THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 27 



alfalfa, access to water is forbidden for two hours 

 thereafter, as also before; indeed opinion tends to 

 the belief that it is the combination of water and 

 green alfalfa which is fatal, especially in the case 

 of Jerseys, whose stomachs are small and habits vor- 

 acious. But the season of bloat is yet afar off, al- 

 though the cows must be corralled because they have 

 a mania for nibbling swelling peach buds. The 

 horses, less mischievous, may enjoy their liberty 

 awhile longer. 



As for plowing alfalfa — once a man has been 

 driven to this task he will not hanker to repeat it; 

 yet much of this heart and backbreaking labor was 

 witnessed in days of war and wheat shortage, with 

 tractors yet on the horizon. Alfalfa roots seem to 

 penetrate to the centre of the earth, and there is a 

 stand down in Mexico which is reported to be three 

 hundred years old. The crop varies in merit ac- 

 cording to location. Alfalfa from this Valley ranks 

 higher than that of Colorado, for the reason that 

 the latter is often "bastard" alfalfa; the Valley 

 horses will not touch it, although we obtain our best 

 seed from Colorado. 



Occasionally the resident is amused by some new- 

 comer, professor or otherwise, who condescendingly 

 informs him that alfalfa enriches the soil. He is a 

 poor farmer who is ignorant of a fact so lacking in 

 novelty. 



The burning subject of when to begin irrigating 

 this crop is already in our midst. The advantages 

 of early irrigation are counterbalanced by the pos- 

 sible setback of a late frost ; and night frosts, which 



