T 52 ALFALFA 



alfalfa sweat in the cock, otherwise it will heat and get 

 musty in the barn or stack. 



Alfalfa as a Soiling and Pasture Crop. No other 

 soiling crop will give such good results throughout the sum- 

 mer as alfalfa. Alfalfa is ready to cut for soiling about 

 June i, and can be cut continuously until September 5 

 in the North and earlier and later in the South. By be- 

 ginning to cut early and arranging so that daily cuttings 

 can be taken through the advanced cutting state, it is 

 possible to have good succulent alfalfa throughout the sum- 

 mer. In good growing weather a crop will mature suffi- 

 ciently for soiling purposes in twenty to thirty days. Alfalfa 

 has not yet come into general use in the East as a pasture 

 crop. The attempts so far made have proved disastrous 

 to the crop. There is no doubt that it makes an excellent 

 pasture, but stock relish the plant so much that they graze 

 it too closely. Only a limited number of animals should 

 be turned in, so that the fields may be pastured and cut 

 for hay also. As a hog pasture, no plant can excel alfalfa. 

 Ten to twelve medium sized hogs can be pastured on an 

 acre. The surplus alfalfa in the hog pasture when mature 

 should be cut and made into hay. Ruminants, such as 

 cattle and sheep, often bloat when allowed to pasture on 

 luxuriant growths of moist alfalfa, but there is no such 

 danger after the alfalfa is in blossom and during dry 

 weather. 



Seed Production. Very little seed has as yet been pro- 

 duced in the humid regions and we are dependent upon the 

 arid and semiarid districts of the United States for our 

 alfalfa seed production. The larger portion of the seed is 

 jjrown under methods of irrigation where six or eight hay 

 crops are produced annually. As a crop of seed is secured 



