42 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
the land is dry and cloddy we use a roller to com- 
pact it and to leave the surface smooth so that the 
mower may run over it readily. We do not inocu- 
late, since all the farm is now filled with alfalfa bac- 
teria. The alfalfa comes up with the barley and all 
grow together till the ‘barley has come into head; 
before grain has formed in the heads it is mown off 
and all made into hay. Barley hay is exceedingly 
good hay, though not so good as alfalfa hay, of 
course. After this cutting the alfalfa comes on rap- 
idly and in about 45 days, or a little less, it also is 
eut and a crop of hay taken off. 
We judge of.the time to cut this young alfalfa al- 
together by the condition of the growth, not by the 
bloom. When small shoots appear at the base of the 
stems, down by the ground, as though it was ready 
to make a new growth, then it is to be cut, and not 
before that time. If cut before these shoots or buds 
appear, the alfalfa is very greatly weakened and 
sometimes is destroyed. After this cutting the alfal- 
fa is left religiously alone; it is never pastured nor 
mown nor tramped in any way during the fall or win- 
ter. The fall growth of about a foot or a little more 
is worth a very great deal to the plant, in some way 
or another; it helps hold the snow and makes it win- 
ter better. The next year the alfalfa shoots out as 
soon as the frost is ont of the earth. 
Alfalfa fields are sacred ground on Woodland 
Farm, and never unless by accident is an animal per- 
mitted to tread upon them. It is especially im- 
portant that no stock go upon them in the spring 
