ALFALFA 183 



concave, and with extra screens, are now doing 

 the work with much despatch, and with a fair meas- 

 ure of satisfaction. But the opinion is held by com- 

 petent judges that a machine that would more com- 

 pletely combine the qualities of the thresher and the 

 huller would be still more satisfactory. It is easily 

 possible to have the crop too dry to thresh in the 

 best condition, and care should be taken to regulate 

 the feed in threshing so that the alfalfa will not enter 

 the cylinder in bunches. More than 200 bushels of 

 seed have been threshed in a day from crops which 

 yielded abundantly. The seed should be carefully 

 winnowed before putting it on the market. The 

 seed crops, as would naturally be expected, vary 

 much; crops are harvested which run all the way 

 from i to 20 bushels per acre. From irrigated 

 lands the yields are, of course, much more uni- 

 form than from unirrigated lands, since in the 

 former the supply of moisture may be controlled. 

 Fair to good average yields on these may be stated 

 at from 4 to 6 bushels, good yields at from 6 to 

 8 bushels per acre, and specially good yields at from 

 10 to 12 bushels. The bushel weighs 60 pounds. Grow- 

 ing alfalfa seed under irrigation has frequently 

 proved very profitable. The seed grown in such 

 areas is larger and more attractive to the eye than 

 that ordinarily grown in the absence of irrigation, 

 and because of this many are lured into sowing it 

 on unirrigated land when the former would better 

 serve their purpose. The seed is frequently adul- 

 terated with that of yellow clover (Medicago lupu- 

 lina), which resembles it closely, but this is more 



