ALFALFA 
33 
esteemed highly as horse feed, altho for 
cows a brown hay is quite as good. Stacks 
of this green hay keep their color indefi¬ 
nitely. To the Easterner it is surprising to 
cut into a stack and find the interior as 
green as the field itself. 
Curing in windrows is better than in the 
swath. The hay is raked the same day it 
is cut, and as soon as cured is cocked and 
stacked, or baled directly from the cocks. 
The tedder is of little value since it shatters 
the leaves too much. Most of the protein is 
contained in the leaves, which are somewhat 
richer than bran. Where showers are fre¬ 
quent, the alfalfa should be raked into 
windrows soon after being cut, in order to 
avoid damage by rains. Special alfalfa 
rakes are on the market. Of the ordinary 
machinery the side-delivery rake is very 
useful. If the hay is put into the barn too 
green, it may ignite. 
ALFALFA AS PASTURE A^ T D SOILING; SEED 
PRODUCTION. 
Alfalfa pastures, while not uncommon, 
must be grazed sparingly if a good stand 
of the plants is to be maintained. Fields 
should never be used for this purpose the 
first season or two. Horses and sheep graze 
more closely than cattle do, and are there¬ 
fore more destructive to the stand. Hogs 
on alfalfa pasturage should be ringed. In 
the autumn stock should be taken off in 
order to give the plants a start for winter. 
The tendency of cattle and sheep to bloat 
when turned on an alfalfa field can be 
overcome, it has been suggested, by feed¬ 
ing before turning them in, and then keep¬ 
ing them on the pasture all the time, altho 
there are few places east of the Rocky 
Mountains where either sheep or cattle can 
be pastured on alfalfa with safety, except 
when the plants are in a dormant state. 
In the West are great alfalfa ranches for 
horses, cattle, and even ostriches. 
Alfalfa land will support three times as 
many animals by soiling as by pasturing. 
Let the crop mature and then carry it to 
them. A better way even is to combine 
both pasturing and soiling—feed the ani¬ 
mals with alfalfa, then give them access to 
the pasture. Alfalfa makes silage if prop¬ 
erly handled, but the silage is inferior to 
corn, kafir, feterita,, milo, or sorghum. 
In the arid regions of the country where 
9 
seed can be grown, there are great opportu¬ 
nities for profit. Seed now brings $10 to 
$12 a bushel, but the culture would be 
worth while with seed at half that price. 
The crop which matures in the driest sea¬ 
son is always the one saved. A thin stand is 
necessary; for best results the plants are 
set in long rows about 20 inches apart and 
cultivated just as corn. East of the Mis¬ 
sissippi very little seed has been produced. 
POLLINATION. 
The form of the flower is papilionaceous, 
or butterfly-shaped, bearing a general re¬ 
semblance to the flower of the garden pea. 
The manner of pollination is of great inter¬ 
est both to beekeepers and seed-growers. 
The flowers are known as explosive flowers. 
The anthers and stigma are held in the keel 
under elastic tension, which resides in the 
staminal column formed by the union of 
the filaments of 9 of the 10 stamens. When 
a bee presses down the wings and keel, says 
Burkill, it pulls two triggers and fires off 
the flower, that is, the two processes which 
restrain the staminal column in the carina 
separate, and permit the stamens and pistil 
to fly forcibly upward, bringing the pollen 
in contact with the under side of the bee’s 
body. A slight clicking sound may some¬ 
times be heard when the stigma strikes 
against the standard, and a little cloud of 
pollen is visible. The stigma stands a little 
in advance of the anthers, and strikes the 
pollen-brush of the bee first; if the latter is 
covered with pollen from another flower, 
previously visited, cross-pollination is ef¬ 
fected. Both of these organs then move 
upward against the erect petal called the 
standard, where they are out of the way, 
and do not again come in contact with in¬ 
sects. A single normal visit is sufficient to 
effect pollination, and all subsequent visits 
are useless. After the flowers have been 
exploded, or “tripped,” they still continue, 
however, to secrete nectar and receive in¬ 
sect visits. This is clearly an imperfection, 
since the attraction of visitors is no longer 
an advantage. 
In different seasons and different local¬ 
ities there is a wide difference in the quan¬ 
tity of seed produced by alfalfa. In the 
Milk River Valley of Montana a yield of 
from 10 to 12 bushels per acre has been 
obtained in favorable years, while in others 
