8 
ALFALFA—ITS GROWTH, DIGESTIBILITY, ETC. 
The dodder will obtain a foothold upon any plant 
whose stem is not too large for it to encircle, but it is par¬ 
ticularly injurious to clover, alfalfa and hops. They are na¬ 
tives of the temperate regions of both hemispheres, and the 
seeds possess acrid and purgative properties. 
In this region, where seeds rarely perish from untoward 
conditions, the dodders may become an enemy to the 
growth of the plants mentioned. 
As it is an annual, however, it can be destroyed before 
it has seeded, which may be done by cutting the infected 
portion of the crop close to the ground and then burning it. 
But this would have to be done thoroughly, as, in the 
case of alfalfa, the dodder flowers quite close to the ground, 
where it cannot easily be seen, and a few seeds remaining 
continues the plant another year. 
It is, however, much easier to prevent its introduction 
than to get rid of it; for, when such a plant has obtained 
a foothold, it has been shown to be extremely difficult to 
exterminate, or to keep in check. 
Alfalfa seeds are about two lines long and about one 
and one-fourth broad, while dodder seeds are little more 
than half the size. 
If clover and alfalfa seeds are well sifted through a 
seive of proper size, the dodder will be readily separated. 
If crops are to be free from the dodder pests, the farmer 
must see to it that the seed for the crop is clean. 
Our native flora is said to embrace six species and one 
variety. The species parasitic on alfalfa in this vicinity 
are Cuscuta epilinus , the flax dodder (introduced), and Cus- 
cuta Gronovii , a species abundant in wet, shady places from 
the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic States, and also par¬ 
asitic on Ambrosia trifida and other composite. 
