6 9 



cover these with hay caps ; as soon as the dew is off the fol- 

 lowing day, we uncover and move the cocks over on to new 

 ground, cover again at night, and continue to do this until 

 the alfalva is cured and ready to put in the barn. If 

 the cocks are left in one place longer than twenty-four 

 hours, the alfalfa plants underneath are liable to be smoth- 

 ered. It usually takes six days to cure it in this way, 

 which is the only way to cure it, and save the leaves, 

 which are its greatest value. Alfalfa does not turn water 

 as readily as red clover or timothy, hence it should be cov- 

 ered in curing. A soaking rain will decrease its value 

 fifty per cent. 



The length of time which alfalfa will grow without re- 

 seeding is something we cannot yet tell in this climate, 

 but if we only are able to save it three years I consider it 

 a paying crop. In the state of Sonora, Mexico, is a field 

 known to have been kept in alfalfa for sixty years, and is 

 said to be in as good condition to-day as it ever was. In 

 the West growers frequently go over their fields with a 

 sharp-tooth harrow to loosen up the surface of the ground 

 and kill out weeds where they appear, and sow in seed in 

 places where the plants are thin. I have not done this 

 yet, but propose doing so in the spring. 



FEEDING VALUE. 



For dairy cattle there is no forage that equals alfalfa. 

 It is palatable, rich, easily digested. In the west in many 

 cases dairy cows are fed alfalfa to the exclusion of every- 

 thing else in the forage line, and with corn it makes a 

 balanced ration, being rich in protein and lacking in carbo- 

 hydrates ; the corn supplies the carbo-hydrates. 



D. H. Otis, Professor of Dairy Husbandry at the Kan- 

 sas Agricultural College, says: " Alfalfa can be used in 

 place of bran for dairy cows, and is the only roughage 



