94 FORAGE CROPS. 



United States or Canada will furnish so much valu- 

 able food for so long a term of years without re-seed- 

 ing. There are some alfalfa fields on this continent 

 that have produced several good crops a year for 

 more than forty years, and, judging by the indica- 

 tions, they will continue to do so for many years 

 longer. But those fields have been irrigated from 

 year to year. However, there are instances on 

 record wherein alfalfa has produced good crops for 

 ^ long term of years when not irrigated. It is not 

 so valuable relatively in providing pasture as forage, 

 although with judicious management it can also be 

 turned to good account in furnishing pasture, at 

 least under some conditions. 



Alfalfa is of course a perennial. It grows up 

 rapidly in the early spring, and when the plants 

 attain a hight of one to two feet or more, they pro- 

 duce bluish purple flowers. As soon as the plants 

 reach the blossoming stage the stems rapidly become 

 woody, hence it is necessary to use much promptness 

 in cutting the crop for hay, or in pasturing it off in 

 the early part of the season. When cut or eaten 

 down, other stems come out from the basil root and 

 more numerously, until the plants reach full size, 

 which they do in three or four years. These stems 

 grow very rapidly, hence the number of crops that 

 may be reaped in one season is sometimes as high as 

 six to eight. It sends a taproot down to a con- 

 siderable depth into the soil. Under very favorable 

 conditions this taproot is ten to twelve feet long, 

 but usually it does not go down much beyond half 

 that distance. This accounts for the great ability 

 of the plant to withstand dry weather when once it 

 has jfiirmly intrenched itself in the soil. 



