320 DRY LAND FARMING 



the seed crop is cultivated, the danger is present that 

 there may be an excessive thickening of the crop from 

 volunteer seed. The .ertilization of alfalfa is partly ac- 

 complished by bees and other insects, and partly through 

 self-fertilization, a property that inheres in the plants. 



More commonly the seed is harvested by using the 

 self-rake machine. The aim should be to thresh the seed 

 from the sheaves, a method which is seldom hindered 



LAND ALFALFA, TWO YEARS OLD, HARNEY CO., OREGON. 

 Courtesy Northern Pacific Railway Co. 



by rainfall, in areas where much alfalfa seed is produced. 

 When thus threshed, it should be stacked, and much care 

 should be exercised to have the crop sufficiently dry be- 

 fore stacking, otherwise the seed may be injured by 

 heating. 



The seed is threshed in best form by the clover 

 huller, but it may also be threshed with the grain sepa- 



