CROPS AND SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



Subsequent Treatment. If the alfalfa plants 

 find the bacteria at hand, they will begin to profit 

 from them within the first month of their lives. 

 A large percentage of the plants may fail to 

 obtain this aid in land which has not previously 

 grown alfalfa, and within a few months they indicate 

 the failure by their light color, while the plants 

 liberally supplied with nitrogen through bacteria 

 become dark green. Where there are no bacteria, 

 the plants turn yellow and die. 



There are diseases that attack alfalfa, causing 

 the leaves to turn yellow, and when they appear, 

 the only known treatment of value is to clip 

 the plants with a mower without delay. The next 

 growth may not show any mark of the diseases. 



When alfalfa is seeded in the spring on rich 

 land, a hay crop may be taken off the same season. 

 If the plants do not make a strong growth, they 

 should be clipped, and the tops should be left as a 

 mulch. The clipping and all future harvestings 

 are made when the stalks start buds from their 

 sides near the ground. This ordinarily occurs 

 about the time some flowers show, and is the 

 warning that the old top should be cut off, no 

 matter how small and unprofitable for harvesting 

 it may be. The exception to this rule is found 



[68] 



