HABIT OF GROWTH. 91 
Cutting Promotes Thrift.—It is a curious fact 
that alfalfa needs to be cut in order to keep in thrift. 
This is especially true in the region east of the 
Missouri River. Doubtless it is in part an acquired 
habit, speaking strikingly of the length of years that 
our alfalfa has been sown and mown by man. In 
Ohio, for example, one will sometimes put down a 
fence through a young alfalfa field. Afterward he 
cannot mow quite close to the fence and there will 
be corners where the alfalfa remains uncut. It is 
then a continual object lesson of the effect of neglect, 
since the uncut alfalfa becomes unthrifty, a prey to 
leaf fungus and other diseases. As the season goes 
on the cut alfalfa retains its thrift and vigor; the 
neglected gets more and more unthrifty. At last 
weeds and grass overpower it and in a few years 
nearly every plant has disappeared, while the plants 
regularly cut alongside have quite retained their 
pristine vigor. 
Late Mowing Harmful.—In warm countries alfalfa 
is always green and growing, so there is moisture 
enough, yet it has its periods of partial rest and its 
times of greatest vigor. In the*’arid and irrigated 
west it seems to do no injury to the alfalfa to mow 
it down late in the season, or to pasture it close in 
the fall. In the eastern states, on the other hand, 
it is distinctly hurtful to alfalfa to cut it down so 
late that it will not go into winter with a good 
growth covering it to hold the snow and protect the 
erowns. Always there should be a growth of at 
least a foot of alfalfa when killing frost comes. This 
