386 FIELD CROPS 



off and be lost. The seed is usually hulled without stacking, 

 for it should be handled as little as possible. A fair crop of 

 seed is 3 or 4 bushels to the acre, and as the price is usually 

 high, the seed crop is often a paying one. 



486. Insect and Rodent Pests. The grasshopper is the 

 most serious insect enemy of alfalfa in most sections. Disk- 

 ing the field in the very early spring is sometimes beneficial, 

 since it exposes the young grasshoppers to the spring frosts 

 and the attacks of birds. The use of the "hopperdozer," 

 an implement which when drawn across the fields knocks the 

 insects into a pan of oil, is sometimes necessary when the 

 pests become serious. Blister beetles sometimes cause 

 injury; cutting the crop when they appear forces them to 

 migrate. Such rodents as prairie dogs and meadow mice 

 are destructive to stands of alfalfa in the West. These can 

 best be dealt with by poisoning with grain or potatoes soaked 

 in strychnine, or by pouring carbon bisulfid into the burrows. 



486. Diseases. Various rusts, leaf-spots, and mildews 

 sometimes attack alfalfa, particularly when it is growing 

 under unfavorable circumstances. About the only remedy 

 is to mow the field, removing the diseased stems and leaves 

 and encouraging the development of strong new growth. 

 In Texas, a disease known as root-rot is destructive to this 

 and other tap-rooted plants. This can best be kept in check 

 by growing grain or corn on the land for several years, as 

 these plants are not affected. 



487. Weeds. Numerous weeds make the growing of 

 alfalfa rather difficult; wild barley, crabgrass, and foxtail 

 are particularly troublesome. In the blue grass region, 

 Kentucky blue grass is one of the worst pests with which the 

 alfalfa grower has to contend. All these plants can be kept 

 down to some extent by disking, but when they once gain a 

 foothold, it is often better to break up the alfalfa sod and 



