54 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



more woody. The seed is not yet on the market in this country, as 

 it is not grown in Peru or elsewhere in large commercial quantities. 



Seed Production. The alfalfa seed producing sections of the 

 United States are much more limited in extent than are the sections 

 where the hay can be successfully raised. Alfalfa sets seed in paying 

 quantities only when there is a comparative shortage in the moisture 

 supply. In the irrigated sections it is the practice to withhold one 

 irrigation when seed is desired. In the sections where alfalfa is 

 raised without irrigation, a seed crop is usually secured in the dry 

 years only. 



Alfalfa requires a dry, hot season for the best development of 

 the seed crop, and for ihis reason it is customary to save that crop 

 for seed which will mature during the hottest and driest part of the 

 summer. This is ordinarily the second crop, but south of central 

 Kansas it may be the third crop, and in the northern sections may 

 have to be the first crop, owing to the short growing season. In sec- 

 tions where the second crop would come only a little too late for the 

 heat of midsummer, it is the practice to clip back the first crop when 

 half grown. The alfalfa then comes on more evenly than had it not 

 been cut back, and in addition blooms considerably earlier than had 

 the full first crop been matured. 



When allowed to make seed the alfalfa should be cut when 

 from two-thirds to three-fourths of the pods have turned brown, as 

 this will insure the greatest quantity of good seed. The methods of 

 harvesting the seed vary widely in the different sections. A self- 

 rake reaper, a mower with a dropping or bunching attachment, or a 

 self-binder with the tying attachment removed is sometimes used. 

 These leave the alfalfa in convenient forkfuls which reduce the 

 amount of shattering in handling. 



Alfalfa is thrashed from the field if possible, but it is often nec- 

 essary to stack the crop before thrashing. An alfalfa huller built 

 along the lines of a clover huller is usually most satisfactory, but few 

 sections produce enough alfalfa seed to justify the use of these spe- 

 cial hullers. Very satisfactory results can be secured with the ordi- 

 nary grain thrasher by screwing down the concaves and providing a 

 set of alfalfa sieves. 



A thin stand of alfalfa is best for seed-producing purposes. The 

 yields usually run from 2 to 5 bushels to the acre, but occasionally 

 much higher yields are secured. Most of the alfalfa seed is pro- 

 duced in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, California, Arizona, Montana, 

 Kansas, and Nebraska. The supply of seed raised in this country is 

 far short of the demand, as is evidenced by the fact that over 6,000,- 

 000 pounds were imported during 1906 . 



Alfalfa in Cultivated Rows. Preliminary experiments indi- 

 cate that the growing of alfalfa in cultivated rows for seed offers 

 considerable promise of success in regions where the rainfall is suf- 

 ficient for only one or two cuttings of alfalfa hay. Probably the 

 most extensive area to which this method promises to be adapted 

 is the Great Plains area immediately west of the one-hundredth me- 

 ridian in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and South 



