ALFALFA IN CENTRAL NEW YORK. 
A Wonder-working Crop. 
The desire to see Alfalfa in one of those sections 
of New York which are naturally adapted to its 
growth led the writer recently to take a short trip 
through the central part of the State. My home 
county of Tioga and those adjoining it lie south of 
the great Alfalfa belt, and in these counties only 
occasional small patches of Alfalfa are seen; and 
even these, for the most part, present the rather 
timid appearance of experimental plots instead of 
the bold front of those more northern fields where 
that plant has been at home for 20 years and more, 
t'pon entering Onondaga County large fields of 
The second cutting of the season was in progress 
and in one 60-acre Alfalfa meadow on the Monroe 
farm the crop could be seen in all its stages from 
the young plants just starting to make their third 
growth to the cured bay in the cock ready to be 
drawn in. In this meadow on a farm that has been 
in the possession of the same family for five genera¬ 
tions, having been cleared by the present owner’s 
great-great-grandfather, the possibilities of the plant 
are well shown. The meadow is on a gently sloping 
hillside, formerly cut up into comparatively small 
fields, but now one wide expanse of Alfalfa yielding 
from three to four tons of hay per acre each year. 
At the bottom of the hill the second cutting had 
been removed and the third growth was well started. 
to the crop, one man saying that he would be hanged 
if he would spend his entire time haying. When it 
is considered that the hay sells at from $16 to $22 
per ton, and that it is almost equal in feeding value 
to an equal weight of grain it is hard to take this 
objection seriously. 
There is no doubt, however, that large crops of 
Alfalfa require a great deal of labor in their hand¬ 
ling, particularly in years of catchy weather during 
the cutting season. The first growth being larger 
of stalk and more juicy is the most difficult, to 
handle, especially in wet weather. Where silos are 
used this cutting is sometimes put into them. The 
present season has been an ideal one from the stand¬ 
point of hay making, but the dry weather has short- 
i'l'ight green began to show in striking contrast with 
’* ie y^low of ripening oats and the brown meadows 
" told of the prolonged drought from which 
die greater part of New York State is suffering. As 
lH> train approached Syracuse these fields increased 
ui size and number, and realizing that we were in 
'he midst of an Alfalfa section the first stop was 
made about 10 miles west of that city. It took but 
a minutes to walk from the station up the 
low hills alj ove the valley, where one finds himself 
’"rounded by Alfalfa, not in plots, but in fields, 
't is a broken hill country with narrow valleys be- 
wven the low ridges, and characteristic drumlins 
which form part of that great limestone ridge ex- 
'ending east and west across the State. This ridge 
•nits in height and width in different counties, but 
"h< lexer louiul furnishes the limestone basis of a 
u!l in which Alfalfa is at home. As far as the 
me can reach patches of bright green dot the hill- 
slaes an <l crown the knolls. 
while at the top not yet cut. the second growth stood 
hip high, a solid mass of green in purple blossom, 
and so thick upon the ground that weeds or other 
foreign plants had no chance to intrude. The center 
of the field was covered with cocks that had been 
cured under liay-caps and were ready to be drawn 
in. The exigencies of work upon a 500-acre farm, 
as upon many smaller ones, often prevent work be¬ 
ing done at exactly the right time, and it is fortu¬ 
nate that Alfalfa is not seriously injured by being 
left uncut or in the cock longer than it need be. 
This is particularly true upon farms where from 
50 to 100 acres of Alfalfa are raised, and where the 
Summer is one continuous haying season. One 
Onondaga County farmer having 90 acres in Alfalfa 
told me that from the last of May to well into 
September haying upon his farm was a continuous 
process; as soon as one cutting was in the barn it 
was time to begin the next. This fact was seriously 
given bv several farmers, as their greatest objection 
ened the crop, as estimated by one farmer, to the 
extent of 25 per cent. Not many hay caps were 
seen: on one farm a few were being tried for the 
first time, and on another, the owner stated that 
while he had a thousand he seldom used them. On 
this farm the Alfalfa was cut one day, raked into 
swaths the next and perhaps cocked if time per¬ 
mitted. then put into the mows on the next. Im¬ 
mense mows of beautifully cured green Alfalfa 
showed that that method of handling was a success 
this season, at least. Aside from being more easily 
cured, the second and third cuttings have a higher 
market value from the fact that the hay is finer 
and less woody of fibre. On this account, these cut¬ 
tings are often sold and the first fed up on the farm. 
Most of the hay from this section seems to be 
shipped to New Y-ork and to the New England 
States. Methods of seeding vary; some seed in the 
Spring, with or without a nurse crop, and some 
seed, as with Red clover, upon Winter wheat. This 
