PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES 315 



The seed is mowed, threshed and dried as any other clover 

 is. The hay should He before raking until it is thor- 

 oughly wilted, then cure in cock two or three days. We 

 stack in ricks i6 to i8 feet wide and any desired height 

 or length. The hay will not heat if well cured before 

 stacking. On land valued at $40 an acre, the cost of hay 

 in the stack is about $1.50, and to bale this costs $2 a ton. 

 The yield of seed is 5 to 10 bushels to the acre, and it sells 

 for $4.50 to $7.50 a bushel, while hay brings $4, formerly 

 $8. For threshing, a clover huUer is better than the com- 

 mon machine. The alfalfa straw is of double the value 

 of any other straw for feeding. The hay grown without 

 irrigation is not so rank as that which is watered, and is 

 consequently more valuable as a feed; any is better than 

 timothy, and equal to clover for cattle, but the seed must 

 form in it to make it valuable for working horses. After 

 cutting three crops in a season, I usually use the field in 

 the fall for pasturing cattle, and it furnishes nearly double 

 the feed that Red clover will, acre for acre. For hogs 

 the pasturage is much better than clover, and I sow with 

 blue grass and clover, on rich ground. For horses and 

 sheep the pasturage is better than clover, but causes bloat 

 in the same way. It is difficult to plow up alfalfa, but 

 continued cultivation will rid land of it when desired. 



Oscar Druinhellcr, IValia Walla county. — Have grown 

 alfalfa for six years, and now have 150 acres, part on 

 bottom, some on clay, and a part on slightly sandy soil ; 

 subsoil is a thin layer of hardpan; below that a sort of 

 gumbo, and underneath that a white clay. Abundant 

 water is found at 10 to 18 feet, moist soil reachingf to the 

 water. Our land requires no special preparation for 



