336 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



very cautiously. Werner states that it is dangerous to 

 feed alfalfa hay containing ripe seeds to horses, as the 

 seeds are apt to cause laryngeal trouble. 



At the Ontario Agricultural College, a valuable cow 

 died of stoppage of the bowels after being fed on ripened 

 alfalfa. The ball of indigestible fiber found in the intestine 

 was supposed to be formed from the alfalfa eaten. A sheep 

 also was affected in a similar way, but recovered. 



398. Number of cuttings. The number of times 

 alfalfa can be cut for hay depends mainly on the length 

 of the season ; secondly, on the moisture supply. Under 

 the most favorable conditions, a cutting can be made 

 every thirty days. As many as nine cuttings of ordinary 

 alfalfa, and twelve of Arabian alfalfa have been secured 

 in a year in the Imperial Valley, California. Over most 

 of the irrigated region, from three to five cuttings are 

 obtained. Without irrigation, frequently only one crop 

 can be harvested in the drier states, but three cuttings 

 are the rule wherever corn will mature and moisture con- 

 ditions are favorable. At high altitudes in the Rocky 

 Mountains where the season permits of but a single 

 cutting of alfalfa, red clover is preferable, as it will make 

 its growth in cooler weather. 



399. Quality of different cuttings. The first cutting 

 of alfalfa is as a rule coarser than the later cuttings, and 

 in some markets this has an effect on its price. From a 

 chemical standpoint there is very little difference between 

 the first and the later cuttings. 



At the Utah Experiment Station alfalfa from three 

 cuttings grown on light bench lands was fed to milch 

 cows to determine their relative value in the production 

 of butter fat. The opinion of dairymen in Utah is that 

 the second cutting of alfalfa hay is far superior to the first 



