IRRIGATION FARMING 241 



application of water and the young plants grow vigor- 

 ously if the surface of the soil is kept moist. The re- 

 sulting hay is a mixture of native grass (principally 

 Blue Joint) and timothy which makes an excellent for- 

 age, more nutritious and more palatable to stock than 

 timothy alone. 



193. Alfalfa under Irrigation. — Among all crops that 

 are now raised under irrigation in the West none is so 

 well adapted to this type of farming as alfalfa. The 

 preparation of the land for this crop should be the same 

 as when it is raised under dry land conditions except 

 that a greater amount of seed should be used. From 

 fifteen to eighteen pounds of seed is generally recom- 

 mended. The thicker the stand obtained the greater the 

 yield and the finer and better the quality of the hay will 

 be. In all cases seed grown in Western Canada is to be 

 preferred. In localities where winter killing is common 

 only extremely hardy strains such as Grimm or Baltic 

 should be used. 



The irrigation of alfalfa is somewhat different from 

 that of the grasses in that the field should be irrigated 

 and thoroughly soaked as rapidly as possible and then 

 the surface allowed to dry so that the soil can warm up. 

 In the Lethbridge district, where the largest acreage of 

 alfalfa in the West is now grown, it is not always neces- 

 sary to irrigate for the first cutting but it is usually 

 advisable. The common practice is to take two cuttings 

 but three cuttings may be obtained in ordinary seasons 

 by taking the first cutting about the 15th or 20th of 

 June instead of from one to two weeks later. As soon as 

 each crop is removed from the land the field should be 

 immediately irrigated, i.e., there should be an irrigation 

 for each cutting. Fall irrigation for alfalfa has been 



