40 



some fields has done great injury. Just how serious the disease will 

 ultimately prove cannot at present be stated. 



If leaf spot shows itself in a newly seeded field, while the plants are 

 young, it is best to go over it with the mowing machine, allowing the 

 cuttings to lie where they fall. They will serve to furnish mulch and 

 winter protection, which are so greatly needed in our climate, and 

 their presence does not necessarily appear to increase the probability 

 of the spread of the disease. 



Harvesting Alfalfa. 



Alfalfa should usually be cut as soon as it is in bloom. If allowed 

 to stand much beyond the period of early bloom the plants start 

 much less promptly after being cut and the total yield of the season 

 will be relatively small. The last cutting in any season should not be 

 too late. It is desirable that there should be a considerable growth 

 remaining on the field for winter protection. 



After cutting, alfalfa should be allowed to lie, with possibly one 

 turning, until it is wilted. It should then be put into windrows and 

 later into cocks, where it should be allowed to remain until cured. 

 If hay caps can be used the results will be more satisfactory. Should 

 the time required in curing exceed about five days, the cocks should 

 be moved to avoid injury to the roots, and it is desirable, as in the 

 case of clover, which is often similarly handled, to remove the caps 

 and oiDen or turn over the cocks on the morning of a good day, when 

 it is judged to be sufficiently cured to be put in. 



Annual Top-dressing. 

 If the crop has been successfully inoculated, or if the nodules which 

 have been referred to are abundant on the feeding rootlets of the 

 alfalfa plants, it will not be necessary to top-dress with materials 

 furnishing nitrogen, or, at least, if such materials are at all rcrjuircd, 

 as may be the case upon soils which are naturally very poor and light, 

 they should be used only in moderate quantities. It is necessary, 

 however, in order to secure large crops to supply the mineral elements 

 of plant food in abundance. The following mixture of materials is 

 recommended, annually, per acre: basic slag meal, 1,200 to 1,500 

 pounds; high-grade sulfate of potash, 250 to 350 pounds; or low- 

 grade sulfate of potash, 500 to 700 pounds. This mixture may be 

 applied either in the autumn or in very early spring. 



Conclusion. 



^Vhile the writer does not yet feel perfectly confident that alfalfa 

 will establish itself in all localities as one of our valuable farm crops, 

 he would express himself as now beginning to hope that it can be 

 made to succeed. He would, however, counsel some caution at the 

 start, and would urge that small trial areas be put in in all localities 



