IN THE DIFFERENT STATES 135 



full of moisture, cold, frosty mornings in October or in 

 April will bark-burst the roots of the alfalfa, as it will 

 apple trees. 



"Animal enemies are prairie-dogs, pocket-gophers, 

 and ground-squirrels. These are not likely to injure 

 the alfalfa field except to feed down the tender shoots 

 on irrigated fields, as they are drowned out by water. 

 This is especially true of prairie-dogs and squirrels. 

 Ground-squirrels in fields not irrigated or on knolls 

 above irrigation prey upon the roots, and the mounds 

 thrown up by them dull the sickle-blades and wreck 

 mowers. For all of these pests sulphide of carbon is 

 a sovereign cure. We follow the rodents to their holes, 

 put one-half teaspoonful of the chemical into a dried 

 horse-ball (dung), roll into the hole, and at once close 

 the hole with a shovel of earth. They are quickly 

 suffocated by the fumes arising from the carbon. 



' ' An army cutworm ( Cheriza quotis aquestis) has 

 been a cause of loss to alfalfa fields in western Mon- 

 tana. Remedies: Where ditches can be filled with 

 irrigating water, plow them deep with sharp banks and 

 fin with water. I<arge numbers can thus be drowned. 

 In the absence of water cut fresh clover or alfalfa, dip 

 in water containing one pound of Paris green to fifty 

 gallons of water and strew across their path on the 

 plowed field. 



' ' Dodder is an enemy to alfalfa. When found near 

 the infested area, let the hay cure well, and burn on the 

 ground where it grew. 



"Alfalfa is a valuable food, depending upon the 

 harvest period and method of curing. If cut just as it 

 begins to bloom, and if it is so handled that the leaves 

 are preserved on the stem, there can be no better forage 



