148 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



are a few people who are dependable, but they are asking very 

 high prices for their seed. I met Mr. Cooper, the State farm 

 management man, in North Dakota. Now in North Dakota 

 you cannot grow anything but the very hardy varieties, — the 

 varieties such as should be grown here in New England, — and 

 their plan up there is to push the cultivation of alfalfa as 

 rapidly as possible, and they hope in about two years' time 

 to be able to put out alfalfa seed in North Dakota and put a 

 State seal upon it so that you can be assured that that seed is 

 right. I think if the people in the mountain regions of Mon- 

 tana and Colorado and Dakota would do that same thing, and 

 possibly in South Dakota, in the black hills, that we would 

 then get seed that we could depend upon. While I was out 

 there I did everything I could to impress upon them not only 

 the benefit from the seed growers' standpoint, but the benefit 

 it would mean to the eastern alfalfa grower, to get a seed that 

 they could depend upon, because I believe a great many of 

 our failures have been due to poor seed. 



In our own practice we select the best seed we can, pur- 

 chasing from three different concerns, and mixing them to- 

 gether before seeding. If one or possibly two of these strains 

 did not prove hardy and one proved to be we would secure a 

 good stand of alfalfa. All seeds should be inoculated. The 

 government will furnish inoculation enough for small quanti- 

 ties, but the commercial inoculations that are upon the market 

 have proven to be good. The seed can be inoculated at a cost 

 of about SI per acre, which is cheaper than distributing soil 

 from an old alfalfa field. 



After alfalfa is seeded, even if annual weeds appear, it should 

 not be clipped, and if sown early in August should get a growth 

 of at least 8 to 10 inches. If it gets this size it should go 

 through the winter in good condit'on. 



The harvesting of alfalfa is not intricate. It should be cut 

 between the time the little shoots appear at the crown and 

 before they are high enough for a mower to clip them off. The 

 hay should be raked before the leaves dry, and then bunched 

 and capped with canvas. During good weather two or three 

 days after the hay is cocked it can be stored. Oftentimes 

 weather conditions in the east are unfavorable for curing hay, 



