ALFALFA 169 



same, would repay the cost of the extra labor, will 

 depend upon conditions that vary with time and 

 place. Alfalfa fields thus managed or cut for hay 

 will also produce for a longer period than when 

 the fields are grazed. 



Continuity in the production of soiling food may 

 not be possible some seasons in the absence of irri- 

 gation ; hence, under such conditions provision 

 should always be made for a supply of such other 

 soiling foods as may be needed, and of a character 

 that will make it practical to turn them into dry 

 fodder when not wanted as soiling food. But where 

 irrigating waters are unfailing, it is quite possible 

 to furnish soiling food from alfalfa soils through 

 practically all the growing season. Dairymen thus 

 located are in a dairyman's paradise. 



Alfalfa, like clover, may be made into silage. In 

 dry climates this would seem to be unnecessary, but 

 in rainy climates it may be wise in some instances 

 to make alfalfa ensilage, the better to insure the 

 curing of the crop. What has been said with refer- 

 ence to clover ensilage will apply almost equally 

 to alfalfa. (See page 103.) It would be more de- 

 sirable, usually, to make the first cutting from alfalfa 

 into ensilage than later cuttings, because of the 

 showery character of the weather at that season, 

 but the strong objection stands in the way of doing 

 so, that no carbonaceous food, as corn, sorghum or 

 soy beans, is ready for going into the silo then as 

 they are later, with a view of aiding in the better 

 preservation of the ensilage and of making a better 

 balanced ration. Good alfalfa silage is more easily 



