considered desirable because 

 the orchard grass is cut soon enough to prevent its becoming 

 unpalatable, and because its habit of growth is such as to crowd 

 the alfalfa less than other grasses. (86) 



217. Weeds. Since the first cutting of alfalfa is so early, 

 and since the time between cutting is so short, most annual 

 and biennial weeds common to other meadows are prevented 

 from going to seed and are thus eradicated. Only those peren- 

 nials which produce seed before the first cutting of alfalfa, like 

 dandelion, and perennials which are more or less stolonifer- 

 pus, like some of the grasses, become a serious pest in alfalfa 

 meadows. To this, however, there are some exceptions. The 

 wild barleys (Hordeum jubatum L.) and (H. murinum L.), 

 which are annual grasses, are most serious weeds in alfalfa 

 meadows in western states, as they are in other cultivated crops. 

 This, however, is not so much due to their abundance or injury 

 to alfalfa as it is that the barbed awns of these plants lodge in 

 the mouths and throats of animals, producing bad sores and 

 thus decreasing the feeding value of hay that has become 

 infested with them. 



While certain other plants of the grass family are a menace 

 to the growth of alfalfa, alfalfa hay is usually free from weeds 

 that are objectionable for forage purposes. Where alfalfa 

 becomes grassy passing over the field both ways with a disk 

 harrow, set so as not to turn the soil too much, immediately 

 after the crop has been harvested is said to help to keep these 

 weeds in check. Some of the weeds are destroyed while the 

 alfalfa is stimulated. The best results with this method have 

 been obtained on friable soils in sub-humid sections. 



218. Fungous Diseases. The most commonly distributed, 

 and probably the most injurious, fungous disease on alfal- 



i Idaho Sta. Bui. No. 33 (1902). 



