26o THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



depending on promptness in watering and cutting. Any 

 later cutting is better than the first for seed, and, 

 before cutting, two-thirds of the seed pods should be 

 black. We mow, then rake and cock at once, stacking as 

 soon as well cured. Hay should be cut when it is coming 

 into bloom. To make good hay, let it lie for half a day 

 (if dry weather), then rake and cock, and let cure thor- 

 oughly. We stack in long ricks, and it keeps well. The 

 alfalfa land is valued at $50 an acre, and the four irriga- 

 tions cost 25 cents each ; the estimated cost of the alfalfa 

 in the stack is $2.15 a ton. An average yield of seed is 

 three bushels to the acre, and the cost of threshing and 

 cleaning it is 80 cents a bushel. Hay has sold for $5 a 

 ton, and seed for 6, 8 and 10 cents a pound. The threshed 

 hay is not so good as that cut earlier, but cattle eat it all 

 clean. The pasture is excellent for horses, hogs, and 

 cattle. If the alfalfa is wet, it is liable to cause bloating 

 with sheep; for cattle, there is not much danger, except 

 for the first few days they are turned on. H the animal 

 is seen in time, it may be relieved by driving around, but 

 if too bad to be helped in that way, it needs the trocar. I 

 have had 50 hogs on six acres of pasture this summer, 

 and have 50 pigs, 3 to 12 weeks old; used two bushels 

 of ground wheat and barley each day, and think I could 

 have had as many more hogs on the pasture. The sod is 

 very hard to plow, but it can be killed. On a piece of hog 

 pasture plowed under, I raised 70 bushels of barley to the 

 acre. My alfalfa seems to do the best on black, sandy 

 land and on gumbo, with sand or open subsoil below. 



/. R. Blackshcrc, Chase county. — I began with alfalfa 

 in 1875, by sowing i>^ bushels of seed bought in San 



