42 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



the land is dry and cloddy we use a roller to com- 

 pact it and to leave the surface smooth so that the 

 mower may run over it readily. We do not inocu- 

 late, since all the farm is now filled with alfalfa bac- 

 teria. The alfalfa comes up with the barley and all 

 grow together till the 'barley has come into head; 

 before grain has formed in the heads it is mown off 

 and all made into hay. Barley hay is exceedingly 

 good hay, though not so good as alfalfa hay, of 

 course. After this cutting the alfalfa comes on rap- 

 idly and in about 45 days, or a little less, it also is 

 cut and a crop of hay taken off. 



We judge of the time to cut this young alfalfa al- 

 together by the condition of the growth, not by the 

 bloom. When small shoots appear at the base of the 

 stems, down by the ground, as though it was ready 

 to make a new growth, then it is to be cut, and not 

 before that time. If cut before these shoots or buds 

 appear, the alfalfa is very greatly weakened and 

 sometimes is destroyed. After this cutting the alfal- 

 fa is left religiously alone; it is never pastured nor 

 mown nor tramped in any way during the fall or win- 

 ter. The fall growth of about a foot or a little more 

 is worth a very great deal to the plant, in some way 

 or another ; it helps hold the snow and makes it win- 

 ter better. The next year the alfalfa shoots out as 

 soon as the frost is out of the earth. 



Alfalfa fields are sacred ground on Woodland 

 Farm, and never unless by accident is an animal per- 

 mitted to tread upon them. It is especially im- 

 portant that no stock go upon them in the spring 



