FOR BETTER CROPS (if) 



relieve better and more easily than any other thins-. There was 

 a time, only a few years ago, when it would have seemed not 

 worth while thus to attempt to raise the hopes of the dairyman, 

 for then it had not been demonstrated .that alfalfa could be 

 grown away from the "alfalfa belt." But since then we have 

 learned the few simple requirements of the alfalfa plant, and 

 we do not hesitate to affirm that we can grow alfalfa anywhere, 

 upon any farm in the United States not at too high an altitude, 

 if the few simple but essential conditions are complied with. 



Time to Cut Alfalfa — We usually cut it when about one- 

 fifth of the plants begin to show bloom. A somewhat better 

 way of ascertaining the proper time is to watch for the buds at 

 the base of the plants and cut when they appear above the 

 ground. These buds are the beginning of new stalks, and their 

 appearance indicates that the plant is ready to make another 

 crop. 



Alfalfa as a Pasture Crop — It is especially adapted to being 

 de-pastured by horses and hogs, and perhaps the greatest profit 

 comes from such use. The practical difficulty with de-pastur- 

 ing alfalfa with sheep and cows is that, being a clover, it some- 

 times causes bloat, similar to clover bloat. The best preventive 

 of bloat is to have the alfalfa mixed with grasses in the pasture. 

 When this is done, the animals eating the two together are very 

 much less apt to bloat. The best grass to mix with alfalfa for 

 pasture is brome grass {bromus inermis.) 



In pasturing alfalfa, to get the best results, one should not turn 

 stock on it before the plants have grown nearly to the blossoming 

 stage; furthermore, the pasture should be so large that the 

 animals will not eat it down close. It should be mown at least 

 twice during the season and made into hay. It will not do, how- 

 ever, to pasture the field with sheep or cattle immediately after 

 it has been mown, this being the surest known method of invit- 

 ing disaster. After alfalfa is mown, it is not safe to turn stock 

 onto it until the plants have reached the woody stage. Thus 

 treated, alfalfa pastures will last for years, and afford an 

 astonishing amount of nourishment. 



All stock should be taken off of alfalfa pastures by the first 

 of October, or, in the eastern states, a]b the beginning of hard 

 frosts; this, both for the good of the alfalfa and for the good of 

 the animals themselves. It is dangerous to de-pasture frozen 

 alfalfa, and it is not even wise to cut it for hay. A profitable 

 scheme sometimes practiced, is to break an old blue grass pas- 

 ture, plow it rather deep, fertilize it well, and seed it down to 

 alfalfa. A good stand of alfalfa is almost assured by this method, 

 while the blue grass comes up immediately and fills in be- 

 tween the alfalfa plants: within a few years, the amount of com- 

 bined herbage yielded by this practice is almost incredibly great, 



