Il8 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



and hogs eating it with eagerness. Even Red Clover is inferior to 

 it in nutritive value, the protein content being greater in Alfalfa. It 

 can be fed to greatest advantage to dairy cattle but is also important 

 for fattening all kinds of farm animals, especially sheep and hogs. 



Fodder: Farmers sometimes say that Alfalfa does not make 

 good hay, but such statements are usually the result of cutting at 

 the wrong time. Its value for hay depends upon its nutritive value 

 and its power of producing a number of crops in the season. As with 

 most forage plants, the quality rapidly deteriorates after the plants 

 have begun to blossom. The stems then lose their succulence, be- 

 come hard and woody, and the leaves are apt to fall off. When the 

 plants begin to form their blossoms, new secondary stems are devel- 

 oped from buds at the crown. As it is upon this secondary growth 

 that the second cutting depends, the first cutting must be done before 

 the secondary stems have grown tall enough to be cut off by the 

 mower. For this reason it is advisable to cut a little earlier than 

 the nutritive value and yield of the hay demand. If it is cut at the 

 beginning of the flowering period, the yield of the first crop will be 

 a little lessened, but the second growth will develop more quickly 

 and the return will be greater. Early cutting gives a greater total 

 crop of better hay than late cutting. Where the season is long and 

 the weather favourable, five or six cuttings a year can be secured. 

 In northern countries such as Canada, two or three cuttings a year 

 may be expected. In irrigated districts or in places where hay- 

 making time is dry, it is not difficult to cure Alfalfa into bright green 

 hay of excellent quality. Where rains or heavy dews are frequent 

 after cutting, the hay is apt to turn yellow or brown. Its nutritive 

 value is considerably lessened and its palatabiHty lost. Curing is 

 generally done in the same way as for Red Clover. Alfalfa should, 

 however, be handled more carefully, as the leaves easily fall off and 

 their shattering causes a considerable loss of fodder. 



Pasture: When Alfalfa is grown for pasture, which is only done 

 to a limited extent in Canada, it is important to get the plants well 

 established before turning the stock into the field. It is never ad- 

 visable to pasture Alfalfa before the third year. Even in old fields 

 care must be taken to prevent the plants being killed in spots. Al- 

 falfa has a single taproot, the crown of which generally stands a little 

 above ground. Being thus exposed, it might easily be injured by 

 tramping, especially when the ground is soft from heavy rains. As 

 the new stems come from the crown. Alfalfa is liable to be seriously 

 damaged by close pasturing with sheep. It is not advisable to pasture 



