120 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



Alfalfa is ready to cut for seed when about half of the pods 

 have turned brown and the seeds can be easily rubbed out. If al- 

 lowed to develop too far, some of the earliest ripened and most 

 valuable seeds will be lost by shattering. 



Harvesting can be done as for Red Clover seed, the handling 

 of the crop being as careful as possible to avoid shattering. For 

 threshing, an ordinary threshing machine may be used, though a 

 clover huller is better. 



Quality of seed: The seeds are kidney-shaped and yellowish 

 brown, about twice as long as broad. In ordinary Alfalfa their 

 surface is shiny; in the Turkestan variety, owing to a coat of waxy 

 substance which can be easily rubbed off, the surface is dull. The 

 standard weight is sixty pounds to a bushel. 



Impurities : Alfalfa plants are very tender when young and are 

 easily crowded out by weeds. Running the mowing machine over 

 the field several times during the first season not only destroys the 

 weeds but also strengthens the young Alfalfa plants. Although in 

 old fields the plants are generally very vigorous, they are sometimes 

 choked out in spots by aggressive weeds. To avoid this, the seed 

 should be as clean as possible. The weed seeds most commonly 

 found in commercial Alfalfa are Green Foxtail, Ribgrass, Ragweed, 

 Lamb's Quarters, Chicory, Yellow Foxtail and Smartweed. Noxious 

 weed seeds less frequently found are Docks, Wild Mustard, Night- 

 flowering Catchfly, Bladder Campion, False Flax and Canada 

 Thistle. 



Diseases: Alfalfa is less troubled with diseases than is Red 

 Clover. It worst enemy is Dodder. Alfalfa Dodder, which is 

 generally Cuscuta Epithymum Murr., is a yellowish parasite without 

 leaves, consisting of a mass of fine threads from which are developed 

 numerous roots called suckers. These suckers penetrate the Alfalfa 

 stems where they absorb the food ready for the use of the host plant. 

 The flowers are white and crowded into rounded clusters. Dodder 

 appears at first in insignificant patches scattered throughout the 

 field. These patches, however, steadily increase and after a few 

 years a field may be so badly infested that the crop is ruined. The 

 best way to avoid this pest is to secure seed absolutely free from it. 

 Should Dodder have established itself in a field, however, the infested 

 plants should be immediately destroyed. Mowing will only remove 

 the Dodder on the upper parts of the Alfalfa; it will not affect that 

 on or near the crown where it lives during the winter. 



