48 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



Alfalfa and Weeds. 



/ have alfalfa in the Feather River bottom. Last year I cut three 

 good crops, the first being mostly weeds, but the others were good. This 

 year the land was covered with water for several weeks and, although the 

 alfalfa does not seem to be killed, there is a big gro^vth of dock, and I 

 would like to know if there is any way of killing off the dock, as I am 

 afraid it is going to kill out the alfalfa. 



Your alfalfa will come out ahead of the weeds in the secoud 

 cutting, as it did last year. Flooding while the plant is not growing 

 does not hurt alfalfa. If the dock growth shades the ground too much 

 run the mower over it and let the alfalfa corne through as the stuff 

 dries and shrivels. 



Silage Yield of Alfalfa. 



How much silage will one ton of hay fresh from the field make? 



The amount of silage one will get from a ton of green alfalfa 

 will depend on how much the alfalfa is allowed to dry out before 

 being placed in the silo, and on the losses through fermentations and 

 respiration of plant cells that occur in the siloing process. In order 

 to secure a good quality of silage the alfalfa must be run through a 

 cutter and packed well in the silo with the least possible delay after 

 it has been cut in the field so that there is a minimum evaporation 

 of the water prior to the filling of the silo. After the green alfalfa is 

 placed in the silo the losses of feed materials \yill depend on how well 

 it has been packed and how air-tight the silo walls are. In silos 

 with thin, flimsy walls a considerable loss of nutrients will occur, viz., 

 one-fourth, or more, while under favorable conditions the loss should 

 not exceed ten per cent. In answer to the question, we may say, 

 therefore, that if alfalfa is promptly run through the cutter and care- 

 fully packed in a well-built silo a ton will be likely to make between 

 1,600 and 1,800 pounds of well-preserved silage. Since four tons of 

 green alfalfa make about a ton of hay, four times the amount given, 

 or between three and three and a half tons of silage will correspond 

 to a ton of hay. F. W. W. 



Killing Alfalfa Dodder. 



Will you inform me the best method of destroying dodder? 



Dodder is a parasitic plant which starts from a seed brought in, 

 generally with the alfalfa seed. As soon as this little seedling start- 

 ing from the ground gets high enough to grasp and entwine an alfalfa 

 stem, it grows into this stem, sending root-like suckers into the tissue 

 of the stem. As soon as it has done this the part near the ground dies 

 and disappears. Dodder is an annual that is, it has to start every 

 year from the seeds which are freely dropped by the older plants which 

 are attached to the alfalfa. Anything which will prevent its going 

 to seed will kill it off in a year. The usual mowings for hay are too 

 far apart, because the plant blooms and forms seed as it grows; and 

 by the time the alfalfa is ready to cut some of the lower blooms may 



