IN THE DIFFERENT STATES 12g 



The Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station 

 Bulletin No. 44 says of alfalfa : ' ' We have invari- 

 ably secured better results from fall than spring seed- 

 ing. If possible it should be sown in August or Sep- 

 tember, at the rate of twenty pounds per acre. On 

 account of the long drouths we have had for the past 

 few years it has been very difficult to get the land in 

 the proper condition and the seed sown at the proper 

 time. In the fall of 1896 we could not seed our land 

 until Odlober 31 for the above reason, and as a result 

 of the late planting we got only two cuttings for hay 

 last summer, when we should have had three heavy 

 cuttings and one or two lighter ones, but the pasturage 

 we had from this field compensated in a measure for 

 the small hay yield. This meadow furnished excel- 

 lent grazing for the dairy cows during November and 

 December. Great care should be taken in turning 

 cattle or sheep on an alfalfa pasture, for the reason 

 that this plant when young and tender, or if wet from 

 rains or heavy dews, will bloat them. It does not 

 bloat horses or hogs, and hogs will keep in good con- 

 dition on alfalfa pasture with little other feed. When 

 cattle or sheep are to be put on an alfalfa meadow they 

 should be well fed and watered, and allowed to remain 

 on the meadow only a few hours at first. With this 

 precaution, there will be little danger of bloat. 



W. B. Montgomery writes that alfalfa is a success 

 on their black, deeply drained limestone soil. "The 

 land should be prepared by deep plowing and thorough 

 pulverization. Sow broadcast or in drills, twenty 

 pounds per acre, in the spring. Use a mower to keep 

 the weeds back, and in a favorable season a Ught crop 

 of hay may be expedted the first year. After being 



