142 ALFALFA 



broader valleys of Wyoming County," says O. F. 

 Royce, in American Agriculturist. ' ' It should be sown 

 in the spring on wheat, the same as red clover, and 

 should be brushed in with a weeder and rolled. After 

 wheat harvest the alfalfa will stool out, and should be 

 cut with a mowing-machine about September 20th. It 

 may be cured for hay or fed green as a soiling crop. 

 It should be cut when in bloom, which in this latitude 

 is about June 20th, August ist, and September 20th to 

 25th. With a good stand it will yield three tons per 

 acre at the first cutting, two at the second, and one and 

 one-half at the third. After the third cutting, if the 

 weather be mild, there should be some after-feed, for 

 the cows or sheep, letting them on only in the middle 

 of the day when it is dry, and not allowing them to 

 remain too long at first. 



"When cutting alfalfa begin at three o'clock in the 

 afternoon, and rake and cock the next day before the 

 dew dries ofi". Turn once, or twice without opening, 

 then open to the air and draw. An alfalfa meadow 

 should last five to ten years, and may be made perma- 

 nent by proper treatment. Alfalfa is an excellent 

 soiling crop, and, fed with silage, is a good milk pro- 

 ducer." 



Charles Mills, Onondaga County, N.. Y. , writes to 

 the editors of Country Gentleman : 



' ' The increase of alfalfa has been steadily from the 

 single acre to thousands in the county. It is just be- 

 coming the leading forage or hay crop. 



' ' It has been provea it will stand a drouth where 

 everything else fails to give satisfactory crops. Tim- 

 othy sown with it will yield more timothy hay than 

 when sown alone, and it does not interfere with a 



