642 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



cates that a profitable seed crop will not be secured. Some- 

 times the bloom will increase and become well fertilized later 

 in the season, but these early indications are almost sure 

 evidence of what may be expected. 



CLIPPING YOUNG PLANTS. 



The young alfalfa plants sown in rows for seed should be 

 clipped in late summer or early fall of the first season. This 



Wonderful Alfalfa Grown in Northern Wyoming. Tallest 

 Specimens Were 9 ft. and 2 in. Hig),. 



clipping should be done not more than half way down the 

 plant. Cutting close to the ground may injure or destroy 

 the young plants. Proper clipping greatly strengthens the 

 plant, causing it to produce larger roots and more thrifty 

 crowns. CRO p FOR SEED. 



The first crop should ordinarily be left for seed, in our 

 Northern mountain regions. In any district north of Colorado 

 the second crop is not so certain, although it is true that the 

 second crop will often seed better than the first. This is prob- 

 ably due to more numerous insects for the fertilization of 

 the flowers later in the season. Where the season is long, so 

 four crops -or more of alfalfa are cut, the first crop may be 

 clipped or cut for hay, and the second crop used for seed. 



TIME TO HARVEST SEED. 



Alfalfa for seed should be cut before it gets too ripe. If 

 allowed to stand too long or there is a shower of rain after 

 the pods are fully ripe, they will shatter and there will be 

 much loss. It is best to cut the seed crop when the alfalfa 

 stems are still more or less green, or when a majority of the 

 seed pods have turned brown. The earlier ripened seed is 

 probably best, and that which is green or immature can be 

 blown out with the fan. 



STACKING FOR SEED. 



The alfalfa bundles or gavels from the self-rake should 

 be piled together for protection from rain and to prevent 

 shattering, by handling as large bundles as convenient. When 

 thoroughly dry, these bundles should be put in the stack. 

 Alfalfa for seed should be stacked several weeks, or long 

 enough to get through the sweat before threshing. Never 

 put alfalfa in the stack when there is moisture on the out- 

 side of the leaves or stems. Much alfalfa seed is destroyed 

 by heating in the stack. If the stacks are large, some form 

 of stack ventilator should be used. There should be a stack 

 bottom of poles or other material to keep the alfalfa off the 

 ground, and open barrels or other frames may be put inside 

 the stack to serve as ventilators. This applies to alfalfa for 

 hay as well as for seed. 



VARIETIES OF ALFALFA. 



The author is now growing a total of forty-two varieties 

 and strains of alfalfa. Many of these are more properly 



varietal strains from different parts of the world. While there 

 are few varieties of alfalfa on the market, the seed buyer has 

 some choice, and it is important that he make his own de- 

 cision rather than let the seedsman choose for him. The 

 varieties offered by seedsmen are : common alfalfa, which 

 covers a multitude of forms ; Turkestan alfalfa, the seed of 

 which has a brown or reddish tinge ; German alfalfa, often 

 identical with the seedsman's Turkestan, and Grimm's alfalfa, 

 which is said to be an American strain of sand lucern. Plants 

 of Turkestan alfalfa are so much like our common form that 

 they are indistinguishable. The value pf this strain is not 

 that it is a different type, but that the seed has been grown 

 under conditions of drouth, which give it strength and vigor 

 when changed to our soil conditions. German alfalfa seed has 

 done well in some localities, but has nothing specially to recom- 

 mend it. Of common alfalfa seed the discriminating planter 

 will choose well when buying. That which is grown in the 

 north will give better results than that which is grown in 

 southern sections of the country. In some regions, alfalfa 

 seed usually becomes contaminated with sweet clover. Any 

 one with acute sense of smell can detect sweet clover seed in 

 alfalfa. There is no way of separating it, and while sweet 

 clover is not a bad weed in alfalfa fields (except in those for 

 seed production), the buyer does not like to be fooled with 

 any such adulterant. It is important that varieties of alfalfa 

 which are resistant to leaf-spot diseases and adapted to our 

 conditions of soils and climate should be produced. 



GOOD SEED. 



Good alfalfa seed varies in color, but is usually a bright 

 golden yellow, or it may have a slight greenish tinge. It 

 should be practically free from black, shriveled, immature 

 seeds ; it should be entirely free from dodder and other dan- 

 gerous weeds. It should be viable alive, and germinate 

 promptly when planted. Alfalfa and other leguminous seeds 

 often become so hard that they will remain in the soil a year 

 or more before they germinate. Good seed is that which will 

 make the strongest growth, and such seed is usually produced 

 in the shortest season. 



SOILS FOR ALFALFA. 



Alfalfa will grow and thrive on almost any character of 

 soil found in the west. The kind of subsoil is more important 



A Good Way to Make Large Stacks. 



than that of the surface. If the subsoil consists of hardpan 

 or is filled with moisture which comes near the surface, it is 

 not so suitable for alfalfa. Some of the strongest soils which 

 produce the heaviest crops are \he clays and greasewood 

 lands, but it usually takes longer to get alfalfa established in 

 such soils. With proper soil management, alfalfa will grow- 

 almost anywhere. If the soil is shallow, it requires more irri- 

 gation. If it is heavy clay, also more irrigation will be re- 

 quired. If the sub-surface water changes its position through 

 the year, being several feet lower in the growing season than 

 it is in the winter or spring, its rise will usually drown alfalfa. 

 Alfalfa is not very resistant to strong alkali soils. At high 

 altitudes where the season is short, more care will be needed 

 in its culture, and under dry farming special attention to the 

 conservation of moisture is necessary. 



(Continued in December Number") 



