ALFALFA 165 



tures in which other grasses grow up amid alfalfa. 

 In some of the Western States pure alfalfa meadows 

 are grazed through successive seasons with but little 

 loss, but in such instances the grazing began in the 

 spring and was continuous. Judicious care should 

 be exercised in grazing alfalfa lest the stand of 

 the plants shall be injured. The liability to injury 

 in the plants from injudicious grazing increases with 

 the lack of adaptation in the soil and climate for 

 abundant and prolonged growth in the alfalfa. 



In a large majority of instances, as previously in- 

 timated, it is not wise to graze down alfalfa at all 

 closely the season of sowing, and in some instances 

 it should not then be grazed to any extent, lest the 

 plants be unduly weakened for entering the winter. 

 In cold areas the hazard is much greater from such 

 grazing than in those that are mild, and likewise, it 

 is greater when the growth is only moderately vigor- 

 ous than in areas where alfalfa grows with the vigor 

 of a weed, as in Western mountain valleys. In areas 

 where the winters are cold, and especially where the 

 snowfall is light and the winds have a wide sweep, 

 the animals which graze upon alfalfa should be re- 

 moved in time to allow the plants to grow up to 

 the height of several inches before the advent of 

 winter. The growth thus secured will catch and 

 hold the snow, and the protection thus furnished is 

 greatly helpful to the preservation and vigor of the 

 plants. Experience has shown that in Northern 

 areas pasturing alfalfa in winter, especially when the 

 ground is bare and frozen, brings imminent hazard 

 to the plants. On the other hand, grazing in winter 



