are inclined to wash. When set on these it tends to prevent the washing
of the land. In such situations it is better to sow with a nurse crop,
which will help to hold the soil until the alfalfa becomes rooted. Where
land is so loose as to blow and irrigation cannot be practiced, only as
much should be sown each season as can be covered with stable litter and
well-rotted straw drawn out at the proper season.
=Sowing.=--The best season for sowing alfalfa will depend upon such
conditions as relate to soil, moisture and climate. On rather stiff clay
soils, the other conditions being right, the most satisfactory results
are obtained from sowing the seed in the spring, and on land that has
been plowed in the autumn and exposed to the mellowing influences of
winter. But to this there may be some exceptions. On lands so light as
to lift with the wind, that season should be avoided in sowing, if
possible, when lifting winds prevail. Such winds are common in some
localities in the spring, and may uncover the seed in some places and
bury it too deeply in others.
Where moisture is deficient the seed must be sown at those times when it
is most plentiful. This may be in the autumn, but more commonly it is in
the quite early spring. In some of the mountain States the best results
have been obtained under semi-arid conditions from sowing the seed in
the late autumn, so that it would be ready for germination at the first
commencement of the period of growth in the spring. Under some
conditions the too dry character of the weather may preclude the sowing
of alfalfa in the summer and autumn months. Where moisture is plentiful
all the season of growth, alfalfa may be sown almost any time, except
the early spring or late autumn. Where irrigating waters are plentiful,
the only hindrances to sowing alfalfa at any season of the year are such
as may arise from climate. Far South in very mild areas it may be sown
almost any time.
Where the temperatures are low in winter, the best results are obtained
from sowing alfalfa in the spring and early summer, otherwise the plants
do not become sufficiently well established to withstand the rigors of
the winter following. Under some conditions, sufficiently satisfactory
results follow sowing in the early summer, even in Northern latitudes.
Where the winters are sufficiently mild and the moisture is sufficiently
plentiful, early autumn sowing, as in August or September, according to
the locality, is, all things considered, the most satisfactory, for the
reason, first, that it follows, or may follow, a crop grown the same
season; second, that the plants are less hindered in their growth by
weeds when they are young; and third, that they produce crops of soiling
food or hay the first season after sowing. Many weeds do not grow in
autumn and winter; hence, the less injury done by them to alfalfa
plants, since the latter are so strong by spring that they overshadow
the weeds in their effort to grow. When alfalfa is sown at such a time,
the growth of one year virtually is gained by the process.
North of parallel 40 deg., that is, north of the latitude of Columbus, Ohio,
and Denver, Colorado, speaking in a general way, alfalfa is more
commonly sown in the spring, but not usually so early as clover, lest
the young plants, which are more tender than clover plants, should be
nipped by spring frosts. This danger is frequently present in the region
of the upper Missouri. East of the Mississippi it may usually be
advisable to sow in the spring some distance south from the latitude
named. West from the same are areas where early autumn sowing is
frequently the best. In much of the Southern and Southwestern States,
early autumn sowing is considered better practice than spring sowing,
but to this there are exceptions. Under some conditions alternate
freezing and thawing of the land near the surface tend to throw out
young plants, as, for instance, those autumn sown, more readily than
plants from spring-sown seed.
Alfalfa is usually sown much the same as medium red clover (see page
75), but there are the following points of difference: 1. Since alfalfa
is more commonly sown in dry areas, it is more important, relatively,
that the seed shall be buried more uniformly and deeply in the soil in
such areas. 2. Since it is liable to be more injured, relatively, by a
nurse crop than the clovers, it is more frequently sown without one.
And 3. Since it is expected to furnish food for a much longer term of
years than any of the clovers, it is relatively more important that the
seed shall be sown with a view to seek a uniform and sufficient stand of
the plants.
Whether the seed is sown by hand, or by any of the hand machines in use,
the results will usually prove satisfactory, but in climates where
moisture is deficient, decidedly better results are obtained from sowing
the seed with some form of seed drill. A press drill is preferred in
soils so light and open as to dry out easily or to lift easily with the
wind. Under conditions of ample moisture, a light covering with a harrow
will suffice, but under conditions the opposite, more covering is
necessary. In areas where spring and early autumn showers are frequent,
the roller will provide a sufficient covering, especially where the
soils are well charged with a clay content. On other soils, as those
which cover much of the prairie, the seed should be buried from 1 to 2
inches deep.
Where alfalfa is much sown on soils well supplied with humus, and on the
soils which prevail in the Rocky Mountain region, many growers sow the
seed with the grain drill, and before sowing they first mix the seed
with some material, as earth, some kind of coarse meal, bran or other
substance to make it feed out more regularly. In some instances one-half
of the seed is sown the first time the drill is driven over the land,
and the balance is sown by driving again over the same at right angles
to the drill marks previously made. When thus sown, the plants are more
evenly distributed over the soil, and produce, it is thought, a more
uniform quality of stalk. This method meets, in part, at least, the
objection sometimes made to drill sowing, that it does not distribute
the plants sufficiently in the soil.
In the Northern and Atlantic States, also west of the Cascade Mountains,
and in some parts of the South, alfalfa is frequently sown with a nurse
crop, and under favorable conditions the results are usually
satisfactory, if the nurse crop is not sown too thickly. The best nurse
crops in the areas named are barley and winter rye, but oats will answer
also, if sown thinly and cut for hay. It has also been sown quite
successfully along with winter wheat in the spring and also with spring
wheat. When sown with winter wheat or winter rye, it is usually
advantageous to cover the seed well with the harrow. In many instances,
however, even in these areas, it is thought better to sow the seed
without a nurse crop, in order that the plants may have all the benefit
from moisture and sunlight which it is possible to give them. This is
specially desirable when the fear is present that they may succumb the
first winter to the severity of the weather. As weeds grow rapidly along
with the plants, the mower should be run over the field from one to
three times during the season. If the mowing is done at the proper time,
it will not be necessary to remove what has been cut off by the mower.
It may be allowed to lie as a mulch on the land. But should the growth
of weeds be excessive before the mowing is done, it would then be
necessary to remove them, in order to avoid smothering the plants. The
clipping back of the alfalfa plants is helpful, rather than hurtful.
When not thus clipped back the leaves frequently assume a yellowish tint
on the top of the plants, which gradually extends downward until the
greater portion of the leaves may be thus affected. Such condition
frequently betokens a lack of nitrogen, but it may also be induced by
other causes. When it does appear, the mower should at once be used and
also as often as it appears. As soon as mowed off the plants usually
stool out, sending up fresh shoots more numerously. They thus form a
crown, somewhat like the crown in clover plants. Root growth is also
strengthened, and the plants are thus made much stronger for going into
the winter. Each clipping during the season, of course, cuts down weeds
and prevents them from making seed. If not thus clipped, they would
frequently injure the crop more by shade and crowding than would a nurse
crop. The mulch thus made through clipping back the plants is in many
instances quite helpful to them, because of the check which it gives to
the escape of ground moisture. There is some difference in the view held
as to whether close clipping is preferable, but the balance of authority
is in favor of reasonably close clipping.
Alfalfa is usually sown alone, but in some instances it maybe
advantageous to sow more or less of some other kind or kinds of grass or
clover along with it. When grown for hay it is usually preferable to
sow the seed without admixture. But there may be instances in which
medium red or alsike clover may improve the crop the first year or two
that it is mown for hay. But where red clover grows much more vigorously
than alfalfa the first season, it should not be thus sown in any
considerable quantities, or the clover plants will injure the alfalfa
plants by crowding and overshading. Nevertheless, alfalfa may frequently
with profit form a considerable factor in clover grown as pasture.
Where the main purpose of sowing alfalfa is to provide pasture, various
grasses and clovers may be sown along with it, and in varying
quantities, according to the attendant conditions. The choice of the
variety or varieties to sow along with the alfalfa should be based on
the needs of the stock to be pastured, and on the degree of the vigor
with which these grow and maintain themselves in the locality. In the
Northern States and Eastern Canada timothy and Russian brome grass
(_Bromus inermis_) may be chosen. In areas with Southern Illinois as a
center, red top and timothy should be satisfactory. In the Southern
States, the claims of orchard grass and tall oat grass would probably be
paramount. In areas with Iowa as a center, nothing would be more
suitable, probably, than Russian brome grass. In the mountain States,
with Wyoming as a center, timothy and alsike clover would be suitable.
In the dry upland country in Washington and Oregon, Russian brome grass
or tall oat grass would answer the purpose. In many areas the plan of
sowing clover chiefly with the alfalfa is a good one, providing the
alfalfa is cut for a year or two, and is then grazed, as by that time
grasses indigenous to the locality, or which grow well in the same, come
in to such an extent as to form a very considerable proportion of the
pasture. Blue grass frequently behaves thus in the North, and crab grass
in the South.
The amounts of seed to sow will vary with the character of the soil and
climate, with the use that is to be made of the alfalfa, and with the
manner in which it is sown. On soils and in climates quite favorable to
the growth of alfalfa it is common to sow more seed than in those with
less adaptation, and with a view, probably, to check coarseness in the
growth of the stems. If sown thinly in such areas, the rank growth which
follows would be coarse. This explains why in the Western and mountain
States more seed is usually sown than in the Eastern and Northern
States. Averaging the whole country, 20 pounds of seed per acre is more
frequently mentioned as the proper amount to sow than any other
quantity. In the Northern States many growers sow 15 pounds per acre,
and judging by the yield obtained, this amount of seed has proved
satisfactory. Some growers even mention 10 to 12 pounds as satisfactory.
The amounts last named are certainly too small for average conditions.
Fifteen to 20 pounds may be fixed upon as the proper amounts to sow on
soil in good condition for speedy germination. But many growers claim
satisfactory results from sowing larger amounts of seed than those
named. Under semi-arid conditions, where irrigation cannot be given, a
moderate amount of seed will be more satisfactory than very thick
seeding, as when sown too thickly the plants would suffer more from want
of moisture than if sown more thinly. The aim should be to obtain a
stand that will cover the ground evenly and as thickly as will admit of
the vigorous growing of the plants. Because of the relatively long
duration of the period of the growth of alfalfa fields, it is specially
important that good stands shall be obtained at the first, and for the
further reason that the plants will then be better able to contend with
intruding weeds, the great bane of alfalfa meadows.
When alfalfa is grown mainly for seed, it should be more thinly sown
than when it is grown for hay or soiling food. It has been noticed that
when the plants stand thickly beyond a certain degree, they do not seed
well. Twelve to 16 pounds have been mentioned as quite enough to sow for
such production in the mountain States. Where both objects are
important, medium thick sowing would be the most suitable.
When sown in combinations such as have been named above, it will be
necessary to modify somewhat the amounts of alfalfa seed sown, according
to the proportion of the other seeds sown with the alfalfa. But since
many grasses are more aggressive than alfalfa, it is not necessary to
reduce the amount of alfalfa seed sown proportionately to the amounts of
the other seeds that may be sown along with it. In many instances it may
be proper not to reduce the amount of the alfalfa seed at all, as some
of these grasses will soon crowd the alfalfa plants, to their injury,
even though the usual amount of seed should be sown. The amount of the
grasses sown with the alfalfa will, of course, vary. It will seldom be
necessary in any instance to sow more than 6 or 7 pounds per acre, and
under many conditions not more than 5 pounds. When alfalfa is sown with
timothy and clover in temporary meadows or pastures, it is seldom
necessary to sow more than 3 to 5 pounds per acre, and the same is true
of it when sown in a permanent pasture. The crop is so little grown for
hay in mixtures, that it is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the nature
of these, or the respective amounts of seed to sow in making them.
When alfalfa is sown with the grain, there will be a saving of seed to
the extent of at least 20 per cent., as compared with broadcast sowing.
This arises from the more general sprouting of all the seeds, since they
are planted at a more uniform depth, and from the subsequent loss of a
smaller percentage of the plants through drought, and it may be other
causes. But when sowing broadcast, it will in many instances prove more
satisfactory to add 20 per cent. to the amounts mentioned above, as
suitable for being sown without admixture with other grasses and
clovers, rather than to deduct 20 per cent. from these amounts when
sowing the seed with the drill.
=Cultivating.=--Under some conditions, it is, in a sense, necessary to
sow alfalfa in rows, and to give it cultivation during the first season
and sometimes for a longer period. In some parts of Florida, for
instance, the most satisfactory results have been obtained from sowing
in rows with 12 to 24 inches between the rows, and then to cultivate
between these as may be necessary to keep down the growth of weeds.
Under some conditions also in the Atlantic States, the most satisfactory
results have been obtained from sowing alfalfa in rows 14 to 16 inches
apart and cultivating between them. Even hand hoeing the first season
may be justifiable along the line of the rows for small areas, but with
the price of labor as at present, would be too costly for large areas.
When grown in rows as indicated in the Atlantic States and westward from
these, the yields of seed have been more satisfactory than when sown
broadcast, but the crop is less satisfactory for hay, owing to the
coarse and uneven character of the stems. The amounts of seed wanted for
such sowing will, of course, vary chiefly with the distance between the
rows. As small an amount as 6 pounds or even less will in some instances
suffice per acre.
=Pasturing.=--The practice of pasturing alfalfa the first season,
especially where it cannot be irrigated, is usually condemned, lest it
should weaken the plants unduly for entering the winter. It would seem
probable, however, that under some conditions such grazing would be
helpful rather than hurtful. The cropping of the plants by stock, in the
influence which it exerts upon the plants, is akin to that which arises
from cutting them back frequently during the summer. The animals thus
grazed will also crop down weeds. This, at least, is true of sheep. The
author has succeeded in getting a good stand of alfalfa by sowing seed
at the rate of 15 pounds per acre, along with 2 to 4 pounds of Dwarf
Essex rape seed, and grazing the same with sheep. Other growers, during
recent years, have succeeded similarly. The grazing should not begin
until the plants have made a good start, but it should not be deferred
so long that the rape and the weeds will unduly shade the alfalfa
plants. The pasturing should not be too close, nor should it be so long
continued that the alfalfa plants will not be able to provide a good
growth in the early autumn before the advent of winter.
The management of the spring-sown crop the first season requires careful
attention in areas where the hazard exists in any considerable degree
that the plants may take serious harm at that season, or, indeed, fail
altogether. In Western areas, from Canada to Kentucky and Missouri, it
is important that the stubbles of the grain shall be cut high, amid
which alfalfa grows when it is sown with a nurse crop. When not thus
sown, it is of prime importance that the plants shall stand up several
inches above the surface of the ground before the advent of winter. This
is specially important in States west of the Mississippi River. The
objects effected are three-fold. First, the snow is arrested and held
for the protection of the plants, and to furnish them with moisture when
the snow melts. The extent to which the stubbles and the erect young
alfalfa plants will hold snow is simply surprising. On the exposed
prairies, the snow usually drifts so completely from unprotected lands,
that during almost any winter a large proportion of the area will be
quite bare. The melting of the snow thus held is also of much value to
the crop in the moisture which it brings to it, especially in areas
where the rainfall is less than normal. Second, the plants are thus
protected from the sweep of the cold winds which blow so much of the
season in the unprotected prairie, and which are frequently fatal to
various winter crops. Third, they are also protected from the intensity
of the frost, which may in some instances kill young alfalfa plants in
areas northward.
In the Northern States east of Minnesota, the New England States, and
the provinces of Canada east of Lake Huron, the considerable covering on
the ground is not so important, relatively, to protect the plants
against the coming winter, but it is also of considerable importance, as
sometimes the early snows melt so completely that the fields are left
bare in midwinter. The warm temperatures which melt the snow may be
followed by a cold wave, which may be greatly injurious to the plants.
There may be instances, as where the snow usually falls very deeply, in
which the covering left would prove excessive, and so tend to smother
the plants; hence, sometimes it may be necessary to guard against too
much covering.
If the plants should lack age or vigor on entering the first winter, a
top-dressing of farmyard manure will render great service in protecting
them. This, however, is only practicable with comparatively limited
areas. It is sometimes practiced in the North Atlantic States, where
the manure thus applied will prove greatly helpful to the growth of the
alfalfa during the following season. These precautions to guard against
the severity of winter weather are not nearly so necessary in the Rocky
Mountain States where irrigation is practiced. In these, alfalfa spring
sown is sometimes pastured during the following winter, and without any
great harm to the crop. Thus greatly do conditions vary.
It may also be well to remember that where rainfall is usually plentiful
and sometimes excessive, that a better stand of the young plants can be
obtained when the rainfall is moderate than when it is copious.
Saturated ground is hurtful to the young plants. They will not grow
properly under such conditions and are likely to assume a sickly
appearance. Mildew may appear and the plants may fail in patches. And
this may happen on land which will ordinarily produce reasonably good
crops of alfalfa after they have once been established.
The value of alfalfa in providing pasture is more restricted than in
providing hay. This arises in part from the injury which may come to the
plants from grazing too closely at certain times, and in a greater
degree from injury which may result to certain animals which may feed
upon the plants, more especially cattle and sheep, through bloating, to
which it frequently gives rise.
This plant is pre-eminently a pasture for swine. They may be grazed upon
it with profit all the season, from spring until fall. No plant now
grown in the United States will furnish so much grazing from a given
area in localities well adapted to its growth. Swine are very fond of
it. Some growers do not feed any grain supplement to their swine when
grazing on alfalfa, but it is generally believed that, under average
conditions, it is wise to supplement the alfalfa pasture daily with a
light feed of grain, carbonaceous in character, as of rye, corn or
barley, and that this should be gradually increased with the advancement
of the grazing season. One acre of alfalfa will provide pasture for 5 to
15 head of swine, through all the grazing season, dependent upon the
degree of the favorable character of the conditions for growth in the
alfalfa, the age of the swine, and the extent to which the pasture is
supplemented with grain. But in some instances the area named will graze
at least 15 hogs through all the growing season without a grain
supplement.
Swine may be turned in to graze on alfalfa when well set, as soon as it
begins to grow freely in the spring. It should be so managed that the
grazing will be kept reasonably tender and succulent. For swine pasture
the plants should never be allowed to reach the blossoming stage. This
can be managed by running the field mower over the pasture occasionally
when the stems are growing long and coarse. Close and prolonged grazing
by swine will tend to shorten the period of the life of the alfalfa. The
extent to which this result will follow will depend upon soil and
climatic conditions and the closeness of the grazing. To avoid such a
result and also to secure the utilization of the food to the utmost,
some growers advocate cutting the alfalfa and feeding it to swine as
soiling. The advisability of handling it thus will be dependent to some
extent on the relative price of labor.
The best results, relatively, from growing alfalfa to provide pasture
will be found in the Western valleys, where alfalfa grows with much
vigor, and in certain areas of the South, where it grows freely and can
be pastured during much of the year. In areas eminently adapted to the
growth of clover, it is not so necessary to grow alfalfa for such a use.
In Western areas, where Canada field peas are a success, and especially
where artichokes are not hidden from swine by frost, pork can be grown
very cheaply, and without the necessity of harvesting any very large
portion of these crops, except through grazing them down by swine.
Such conditions would be highly favorable to the maintenance of health
in the swine, and the quality of the pork made would be of the best. In
some instances a small stack of Canada field peas is put up in the swine
pasture that the swine may help themselves from the same the following
year, as in rainless or nearly rainless climates, where such grain will
keep long without injury.
Alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for horses, more especially when
they are not at work. Like other succulent pastures, it tends too much
to induce laxness in the bowels with horses which graze it, without any
dry fodder supplement. But it has high adaptation for providing pasture
for brood mares, colts, and horses that are idle or working but little.
While it induces abundant milk production in brood mares, and induces
quick and large growth in colts until matured, it is thought by some
practical horsemen that horses grown chiefly on alfalfa have not the
staying power and endurance of those, for instance, that are grazed
chiefly on Kentucky blue grass and some other grasses. There is probably
some truth in the surmise, and if so, the objection raised could be met
by dividing the grazing either through alternating the same with other
pastures or by growing some other grass or grasses along with the
alfalfa.
The alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for cattle, whether they are
grown as stockers, are kept for milk producing, or are being fattened
for beef. For the two purposes first named it has high excellence, and
it will also produce good beef, but alfalfa grazing alone will not
finish animals for the block quite so well without a grain supplement as
with one. But the danger is usually present to a greater or less degree
that cattle thus grazed may suffer from bloat, induced by eating the
green alfalfa. This danger increases with the humidity of the
atmosphere, with the succulence of the alfalfa, and with the degree of
the moisture resting on it, as from dew or rain. This explains why in
some sections the losses from this source are much greater than in
others. It also explains why such losses are greater in some areas than
in others. It is considered that grazing alfalfa with cattle in the
mountain valleys is less hazardous than in areas East and Southeast, as
the atmosphere is less humid, the danger from the succulence can be
better controlled by the amount of irrigating water supplied, and
because of the infrequency of the rainfall. Nevertheless, the losses
from bloat are sometimes severe in both cattle and sheep in the mountain
States, notwithstanding that some seasons large herds are grazed upon
alfalfa through the entire season without any loss.
Cattle grazed upon alfalfa may be so managed that the extent of this
hazard will be very much lessened, if not entirely obviated, but with
large herds some of the precautionary methods now to be submitted may
not always be practicable. They should never be turned in to graze upon
alfalfa when hungry. Some grazers adopt the plan of leaving them on the
grazing continuously when once put in to graze. Others leave them in for
a limited time each day at the first, increasing the duration of the
pasturing period from day to day. After managing them thus for a week or
two, the animals are only removed from the pasture for such purposes as
milking. Others, again, feed some alfalfa or other food in the morning
before turning them on to alfalfa pastures. Another plan adopted is to
graze them on a field of other grazing, located, if possible, beside the
alfalfa field, until after the dew has lifted, and then to open the gate
into the alfalfa pasture. This is readily practicable with a herd of
cows, but not to anything like the same extent with a large herd being
grown for beef.
The danger from bloat in pasturing sheep upon alfalfa is at least as
great as in pasturing cattle on the same, and the methods of managing
them while thus being grazed are not far different. So, too, the
experiences in such grazing are very similar. The losses from such
grazing some seasons have been slight. Other seasons they have proved so
heavy as to make such grazing unprofitable. When sheep are being grazed
on alfalfa, a light feed of grain given in the early morning reduces
materially the danger from bloat. It also enables the flock-master to
finish his sheep or lambs for the market cheaply and in fine form, since
this small grain factor, not necessarily more than half a pound a day,
whether given as wheat, rye, barley, oats or corn, puts the ration
practically in balance for the purpose named, and it may be given to the
sheep daily in troughs without taking them out of the pasture.
It is thought that there is more danger to cattle and sheep from grazing
on alfalfa than on any of the clovers, and probably such is the case.
But whether this is true or not, the danger is very considerable, and is
enhanced by the presence of frost as well as the presence of moisture,
from much succulence in the plants, from rain and from dew. So great is
the danger that the inexperienced should proceed with much caution in
such grazing. When bloat does occur, the method of dealing with it is
given on page 95.
The tendency to produce bloat in alfalfa pastures decreases with the
extent to which other grasses are present in the pastures. Should
alfalfa be grown, therefore, for the purpose of providing pasture, some
other grass or grasses should be sown along with it. Which of these
should be thus sown ought to depend chiefly on the adaptation of the
grasses for producing vigorous growth under the conditions present. In
the States east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio, and in all of
Canada east from Lake Huron, alfalfa may be made an important feature in
pastures variously composed. For instance, on suitable soils alfalfa may
be made an important feature in pastures composed otherwise of medium
red and alsike clover and timothy. The author can speak from experience
as to the slightness of the danger from grazing cattle and sheep on such
pastures. In the Southern States tall oat grass could be sown with the
alfalfa, and probably orchard grass. In some areas alfalfa will maintain
its hold on lands smitten with Johnson grass, both producing freely. In
much of Kansas meadow fescue would answer the purpose, northward brome
grass would probably answer, and in some places timothy. In Idaho and
the States adjoining, tall oat grass, meadow fescue and orchard grass
will all be helpful, and in some of the mountain States it has been
found that when alsike clover is grown freely in alfalfa pastures, the
tendency to bloat is not only lessened in the animals grazing, but the
value of the pasture, especially for winter grazing, is greatly
improved. Some grazers, especially in the mountain States, have adopted
the plan of sowing other pastures, as wheat or barley, beside the
alfalfa pastures, and these are made accessible at will to the animals
that are being grazed. The plan has some commendable features, but
grazing animals thus does not reduce the danger as much as when they are
grazed on pastures in which other grasses grow up amid alfalfa. In some
of the Western States pure alfalfa meadows are grazed through successive
seasons with but little loss, but in such instances the grazing began in
the spring and was continuous. Judicious care should be exercised in
grazing alfalfa lest the stand of the plants shall be injured. The
liability to injury in the plants from injudicious grazing increases
with the lack of adaptation in the soil and climate for abundant and
prolonged growth in the alfalfa.
In a large majority of instances, as previously intimated, it is not
wise to graze down alfalfa at all closely the season of sowing, and in
some instances it should not then be grazed to any extent, lest the
plants be unduly weakened for entering the winter. In cold areas the
hazard is much greater from such grazing than in those that are mild,
and likewise, it is greater when the growth is only moderately vigorous
than in areas where alfalfa grows with the vigor of a weed, as in
Western mountain valleys. In areas where the winters are cold, and
especially where the snowfall is light and the winds have a wide sweep,
the animals which graze upon alfalfa should be removed in time to allow
the plants to grow up to the height of several inches before the advent
of winter. The growth thus secured will catch and hold the snow, and the
protection thus furnished is greatly helpful to the preservation and
vigor of the plants. Experience has shown that in Northern areas
pasturing alfalfa in winter, especially when the ground is bare and
frozen, brings imminent hazard to the plants. On the other hand, grazing
in winter in the mountain valleys, when as far north as Central
Montana, may be practiced with little or no hazard to the stand of
plants when these have become well established. In such areas alfalfa
may be grazed practically as may be desired, providing this grazing is
not too close.
Cattle injure alfalfa less than other animals when they graze upon it,
as they do not crop it too closely; swine injure it more, if the grazing
is constant. Horses do even greater injury, through biting the crowns of
the plants too closely; but sheep injure alfalfa pastures more than any
of these animals, when the grazing is close, owing to the extent to
which they trim off the leaves.
=As Soiling Food.=--For being fed as soiling food, alfalfa has the very
highest adaptation, owing, 1. To the long period covered by the growth.
2. To the rapidity of the growth resulting in large relative production.
3. To the palatability of the green food produced. 4. To the entire
safety to the animals fed. And 5. To its high feeding value. In
Louisiana, for instance, alfalfa may be made to furnish soiling food for
nine months in the year. In the North, of course, the duration of
production is much less, but it is seldom less than five months. The
growth is so rapid that cuttings for soiling food may usually be made at
intervals of four to six weeks, according to season and climate; hence,
the cuttings for soiling food will run all the way from two to eight or
nine each season. It is so palatable that horses, mules, cattle, sheep
and swine relish it highly. When wilted a little before being fed, the
danger of producing bloat is eliminated. Its feeding value is nearly
the same as that of the medium red clover, thus making it in itself what
may be termed a balanced or perfect food for horses, mules, cattle and
sheep until development is completed and subsequently when they are at
rest; that is, when they are not producing, as in the form of labor or
milk.
The highest use, probably, from feeding alfalfa when green will arise
from feeding it to milch cows. Its high protein content in combination
with its succulence pre-eminently adapts it to such a use. Wherever
alfalfa can be grown and will produce even two cuttings a year, it will
serve a good purpose in producing milk. Every dairyman dependent more or
less on soiling food will find it to his advantage to grow alfalfa where
it may be grown in good form. When fed to milch cows, some meal added,
carbonaceous in character, as corn or non-saccharine sorghum seed, may
prove a paying investment, and it may also be advisable to alternate the
green alfalfa, morning or evening, with such other green crops as oats
and peas, millet, rape, corn or sorghum when in season, to provide
variety. But even though alfalfa alone should be thus made to supplement
the pastures, the outcome should be at least fairly satisfactory. When
fed to horses that are working, some care must be exercised in feeding
it, lest too lax a condition of the bowels should be induced, and a
grain factor should be fed at the same time. It has frequently been
given to sheep that were being fitted for show purposes, but may also be
fed green to the entire flock, with a view to supplement the pastures.
It has special adaptation for promoting large growth in lambs, and,
indeed, in any kind of young stock to which it may be fed. When fed to
swine, a small grain supplement properly chosen and fed will insure more
satisfactory growth. It is thought that more satisfactory results will
be obtained from allowing the alfalfa to get fairly well on toward the
blossoming stage before beginning to feed, and to continue to feed until
in full bloom. This in practice may not always be possible, but usually
an approximation to it may be reached, especially when the production of
the alfalfa will more than supply the needs in soiling food. The ideal
plan is to commence cutting the alfalfa as soon as a good growth is
made, cutting enough daily or every other day to supply the needs of the
animals. If the growth becomes too much advanced before the field is
gone over thus, the balance should be made into hay, and the cutting
should begin again where it began previously.
There is no question but that considerably more food can be obtained
from a given area when green alfalfa is fed in the soiling form, instead
of being grazed. The difference in such production would not be easy to
determine, but of the fact stated there cannot be any doubt. Ordinarily,
each cutting of green alfalfa for soiling should not produce less than 4
tons; hence, where 8 cuttings can be secured, not fewer than 32 tons of
soiling food could be obtained per season. But whether the increase from
soiling alfalfa, as compared with pasturing the same, would repay the
cost of the extra labor, will depend upon conditions that vary with time
and place. Alfalfa fields thus managed or cut for hay will also produce
for a longer period than when the fields are grazed.
Continuity in the production of soiling food may not be possible some
seasons in the absence of irrigation; hence, under such conditions
provision should always be made for a supply of such other soiling foods
as may be needed, and of a character that will make it practical to turn
them into dry fodder when not wanted as soiling food. But where
irrigating waters are unfailing, it is quite possible to furnish soiling
food from alfalfa soils through practically all the growing season.
Dairymen thus located are in a dairyman's paradise.
Alfalfa, like clover, may be made into silage. In dry climates this
would seem to be unnecessary, but in rainy climates it may be wise in
some instances to make alfalfa ensilage, the better to insure the curing
of the crop. What has been said with reference to clover ensilage will
apply almost equally to alfalfa. (See page 103.) It would be more
desirable, usually, to make the first cutting from alfalfa into ensilage
than later cuttings, because of the showery character of the weather at
that season, but the strong objection stands in the way of doing so,
that no carbonaceous food, as corn, sorghum or soy beans, is ready for
going into the silo then as they are later, with a view of aiding in the
better preservation of the ensilage and of making a better balanced
ration. Good alfalfa silage is more easily made when the alfalfa has
been run through a cutting-box than when in the uncut forms.
=Harvesting for Hay.=--The best time to harvest alfalfa for hay is just
after the blossoms begin to appear. Ordinarily, not more than one-third
of the blossoms are out when the harvesting should begin, but when the
hay is to be fed to horses the cutting may be deferred until more than
half the blooms are out. If cut earlier, the loss of weight in the crop
will be considerable, as much as 30 to 45 per cent., as compared with
cutting when in full bloom. If cut later, the stems become over-woody,
and the loss of leaves in curing will be much greater. When the cutting
is delayed beyond the period of early bloom, the growth of the next
cutting is retarded, and when it is deferred until some of the leaves
turn yellow or until some seed is formed, in many situations the
influence on the succeeding crop is seriously adverse, and in some
instances this influence would seem to react against the vigorous growth
of the plant during the remainder of the season. In other instances, as
where the conditions are quite favorable to the growth of the plant,
these results are not present in so marked a degree. When large areas of
alfalfa are to be harvested, the importance of beginning early cannot
easily be overestimated. It would be much better to sacrifice something
in loss of weight in the hay, through cutting too early, than to meet
with greater loss in weight in the next crop or crops by cutting too
long deferred.
Much that has been said about the harvesting of medium, red clover
will apply equally to alfalfa. (See page 95.) The mowing should begin as
soon as the dew has lifted in the morning. The tedder should follow
after the hay has wilted somewhat, and later, the horse rake, the aim
being to get the crop made into winrows, preferably small, before
nightfall, and when the weather is uncertain, the aim should be also to
put the hay up into small cocks the same evening. This may not always be
practicable. If the loss of leaves is likely to be considerable when
raking the hay, raking should be deferred until the influence of evening
dews begins to be felt. After the hay has become wilted it should not be
stirred or handled any more than is really necessary, that loss of
leaves and of the tips of the stems and branches may be avoided, and the
handling during the curing process should be done to the greatest extent
practicable before or after the sunshine has waxed strong. In showery
weather, when small areas are being harvested, hay caps can be used with
profit. Where large areas are to be harvested and where there is no
danger of rain, the crop when nicely wilted is drawn into winrows, and
in these the curing is completed without further stirring or handling.
From the winrows it is drawn usually on rakes of a certain make, and the
rake loads thus slid over the ground are lifted bodily onto the stack by
the use of the "rickers." (See page 100.)
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Field of Alfalfa in California]
=Storing.=--When cured in cocks, these are preferably made small to
facilitate quick curing, but usually from two to four days are necessary
to complete the curing. If the cocks require opening out before being
drawn, the work should be done with care. Ordinary stacking and storing
may be done in practically the same way as in handling medium red
clover, and the same care is necessary in protecting the stacks. In
areas where considerable rain falls in the autumn, hay sheds will prove
a great convenience in storing alfalfa in the absence of better
facilities. In the Eastern States alfalfa is sometimes stored in mows
undercured, by putting it into the mow in alternate layers with straw.
The straw not only aids in preserving the alfalfa in good condition, but
the alfalfa imparts an aroma to the straw which induces live stock to
eat it readily. In showery weather this method of curing alfalfa merits
careful attention where straw can be had near at hand and in sufficient
quantities.
The method is sometimes adopted of cutting alfalfa even for hay by using
the self-rake reaper. The sheaves thus made are allowed to lie on the
ground undisturbed until they are ready for being drawn. By this method
of cutting, the loss of leaves is almost entirely avoided, but there are
these objections to it: that it exposes unduly to sunlight during the
curing process, and in case of rain the sheaves are easily saturated and
do not dry readily unless turned over.
Rain falling on alfalfa will injure it quite as much as it does red
clover. (See page 96.) In climates with much rainfall in May or June,
when the first cutting of alfalfa is ready for being harvested,
according to locality, in instances not a few much difficulty is found
in curing alfalfa without loss. Sometimes the entire cutting will be
rendered practically useless by rain. Because of this, as previously
intimated, it may be well to arrange, where practicable, to cut the
first crop of the season for soiling food.
The number of cuttings during the year depends on such conditions as
relate to the length of the season, the character of the soil, the
abundance of moisture present, and the use to which the alfalfa is put.
In some of the river bottoms southward in the Rocky Mountains, where
irrigating waters are plentiful, it is claimed that alfalfa may be made
to furnish one cutting for soiling food every month in the year. Even in
the Northern western valleys, as many as five or six cuttings for the
use named may be obtained. North from the Ohio and Potomac rivers three
to five cuttings of soiling food may be looked for each season, and
south of these rivers even a larger number. North of the same rivers the
hay crops run from two to four, and southward from the same they are
seldom less than three. In the western valleys they range from three to
five or six, according to location. In States bordering on the semi-arid
States eastward and some distance south of the Canadian boundary, from
three to four cuttings may usually be expected. In Colorado and States
north and south from the same, two good crops of alfalfa may be cut from
spring-sown seed the same season, but where irrigation is not practiced
it is seldom that one crop of hay is harvested under similar conditions
of sowing. But in the semi-arid belt not more than one cutting is
usually obtained each season in the absence of water. But the number of
cuttings will be reduced when one of these is a seed crop. When a seed
crop is taken, the vitality of the plants is apparently so much reduced
for the season that the subsequent growth is much less vigorous than if
seed had not been thus taken.
The yield of hay from each cutting will, of course, vary much with
conditions, but it is seldom less than a ton. An approximate average
would place the average cutting at about 1-1/4 tons, but as much as 2
tons have been obtained per acre at a cutting, and, again, not more than
1/2 ton. In New Jersey an average of 4.57 tons per acre was obtained
under good conditions of management, but without irrigation, at the
experiment station for three years in succession. In Kansas, 4 to 6 tons
per acre may usually be expected from good soils. In Tulare County,
California, as much as 6 to 10 tons have been secured under irrigation.
The yields from the various cuttings are by no means uniform, especially
in the absence of irrigation. They are much influenced by rainfall. In
such areas, the second cutting is usually the best for the season, the
subsequent cuttings being considerably less. Where irrigation is
practiced, the crops are much more uniform, but even in mild climates,
as the season advances, there is a tendency to lesser yields, indicative
of the necessity of at least partial rest for plants during a portion of
the year. The yields of alfalfa are usually exceeded by those of no
other crop, where the conditions are quite favorable to its growth, even
in the absence of irrigation. At the New Jersey Experiment Station, as
stated in Bulletin No. 148, one acre of alfalfa produced 36,540 pounds
of green food; of corn, 24,000; of red clover, 14,000; of crimson
clover, 14,000; of millet, 16,000; of cow peas, 16,000; and of oats and
peas, 14,000 pounds. But where only two, or even three, cuttings can be
obtained per year, some crops may produce larger yields than alfalfa. In
the distinctive alfalfa belt in the West, no forage crop can be grown
that will compare with it in the yields obtained. The protein in alfalfa
is also relatively high. At the station quoted above it was found one
ton of alfalfa contained 265 pounds of protein; hence, its high relative
value as a food; red clover, 246 pounds; timothy, 118 pounds; and wheat
bran, 118 pounds. At the Delaware Experiment Station, in Bulletin No.
55, it is stated that maximum crops of cow peas and of crimson clover
gave 720 pounds of protein, while a maximum crop of alfalfa gave 1230
pounds.
Where alfalfa is irrigated, it is usual to apply irrigating waters just
after each cutting of the crop. It is a matter of some importance that
the water shall be applied at once as soon as the previous crop has been
harvested, otherwise time will be lost in growing the next crop. There
are instances where it is necessary to apply water before the first crop
is grown, but usually the moisture which falls in the winter and spring
will suffice to produce the first crop of the season. Some irrigators
apply water some time previous to harvesting the crop, but not so late
as to leave the ground in a soft condition when mowing is begun. The
amount of water required will vary with the soil, the season of the
year, the distance of the ground water from the surface, and the
precipitation. The more porous the soil and subsoil, the hotter the
weather, the less the precipitation and the farther below the surface,
up to a certain limit, the greater will be the amount of water needed.
There are situations, as in some of the islands in the Yellowstone
River, in which ground water is so near the surface that alfalfa grown
on these is able to get enough of water from this subterranean source to
produce good crops. Care should be taken not to apply water in excess of
the needs of the crop, or the yields will be proportionately reduced.
The amounts that will best serve the end sought can only be ascertained
by actual test. Caution is also necessary where the winters are cold not
to apply water late or in excessive quantities, lest a sappy condition
of the plants shall be induced, which will make them succumb to the cold
of the winter following. Moreover, on some soils alfalfa fields will
produce good crops, if irrigated only the first season, until the roots
get down to moisture, the irrigating waters being utilized when more
needed.
Alfalfa hay is fed freely to all kinds of domestic animals on the farm,
and with results that should prove highly satisfactory. Properly fed, it
is an excellent food for horses and mules. It not only serves to
maintain flesh, but it is favorable to glossiness in the coat. Horses
that are working hard should be accustomed to it gradually. When it is
fed to them too freely at the first, it induces too much of a laxity in
the bowels, too free urination, and profuse sweating. When fed to such
horses or mules, some authorities claim that several weeks should be
covered in getting them on to what is termed a "full feed" of alfalfa.
When fed to milch cows, free lactation results. Alfalfa fine in
character is now manufactured into food suitable for calves and other
young stock. Cattle and sheep are now fattened for slaughter on alfalfa
hay fed alone, but when thus fattened the finish made is not equal to
that resulting from adding grain to the alfalfa. To meet the needs of
the best markets, alfalfa alone does not produce enough of fat or of
firmness in the flesh, but it has been claimed, and probably it is true,
that one-half the amount of grain required for finishing along with
carbonaceous fodder, such as corn stalks or timothy, will give equally
good and quick increase when fed with alfalfa hay. It is most excellent
fodder on which to grow cattle and sheep, even in the absence of a grain
supplement. The later cuttings of the season are thought to be the most
suitable for calves and also for sheep and lambs, because of the greater
fineness of the fodder and the greater abundance of leaves on it.
Alfalfa hay is used with much advantage in wintering swine, especially
brood sows. Swine have been wintered on alfalfa hay without any grain
supplement where the winters are mild, but they will fare much better
with a grain supplement. It is thought that half the usual amount of
grain fed will produce equal results when fed with alfalfa, to those
obtained from feeding a full allowance of grain in its absence. Alfalfa
and sorghum properly grown make an excellent food for swine, and the two
may be profitably fed thus where the conditions may be over-dry for
corn, but not for sorghum. When feeding alfalfa, the aim should be to
use it in conjunction with a carbonaceous food, as corn. Fortunate is
the country which grows good crops of corn and alfalfa.
=Securing Seed.=--Localities differ much in their capacity to produce
alfalfa seed. The best crops of seed are now grown west and southwest of
the Mississippi River. Certain areas in the semi-arid country east of
and between the ranges of the Western mountains seem to have special
adaptation for growing seed. At the present time the greatest
seed-producing States are Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and
California. But in some areas east of that river paying crops can be
grown. It has also been noticed that when the crop is sown less thickly
than it is usually sown for hay, the plants seed more freely, when sown
with sufficient distance between the rows to admit of cultivating the
crop, and when such cultivation is given, the influence on seed
production is also markedly favorable; such treatment given to the
varieties of recent introduction may possibly result in the production
of seed from the same, notwithstanding that they bear seed very shyly
when grown in the ordinary way.
Nearly all the seed now grown in the United States is produced by fields
that have been sown in the usual way, and primarily to produce hay, but
in some areas, especially where irrigation is practiced, it is
sometimes grown mainly for seed. On the irrigated lands of the West it
is customary to grow the first cutting of the season for hay and the
second for seed. But in many instances the second cutting also is made
into hay, and the seed is taken from the third cutting; even in the
States east of the Mississippi, and also in Ontario and Quebec, seed is
usually taken from the second cutting. But in Montana, Washington and
Idaho, on the higher altitudes, seed is not unfrequently taken from the
first cutting for the season, since, in the short season for growth of
those uplands, seed from cuttings later than the first does not always
mature so well. In a large majority of instances seed does not form so
profusely from plants of the first cutting as from those of later
growths. This is thought to arise, in part, at least, from the fact that
bees, and it may be other insects, are then less active in searching for
food, and because of this do not aid in the fertilization of the plants
as they do later. Nor does seed of the first cutting ripen so evenly. An
important justification is also found for taking seed from the later
cuttings, in the fact that when a crop has produced seed, it grows less
vigorously during the subsequent period of growth that same season. So
pronounced is this habit of growth in alfalfa, that in many localities,
if the first growth is allowed to produce seed, but little subsequent
growth will be made again the same season. The second cutting, all
things considered, is the most favorable to seed production, as, unless
on irrigated lands, the third cutting is not usually possessed of that
vigor necessary to induce abundant seeding in the plants.
The yields of seed are also much influenced by moisture. An excess of
moisture is more unfavorable to the production of seed than a shortage
in the same. Hence, in areas where the rainfall for the season is very
abundant, but little seed will be produced. Where irrigation is
practiced, the excessive application of water would have a similar
effect, though less pronounced in degree; hence, the apportionment of
the water to the prospective needs of the seed crop calls for careful
adjustment. Where the first crop is grown for seed, where irrigation is
practiced, in many instances no water is applied until after the seed
crop has been harvested.
The seed is ready for being harvested when a majority of the seed-pods
assume a dark brown tint. The pods of later formation will still possess
a yellow tint, and some of them may still possess the green color. These
do not produce seed nearly equal in quality to the pods which ripen
earlier. To wait for all the later maturing pods to ripen before
harvesting the crop would mean the loss of much of the best seed through
shattering. Another test of maturity is made by shelling the pods in the
hand. When the seed can be thus shelled in a majority of the pods in a
single plant, it is ready for being harvested. Alfalfa seed shatters
easily; hence, it is important to harvest the seed crop with promptness
when it is ready, to handle it with due carefulness, and in some
instances to refrain from handling during the hottest hours of
sunshine.
The seed crop is sometimes cut with the mower and raked into winrows,
and in some instances put up into cocks. When it is handled thus, the
aim should be to do the work, as far as this may be practicable, in the
early and late hours of the day, but not, of course, while much dew is
on the crop. Sometimes the seed is drawn from the winrows to the
thresher; in other instances from the cocks, and in yet other instances
it is stacked before being threshed, a work that calls for the exercise
of much care in the storing of the crop, lest the seed should be injured
by heating in the stack. This method of harvesting is usually attended
with much loss of seed.
There is probably no better way of harvesting alfalfa than to cut it
with the self-rake reaper or the binder. The loose sheaves dry quickly,
and when lifted, the aim is to carry them directly to the thresher. Less
seed, it is considered, will be lost in this way than by the other mode
of harvesting given above, and the work is more expeditiously done. But
owing to the difficulty in securing a thresher to thresh the seed, it is
sometimes found necessary to stack the crop, but in areas where
irrigation is practiced such stacking is seldom necessary.
The seed is frequently threshed with the ordinary threshing machine, but
in many instances it is also threshed with a clover huller. The huller
does the work less quickly, but probably, on the whole, more perfectly.
Threshing machines, with or even without certain adjustments in the
arrangement of the teeth in the cylinder and concave, and with extra
screens, are now doing the work with much despatch, and with a fair
measure of satisfaction. But the opinion is held by competent judges
that a machine that would more completely combine the qualities of the
thresher and the huller would be still more satisfactory. It is easily
possible to have the crop too dry to thresh in the best condition, and
care should be taken to regulate the feed in threshing so that the
alfalfa will not enter the cylinder in bunches. More than 200 bushels of
seed have been threshed in a day from crops which yielded abundantly.
The seed should be carefully winnowed before putting it on the market.
The seed crops, as would naturally be expected, vary much; crops are
harvested which run all the way from 1 to 20 bushels per acre. From
irrigated lands the yields are, of course, much more uniform than from
unirrigated lands, since in the former the supply of moisture may be
controlled. Fair to good average yields on these may be stated at from 4
to 6 bushels, good yields at from 6 to 8 bushels per acre, and specially
good yields at from 10 to 12 bushels. The bushel weighs 60 pounds.
Growing alfalfa seed under irrigation has frequently proved very
profitable. The seed grown in such areas is larger and more attractive
to the eye than that ordinarily grown in the absence of irrigation, and
because of this many are lured into sowing it on unirrigated land when
the former would better serve their purpose. The seed is frequently
adulterated with that of yellow clover (_Medicago lupulina_), which
resembles it closely, but this is more likely to be true of imported
than of American grown seed.
=Renewing.=--Alfalfa may be renewed and also renovated where the stand
secured at the first has been insufficient, where it may have been
injured from various causes, where it is being crowded with weeds, and
even with useful grasses, and where the land requires enriching.
The stand of alfalfa secured is sometimes thin and uneven. This may
arise from such causes as sowing too little seed; whether over-dry or
through the crowding of the young plants. When this happens, in many
situations it is quite practicable to thicken the stand by disking the
ground more or less, adding fresh seed, according to the need of the
crop, and then covering the seed thus added with the harrow. Such
renovation would be comparatively easy on clean land, were it not for
fact that the alfalfa plants already rooted overshadow the young plants,
always to their injury, and sometimes to their total destruction. The
spring will probably be the best season to attempt such renovation, but
there may be instances where the winters are not severe, in which autumn
seeding will succeed as well or better than spring seeding. Because of
the uncertainty of the results of such renovation, the aim should be so
to prepare the land and sow the seed that a good, thick stand will be
secured at the first.
Should the alfalfa fields be spotted, because in places the nurse crop
lodged and smothered the plants, or because excessive moisture destroyed
them on the lower portions of the field in an abnormally wet season,
the renewing process is simple indeed. It consists in disking those
parts so thoroughly as to destroy all vegetation that may have become
rooted on them, and sowing seed in the usual way without a nurse crop.
But should the low places be such as to hold an excess of water at any
time of the year under normal conditions for days in succession, even
though it should not rise to the surface, the attempts to make alfalfa
grow successfully on these will prove abortive.
When weeds and grasses crowd the crop, the plan of disking the fields to
destroy these is becoming quite common, especially in the West. The work
is usually done in the early spring. In doing it, disk harrows are
driven over the field, usually two ways, the second disking being done
at right angles to the first. The disks are set at that angle which will
do the least injury to the plants, and that will at the same time do the
work effectively. This can only be determined by actual test in each
instance. Some of the crowns of the plants will be split open by the
disk, which some authorities claim is an advantage in that it tends to
an increase in the number of the stems produced, an opinion which is by
no means held in common at the present time, and yet there are
localities where it has certainly proved advantageous. Occasionally, a
plant will be cut off. There can be no doubt, however, that such
disking, when necessary, does tend to clean the land and also to
strengthen growth in the alfalfa crop, on the principle that cultivation
which does not seriously disturb growing plants is always helpful to
them. The frequency of such diskings will depend on the needs of the
crop. Some advocate disking every spring, some every other spring, and
some not at all. That plan which disks the ground only when it is
necessary to keep the weeds at bay would seem to be the most sensible.
This would mean that sometimes, as where crab grass has a firm hold,
disking may be necessary at least for a time every spring. In other
instances it would be necessary only every second or third season, and
in yet other instances not at all. However, some growers in dry areas
advocate disking frequently, as, for instance, after some of the
cuttings of the hay, and with a view to retain moisture. It is at least
questionable, however, if disking so frequently would not soon tend to
thin the plants too much, to say nothing of the labor while the work is
being done.
The idea of stirring the surface soil in alfalfa fields is by no means
new. In England the plan prevailed to some extent years ago of harrowing
the fields in the autumn with heavy harrows until, when the process was
completed, they would take on the appearance of the bare fallow for a
time. In the Eastern States and in some parts of Canada the harrow is
used instead of the disk, but usually the latter will do the work more
effectively and with less cost. Frequently, when the disk has been used
on alfalfa, it may also be advantageous to run a light harrow over the
ground to smoothen the surface.
With a view to renovate the crop and increase the yields, in some
sections, as in the Atlantic States, it has been recommended to
top-dress alfalfa fields with farmyard manure every autumn. This, no
doubt, would prove very effective, but it would also be very expensive,
unless in the neighborhood of large cities. It would be impracticable
without neglecting the needs of the other crops of the farm. In the
mountain areas of the West, it has been found that the cost of
fertilizing with farmyard manure is in the meantime greater than the
increased production in the alfalfa is worth, but it may not be always
thus, even on these rich lands. Some Eastern growers also apply more or
less gypsum. This is generally sown over the fields after the crop has
begun to grow in the spring.
Renovating alfalfa fields is much more easily and effectively done, as
would naturally be expected, in areas where conditions are highly
favorable to its growth than where these are only moderately favorable.
In some of the mountain valleys instances have occurred in which alfalfa
fields have been plowed and sown with oats, with a result, first that a
good crop of oats was reaped, and second, that fairly good crops of
alfalfa were harvested the following season without re-sowing the field.
=Sources of Injury to Alfalfa.=--Chief among the sources of injury to
alfalfa, after the plants have become established, are frost in
saturated ground, ice, floods, grasshoppers, gophers, dodder, and
pasturing by live stock in the late autumn or winter. When it happens
that two or three of these act in conjunction, the injury following is
just so much more rapid and complete. As has been intimated, where
water is excessive, in a climate which in winter or spring is
characterized by alternations of freezing and thawing, the plants will
either have the roots snapped asunder, or they will be gradually raised
out of the ground. This will only happen in soil with a subsoil more
retentive than is compatible with well-doing of the highest order in the
plants. The danger from this source is greatest during the first winter
after sowing the plants, as then the roots are not really established.
The only remedy for such a contingency is the draining of the land.
Some reference has also been made to injury done through ice, where it
collects in low places in land. The destructiveness of the ice depends
on its thickness and its nearness to the ground. When it rests upon the
ground for any considerable time the plants die. If, however, water
intervenes, the plants may live when the submergence is for a limited
time. One instance is on record in Onondaga County in New York State, in
which alfalfa survived submergence for a considerable period under a
thin sheet of water covered by three inches of ice, but when growth came
it was for a time less vigorous than normal.
Floods in warm weather are greatly injurious to alfalfa. The extent of
the injury done increases with increase of depth in the waters of
submergence, increase in stagnation in the waters, and increase in the
duration of the period of overflow. Stagnant water sooner loses its
dissolved nitrogen; hence, the plants cannot breathe normally. The harm
done, therefore, by floods in each case can only be known by waiting to
see the results. These summer floods always harm the crops temporarily,
and in many instances kill them outright. Occasional periods of overflow
should not prevent the sowing of alfalfa on such lands, since on these
it is usually not difficult to start a new crop, but the seed should not
be sown on such lands when overflow occurs at such a season. When it
occurs in cool weather and quickly subsides, it may be possible to grow
paying crops of alfalfa.
In some areas grasshoppers are a real scourge in alfalfa fields. Because
of the shade provided by the ground and the influence which this exerts
in softening it, they are encouraged to deposit their eggs and remain so
as to prove a source of trouble the following year. It has been found
that through disking of the land both ways after sharp frosts have come
is greatly effective in destroying the grasshopper eggs deposited in the
soil. They are thus exposed to the action of the subsequent frosts and
so perish. The disking has also tended to stimulate growth in the crop
the following year. The eggs will not, of course, be all destroyed by
such disking, but so large a percentage will, that the crop should be
practically protected from serious injury, unless when grasshoppers come
from elsewhere.
It would seem correct to say that gophers do more injury to alfalfa
fields in certain areas of the West than comes to them from all other
sources combined. They not only destroy the plants by feeding upon them,
but they fill the soil with mounds, which greatly interfere with the
harvesting of the crops. They are destroyed by giving them poisoned
food, trapping, shooting, and suffocating through the use of bisulphide
of carbon. Poison is frequently administered by soaking grain in
strychnine or dropping it on pieces of potato and putting the same in or
near the burrows. Bisulphide of carbon is put upon a rag or other
substance, which is put into the burrow and the opening closed.
Dodder is a parasitical plant introduced, probably, in seed from Europe,
which feeds upon alfalfa plants, to their destruction. The seeds of
alfalfa sometimes become so impregnated with the seeds of dodder that
the latter will grow where the seed is sown, thus introducing it to new
centers. The dodder starts in the soil and soon throws up its
golden-colored thread-like stems, which reach out and fasten on the
alfalfa plants that grow sufficiently near. The dodder then loses its
hold upon the soil and gets its food entirely from the alfalfa plants,
which it ultimately destroys. But since the seeds of the dodder remain
at least for a time in the soil, and the adjacent soil becomes infected
with them, the circles in which the dodder feeds continually widen. In
certain parts of New York State some fields have become so seriously
affected as to lead to investigations conducted through officials from
the State experiment station. Pending these investigations, the exercise
of great care in the purchase of seed and the immediate plowing of the
infested areas are recommended.
Some reference has already been made to injurious results from
pasturing close in the autumn or winter, except in the most favored
alfalfa regions. In addition to what has been already said, the wisdom
of not grazing alfalfa the first year is here emphasized, and also the
mistake of grazing at any time when the ground is frozen, at least in
areas east of and, generally speaking, adjacent to the Mississippi
River.
=Alfalfa as a Fertilizer.=--Alfalfa is not considered equal to medium
red clover as a direct means of fertilizing and otherwise improving the
land on which it grows. This does not arise from less inherent power on
the part of alfalfa to draw nitrogen from the air and deposit it in the
soil, but rather from the fact that clover establishes itself more
quickly, and is much more frequently grown in the rotation. Several
crops of medium red clover can be grown in short rotations, each one
being a source of much benefit to the crops that follow, while one crop
of alfalfa occupies the land. But when the alfalfa is all fed upon the
farm on which it grew, where the plants grow freely, it then becomes a
source of fertilization without a rival, probably, among plants grown
upon the farm.
The fertility thus furnished does not consist so much in the plant food
deposited in the soil directly as in that furnished in the successive
crops that are grown and fed every year. In Farmers' Bulletin No. 133,
published by the United States Department of Agriculture, it is stated
that the Wyoming Experiment Station found 44 pounds of nitrogen, 8.27
pounds of phosphoric acid, and 50.95 pounds of potash in one ton of
alfalfa. This would mean that in the yield of alfalfa hay from a given
area, estimated at four tons per acre for the season, alfalfa would
furnish 176 pounds of nitrogen, 33.08 pounds of phosphoric acid, and
203.8 pounds of potash. If this alfalfa were fed upon the farm, it would
not only prove a cheap source of protein for feeding, but it would
furnish fertility, as stated above, without seriously diminishing the
supply of the same in the surface soil, since much of the fertilizing
material produced would come from the air and subsoil. The manure thus
made, if carefully saved and applied, would thus add materially to the
fertility of the land. If, however, the alfalfa were sold, the mineral
matter drawn from the cultivable area of the soil and from the subsoil
lying under it would be reduced to the extent of the draft made upon
these in growing the alfalfa.
The direct influence of alfalfa upon the fertility of the land on which
it grows is shown in the greatly increased production in the crops which
follow alfalfa. This increase is not only marked, but it is frequently
discernible for several successive years. But as has been intimated, the
benefit that would otherwise accrue from growing alfalfa as a direct
means of fertilizing the land is much circumscribed by the long term of
years for which it is usually grown.
The mechanical effects of alfalfa upon the land are beneficent. It
improves the tilth by means of the shade furnished, and the extent to
which the roots fill the soil. These in their decay further influence
favorably that friability which is so desirable in soils that are
cultivated, and as previously stated, the long, deep roots in their
decay exercise a salutary influence on drainage.
The work of breaking alfalfa fields is frequently laborious, owing to
the number and size of the roots. If, however, a plow is used, the share
of which has a serrated edge, the roots will be cut or broken off more
easily and more effectively.
CHAPTER V
ALSIKE CLOVER
Alsike Clover (_Trifolium hybridum_) takes its name from a parish in the
south of Sweden. From there it is probable that it was introduced into
England. Linnaeus gave it the name of _hybridum_, imagining it to be a
cross between the red and the white varieties. Botanists do not
generally hold this view. It is known by various names, as Swedish,
White Swedish, Alsace, Hybrid, Perennial Hybrid, Elegant and Pod Clover,
but more commonly in America it is spoken of as alsike.
The plants of this variety are more slender than those of the medium red
variety, although they grow in some instances to a greater height. The
slender stems are much branched. The leaves are numerous and oblong in
shape, the flowers are of a pinkish tint, the heads are globular and are
about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and the pods, like those in
white clover, contain more than one seed. The roots are in no small
degree fibrous, and yet the slender tap root goes down to a considerable
distance.
Alsike clover is a perennial. In favorable situations it will live for
many years. Ordinarily, it grows to the height of 18 to 24 inches, but
in slough lands it sometimes grows to the height of 5 feet. The plants
do not reach their full size until the second year, and in some
instances until a period even later. They grow less rapidly than those
of medium red clover, are several weeks later coming into flower, and
grow much less vigorously in the autumn. Ordinarily, they furnish but
one cutting of hay each year. Because of the more fibrous character of
the root growth, the plants do not heave so readily as those of red
clover. In moist situations they are much given to lodge; hence, the
importance of growing this crop, when grown for hay, along with some
kind of grass that will help to keep the stems erect.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Alsike Clover (_Trifolium hybridum_)
Oregon Experiment Station]
Alsike clover furnishes a large amount of pasture. It is relished, at
least, fairly well. The leaves are slightly bitter, but not enough to
seriously interfere with their palatability. The quality of the hay is
excellent. This arises from its fineness, from the number of the small
branches and leaves on the stems, and from its fragrance when well
cured. While it makes a very suitable hay for horses and cattle, it has
peculiar adaptation for sheep, owing to its fineness.
As a fertilizer it is probably not equal to medium red clover, since the
root growth is not so bulky. Nor does it produce a second cutting
anything like so vigorous as the former. Nevertheless, the roots possess
even stiff soils to such an extent that they not only furnish them with
much plant food, but they also tend to disintegrate them and to render
them more easy to pulverize.
As a honey plant, alsike clover is without a rival among clovers, unless
it be in the small white variety. It is a great favorite with
bee-keepers. Many of them sow it to enable them to furnish pastures for
their bees. The bloom remains for a relatively long period. The honey is
also accessible to the common honey bee, since the branches are numerous
on the stems, and since each branch bears a head, the flower heads are
relatively quite numerous. Since the honey is accessible to the common
bee, pollination in the plants is assured; hence, the failures in the
seed crop are few, and when other conditions are favorable, seed
production is abundant. Because of the many good qualities of this
clover it is deservedly a favorite wherever it can be successfully
grown. When in full bloom, a field of alsike clover is a very beautiful
sight. The flowers are a pale white at first, but gradually they deepen
into a beautiful pink of tinted shades, and their fragrance is fully
equal to their beauty.
=Distribution.=--Alsike clover is found in Europe, Northern Africa and
Western Asia. In these it has been cultivated for a long time, but its
favorite home in the Old World would seem to be in Northern Europe. It
would doubtless be correct to say that it is indigenous to Europe, and
probably that it is indigenous to each of the three continents named. It
is not indigenous to America, but was introduced into the same probably
from Great Britain or Scandinavia. In some parts of North America it
grows with a luxuriance equal to, if not, indeed, greater, than that
shown by this plant when grown under the most favorable conditions
which Europe furnishes.
This plant is better adapted to a cool and humid climate than to one hot
and dry. It is even more hardy than medium red clover, in the sense of
enduring cold, and will live under conditions of climate so austere as
to be fatal to red clover. It may, therefore, be grown further north
than medium red clover, and under conditions so exposed as to cause
medium red clover to fail. But it does not succeed quite so well as the
former toward the southerly limit of the successful production of medium
red clover; hence, the limit of production in the semi-arid belt ceases
sooner than in the case of the other variety. The best climatic
conditions for growing it are found not far from the boundary line
between the United States and Canada, and in the vicinity of the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Great Lakes.
In the United States the best crops are grown in the States which border
on Canada, and in these the highest adaptation, climate and soil
considered, is found in Michigan, Wisconsin and Northeastern Minnesota.
But in New York the adaptation is also high, and also in certain parts
of Montana, Idaho and Washington. Good crops may also be grown in nearly
all the second tier of States that lie southward from the Canadian
boundary. The exceptions are those embraced in the semi-arid belt.
Further south than the second tier of States to which reference has just
been made, the successful growth of alsike generally lessens, and yet in
parts of these States, as, for instance, Kentucky, Tennessee and
Missouri, good crops are grown. Some of the Rocky Mountain valleys, more
especially those that can be irrigated, and that are also sufficiently
elevated, grow excellent crops of alsike. Much of the province of
Ontario has very high adaptation to the growth of alsike clover, and in
several counties of that province large quantities are grown, not only
for hay, but also for seed. In Ontario County in the said province, are
certain clay soils rich in lime; in fact, almost marley in character,
which have been found especially well adapted to growing alsike clover
seed, and in certain areas in proximity to the Georgian Bay, adaptation
exists about equally high. In some parts of Quebec good crops are also
grown. But this variety of clover has not been grown as yet with much
success in Manitoba, Assiniboia, Alberta or Saskatchewan. Both soil and
climate, however, in these provinces should not be uncongenial to it in
the main. In the cultivable lands of British Columbia, as in those of
Washington, it grows remarkably well. Especially in the river bottoms
and on the tide lands can immense crops be grown, as also on the tide
lands of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but not on the upland sandy
soils of these provinces.
=Soils.=--The most suitable soil for alsike clover is a moist clay loam,
not too friable nor too dense, and moist and deep. A goodly impregnation
of lime in the same is favorable to maximum production. Abundant
moisture conduces to the same end. This plant will, however, produce
good crops, and in a moist season, excellent crops, on the stiffest
clays, whether white or red, after a good stand has once been secured,
providing hard pan is not found near the surface, but in dry seasons it
is not easy to secure a stand on such soils. The plants send their
fibrous roots down into the soil in all directions, and in this way
render it much more friable when it is broken up.
Next in adaptation, probably, come slough soils, even though covered
with humus to a considerable depth, providing that clay lies under the
humus. Enormous crops of hay or pasture can be grown on such soils, but
the crops of seed are not usually so large as on the moist clays
referred to above. On these also the hay is much more liable to lodge,
unless supported by some kind of grass growing along with it.
After slough soils come those that have been deposited by the action of
water, as in river beds and on lake bottoms, when the waters have
subsided, providing the clay element so necessary to the successful
growth of this clover is plentifully present. In some instances the very
best crops of alsike can be grown on such lands, but in many other
instances these deposit soils have in them too much sand to produce
these.
Good crops can be grown on sandy loam soils, if well stored with
vegetable matter, and at the same time fairly well impregnated with
clay, but if one or both of these elements is lacking, adaptation in
these soils will be correspondingly reduced.
On the average upland prairie soil, alsike clover does not grow so
vigorously as the medium red. The less of density that these possess
under ordinary conditions, the less suitable are they to the needs of
this plant, but when ample moisture is present, good crops may be grown
on much of the soil in prairie areas.
Soils lowest in adaptation to the growth of alsike include infertile
sands and gravels, and the vegetable soils of the prairie so light that
when cultivated they lift more or less with the wind. On such soils the
growth of alsike is short and feeble, and any lack of moisture renders
it increasingly so.
This plant not only requires much moisture to insure the most vigorous
growth, but it is also able to thrive under conditions of soil
saturation such as some of the useful forage plants could not endure.
When the weather is cool, it may be covered with shallow water for
several days in succession without apparent injury. The possession of
this characteristic makes it possible to grow alsike clover in sloughs
not yet drained, but which are dry certain portions of the year.
=Place in the Rotation.=--Much of what has been said about the place for
medium red clover in the rotation may also apply to alsike clover. (See
page 70.) On upland soils its place in the rotation will be very similar
to that of the other variety, but with the difference that the rotations
will be longer, because of the perennial habit of growth in the alsike.
It will be best sown, therefore, on clean land which has produced a crop
that has been cultivated the previous year. Consequently, it may follow
such crops as corn, potatoes, field roots and beans in the North, and
the same crops in the South, with the addition of cow peas, soy beans
and the non-saccharine sorghums. But it may be sown after other crops
when necessary, especially when it is to be pastured. One chief
objection to sowing it thus for hay is that the hay will be less free
from weeds.
On upland this crop may be followed with any kind of a crop requiring
much nitrogen. No crops can be made to follow it with more advantage,
however, than corn and the sorghums, or potatoes. Rape will feed
ravenously on the overturned sod, and wheat and the other small grains
will also feed similarly.
On low lands, especially when they partake of the nature of sloughs, the
rotation is different. In some instances alsike may follow the natural
grasses produced by the slough in the drained or undrained form, as the
case may be, and may be made to supersede them without breaking the
land, but more commonly on these it is sown after the natural sod has
been broken and has decayed somewhat, by growing on it some such crop as
rape or flax. On these lands it is usually grown in long rotations for
pasture and also for hay, and when the sod is again plowed, it is
followed by corn, potatoes, rape, and grains grown for soiling uses,
since such land has naturally high adaptation for these. Flax also is a
favorite crop to sow in such situations after alsike clover.
=Preparing the Soil.=--The preparation of the land for alsike clover on
ordinary soils is the same as for medium red clover. (See page 74.)
Usually, that degree of fineness in the pulverization which best
prepares the soil for the nurse crop with which alsike clover is sown,
will also best prepare it for the alsike. But there may be some
instances, as in strong clays, when a fine pulverization that would
suffice for the needs of the nurse crop would be advantageous to the
alsike. This finer pulverization can only be secured by the judicious
use of the roller and the harrow. In loose-lying soils, more especially
in areas where the precipitation in winter comes in the form of snow,
and, therefore, does not wash the land as it does when it falls as rain,
if the land on which alsike is to be sown is plowed in the fall, and
only harrowed in the spring, or cultivated and harrowed when preparing
it, the moisture will be better conserved than if it were plowed in the
spring. When thus managed, strong clays in the area under consideration
will usually have a much finer pulverization than can be obtained from
spring plowing. When the preceding crop has been given clean
cultivation, to plow land subsequently before sowing to alsike would
bring up many weed seeds to the surface, where they would at once begin
to grow. On slough lands, where water saturation is present during a
portion of the year, even to the extent of appearing for a short
interval over more or less of the surface, the seed may be sown without
any previous preparation of the land, and in some instances
successfully. In other instances it will fail should the following
summer prove adverse. The stand is rendered much more certain in such
instances by first burning off the grass, sowing the seed upon it,
covering it more or less with the harrow and running the mower over the
ground, say, twice in the season, to let in sunlight to the young
plants. The grass thus mown may be left as a mulch. Pasturing, but not
too early in the season, will in some instances give results equally
good. In such situations the sowing should be done, and also the
harrowing, before the frost has left the ground, except for a short
distance from the surface, or the horses may sink too deeply when doing
the work. The success is dependent in no small degree on the denseness
or want of denseness of the root growth of the grass plants already
covering the soil. The more dense these are, the less easy is it to
obtain a stand, and the more peaty the soil immediately underneath the
surface, the greater is the danger that the young plants will perish in
a time of drought.
When alsike seed is sown on drained sloughs, the aim should be to reduce
the excess of coarse vegetable matter, if present, and to secure a
smooth surface, such as will facilitate the easy mowing of the crop.
More especially should this be the aim if the alsike is sown to produce
hay. This can be most easily and speedily done by growing on it some
reducing crop, as flax or rape, and then smoothing the surface by
implements best suited to such work, as, for instance, some form of plow
leveler.
=Sowing.=--The time at which alsike clover may best be sown is the same
as that for sowing the medium red variety; that is to say, the early
spring. (See page 75.) Since it is hardier than the medium red variety,
the danger is less that spring frosts will destroy the plants after they
begin to grow. As with medium red clover, it may also be sown at sundry
times, from the opening of spring until the late summer when the
opportunity offers, and when the conditions for growth are favorable.
For instance, there may be seasons when alsike clover, and, indeed, any
kind of clover, will succeed along with a catch crop sown for pasture or
to provide soiling food. But it should not be sown in the autumn unless
where the winters are mild, or the young plants will not survive their
rigors.
Alsike clover is more commonly sown with a nurse crop. As with medium
red, the crops with which it may be best sown are the small cereal
grains, as winter rye, barley, wheat and oats, favorable in the order
named. But it may also be sown with flax, with rape, and with grain
crops that are to be cut for soiling or to be grazed down.
The method of sowing alsike clover is virtually the same as that
followed in sowing medium red clover (see page 78); that is to say, it
may be sown by hand machines, with a grass-seeder attachment to the
grain drill, or with the ordinary tubes of the grain drill and along
with the grain. The seed is very small, and, consequently, may not admit
of being buried so deeply as medium red clover, but in the open soils of
the prairie it will sometimes succeed as well sown along with the grain
as when buried less deeply, but in many soils the roller will provide a
sufficient covering. Especially is this true in climates that are moist.
Alsike clover has special adaptation for being sown along with timothy
and red top on slough soils, and soils made up of rich deposit. It
matures about the same time as these grasses. They support the slender
stems of the alsike, and in doing so prevent lodging more or less. This
greatly improves the quality of the hay. The more numerous the plants in
those mixtures, the finer also will be the quality of the hay. If but
two varieties are wanted in the mixture, ordinarily these two should be
alsike clover and timothy. Both furnish hay of excellent quality; hence,
when the proportion of alsike is not too large, such hay sells readily
to dairymen who have to purchase fodder.
Although this clover does not mature until three to four weeks later
than the medium red, nevertheless, it may be well to add the latter to
the timothy and alsike clover mixture. When these are thus sown in due
balance, the first cutting will be mainly red clover, after which there
will be but little of the red present. But the medium red clover will
add much to the pasture after the first cutting for hay. Subsequently,
the hay crop will usually consist of alsike and timothy. Alsike clover
along with timothy may also be sown with mammoth clover, since the two
mature about the same time. But the mammoth variety will monopolize the
ground while the first hay crop is being produced. The advantage from
sowing the seed thus lies chiefly in prolonging the period of clover
production along with timothy grown chiefly for hay. It is not wise,
usually, to sow alsike clover alone for hay, owing to its tendency to
lodge. In the South it is frequently sown with red top and orchard
grass, especially the latter. It fills in the spaces between the plants
in the orchard grass, and in so doing adds much to the hay or to the
pasture.
There may be conditions in which it would be advisable to sow alsike
clover alone, as when it is wanted for seed, and subsequently for
pasture. But ordinarily to provide pasture, it is better to sow it along
with some other grass or clover, or with a number of these. It greatly
improves a timothy pasture in the upland or in the valley. It has also
been used with much advantage in strengthening alfalfa pastures for
horses in winter in certain of the Rocky Mountain valleys. It would
probably be correct to say that with the area of adaptation for this
plant, no kind of pasture can be grown on reasonably moist land that
would not be benefited by having alsike in it. Among the clovers it has,
relatively, high adaptation for permanent pastures, because of its
enduring character.
The seeds of alsike clover are small. They are considered to be less
than half the size of those of medium red clover, consequently, the
amounts of seed are relatively much less. When alsike clover is sown
alone and for seed, from 3 to 5 pounds of seed should suffice per acre,
according to the soil conditions. Four pounds are frequently sown. In
the various mixtures given above, the amounts of seed will vary with
local and other conditions, but the following amounts may be given as
averages: Alsike and timothy, 4 and 6 pounds, respectively, per acre;
alsike, timothy and red top, 3, 4 and 3 pounds; alsike, timothy and red
clover, 3, 4 and 3 pounds; alsike, timothy and mammoth clover, 3, 4 and
3 pounds. When sown with other grasses for pasture, it would not be
possible to give the amounts to sow that would best meet the needs of
the grower under all conditions. But it may be said that 1 to 2 pounds
of alsike seed per acre, sown under almost any circumstances in moist
soils and within the alsike clover area, will be a good investment when
laying down pastures of any considerable permanency.
This clover is also sometimes added to the seed sown in making lawns,
more especially on farms where the lawn cannot be given that close
attention which is necessary to keep it in the most presentable form.
Because of its permanence, it is helpful in giving variety to the sward,
and when mown but two or three times in the season, as is frequently the
case with such lawns, it provides considerable bloom in the same, which
is very attractive. The amount of seed to use on these lawns may vary to
suit the desires of the owner. It is not usual, however, to sow in these
more than maximum amounts for field crops. At the rate of 3 to 4 pounds
of seed per acre should be ample.
=Pasturing.=--Alsike clover has by some authorities been assigned to a
high place as a pasture plant. For such a use it has no little merit,
but in the judgment of the author it is not nearly equal to medium red
clover as a pasture plant, under average conditions, since it does not
grow so well, relatively, on average upland soils, and because the
aftermath is usually light, after the crop has been cut for hay or for
seed. Nor is it thought to be relished quite as highly by stock as the
medium red clover. Nevertheless, domestic animals eat it freely, and
under suitable conditions it will furnish for them a considerable amount
of grazing. This feature has been finely illustrated by an experiment in
grazing conducted at the Agricultural Experiment Station of Montana, on
irrigated land, at Bozeman, in the Gallatin valley. Full particulars
relating to this unique experiment are given in Bulletin No. 31, issued
by the afore-mentioned station. In the summer of 1900, 18 cattle, one
and two years old, were pastured on 5.04 acres of alsike clover for 102
days, beginning with June 9th. The increase in the weight obtained from
the pasture in the time stated was 4560 pounds. This gain was valued at
the very moderate price of 4 cents per pound live weight; hence, the net
return per acre for the pasture for the season was $36.19. It would
scarcely be possible under any conditions, howsoever favorable, to
obtain such results without irrigation.
Ordinarily, the results from pasturing alsike clover will be more
satisfactory when one or two other plants are grown along with it, as,
for instance, medium red clover or medium red clover and orchard grass,
since both of these plants tend to prolong the period of grazing. In
slough lands, red top and timothy add considerably to the value of the
grazing. When grazing alsike clover, much more pasture will be obtained
if it can be allowed to make a good start in the spring, and if it is
then kept grazed so short that the plants do not come into flower. Such
treatment tends very much to prolong the period of grazing for the
season. Should the grazing be so uneven as to admit of certain areas in
the pasture pushing on into the flower stage, the mower may sometimes be
profitably used to prevent such a result. Weeds should also be kept from
going to seed in the pastures by using the mower or the scythe, or both.
Nor should the fact be lost sight of that the tendency to produce bloat
in alsike clover is much the same as in medium red clover.
=Harvesting for Hay.=--Alsike clover is ready to harvest for hay when
the plants are just beginning to pass beyond the meridian of full bloom.
Some of the first blossoms will then have turned brown and some of the
smaller ones will still be deepening their tints, since the season of
bloom is about the same as for timothy, and since alsike for hay is more
commonly grown with timothy than with any other grass, both may be cut
when at their best, especially when intended for cows and sheep. But
when the hay is intended for horses, it should stand a few days longer
than the stage indicated above, in order to have the timothy in the
condition best suited to feeding horses. But the alsike, in the
meantime, would lose something in digestibility.
If grown alone for hay, the process of harvesting would be much the same
as in harvesting medium red clover. (See page 95.) But since the stems
of alsike clover are finer than those of the medium red, less time will
suffice for curing it. It will also cure more quickly along with some
other grass than if alone, since it does not then lie so closely in the
winrow or in the cock. Grasses, as a rule, cure more quickly than
clovers, and this also has a bearing on hastening curing in clover when
the two are grown together; and also in lessening the degree of the
fermentation after the crop has been stored. Ordinarily, when the
weather is bright, alsike clover along with timothy may be cut in the
forenoon, tedded once or twice soon after cutting, raked into small
winrows the same evening and stored away the following afternoon. When
thus managed, the hay loader may be used in lifting the hay from the
winrows. Alsike clover growing alone could not be cured thus quickly.
Nor would it be wise in showery weather to try and cure the crop without
putting it into cocks, whether grown alone or with some other crop. When
properly cured, the heads retain much of their bloom and the stems much
of their greenness.
The yields of hay vary greatly with the soil. On dry, sandy uplands the
yields of cured hay may not exceed 1/2 ton, while on rich loam soils it
may exceed 3 tons. Ordinarily, on good soils a combined crop of alsike
clover should yield from 1-1/2 to 2 tons per acre of very excellent hay.
Some authorities speak of getting two cuttings per year, but this is not
usual. Under quite favorable conditions it would be possible to get two
cuttings for soiling uses, providing the first was taken when the plants
were coming into bloom. Usually, the growth of the aftermath, when the
hay has been removed, is very moderate.
=Securing Seed.=--Alsike is a great producer of seed. This arises in
part from the relatively large number of the heads on the plants, and in
part from the completeness of the pollinations, through the action of
the honey bee. These are relatively much more numerous than the bumble
bees, which alone among bees, it has been claimed, aid in the
pollination of medium red and mammoth clover. Although the seeds are
considerably less than half the size of those of medium red clover, as
much as 8 bushels of seed have been secured from an acre. Frequently,
however, the yields are less than 2 bushels. Good average yields may be
stated as running from 3 to 4 bushels per acre. The best yields are
usually obtained from the first crop, but under favorable conditions
this clover may be cut for seed for two and even three years in
succession. Better yields are usually obtained from crops of medium
vigor than from those of excessive rankness. The latter lodge to such an
extent as to reduce materially the yields of the seed, since the heads
do not fill well. The cost of harvesting and threshing such crops is
also greater, relatively, than of those of medium growth. To prevent
such excessive growth in the seed crop, pasturing for a time is
frequently resorted to. The grazing should begin reasonably early in the
season before growth anywhere becomes so rank that the animals do not
eat it in certain portions of the field, whereas, at the same time, they
graze other portions of the field too closely. Rather close grazing,
from the time that grazing begins, is preferable to grazing that leaves
the crop uneven. When certain portions of the field are left ungrazed,
or only partially grazed, the mower should be run over such portions
about the time that the grazing ceases. If this is done a few days
before the removal of the stock, they will eat much of the clover thus
mown. Unless the mower is thus used, under such conditions the seed will
ripen unevenly in the grazed and ungrazed portions of the same.
The duration of the grazing is much dependent on the soil and the
season. The more moist and rich the soil and the more moist the season,
the more prolonged should the grazing be. In Northern areas it seldom
begins earlier than May 1st, and seldom extends beyond June 1st. If
prolonged unduly and dry weather follows, the growth of the plants will
not be enough to produce average crops of seed. Quite frequently on
upland soils, the grazing should cease before the end of May.
Either cattle or sheep, or both, may be used in the grazing. Cattle do
not graze quite so closely as sheep, which is so far favorable to
subsequent growth. But sheep will glean weeds to a much greater extent
than cattle. When the field is made to carry so much stock that the
grazing is quickly and thoroughly done, the results are usually more
satisfactory than when the opposite method is practiced.
It is important that weeds shall be prevented from maturing seeds in the
clover. To prevent this, it may be necessary to run the mower over the
whole field at the close of the grazing season. In crops that are not
grazed, it may be necessary to use the scythe in clipping back weeds and
in cutting off any stray heads of timothy that may be pushing up toward
maturity. In some instances it may even be found profitable to use the
spud in destroying weeds of more dwarfish growth than those which can be
clipped with the scythe. It is more important, relatively, that weeds
shall be thus dealt with in growing alsike clover than in growing clover
of the larger varieties, since, owing to the small size of the seeds of
alsike, it is more difficult to remove foul seeds with the winnowing
mill. No kind of seed, probably, is more difficult to separate from
alsike seed than timothy; hence, when the former is grown for market,
these plants should not be grown together. If, perchance, they should be
so grown and the crop cut for seed, it would be well not to try to
separate the seeds, but to sow them thus, as even when thus mixed the
seed has a considerable market value.
The crop is ready for being harvested when nearly all the heads are
fully matured. The bloom will then have left them and they will be
characterized by a reddish cast. The earlier heads will have turned a
dark color, almost black. Some bloom may yet linger on the later and
smaller heads, but harvesting should not be delayed until these mature.
The seed crop can best be cut with the self-rake reaper, which throws
off the sheaves unbound. If cut with the grain binder, the sheaves
should not be bound. A sort of box attachment may be fastened to the
cutter-bar of the mower, which will enable the workmen to leave the hay
in sheaves, but to do this an additional hand is wanted to rake or pitch
off the sheaves. The sheaves should be laid off in rows, and by system,
rather than at random, for convenience in storing.
Usually, the sheaves are not disturbed until ready for being stored, but
in case of very heavy rain it may be necessary to turn the sheaves, to
prevent the seeds which come in contact with the ground from sprouting.
The sheaves should be carefully lifted, otherwise many of the heads will
break off and be lost. Because of this, it may be wise, frequently, to
refrain from lifting the sheaves for loading in the middle of the day.
Large forks, which may be run under the bunches, are more suitable than
ordinary forks.
When absolutely necessary, the seed crop may be harvested with the field
mower, as ordinarily used, but when it is thus harvested, the crop
should be cut with all promptness as soon as it is ready. It must then
be raked into winrows and lifted as hay is usually lifted. All the work
of harvesting should be done in those portions of the day when the heads
will break off less freely, and when at the same time the dew is not
resting on the seed plants in any considerable degree. When, however, a
crop of alsike is thus harvested for seed, many heads will break off,
howsoever careful the workmen may be.
The seed may be threshed at once or stored. Storing under a roof is
preferable to storing in the stack, but the latter method will suffice,
if the tops of the stacks are well protected with a covering of marsh
hay or of some other suitable material. When the seed is not threshed at
once it is usual to defer threshing until cold weather, as with medium
red clover, as then the seed is much more easily removed from the seed
pod. Ordinarily, the work can best be done by clover hullers, the same
as are used in threshing medium red and mammoth clover, but grain
separators, with certain attachments, will now do this work in good
form. Much care should be exercised in winnowing the seed. It ought to
be so cleaned that it will grade as No. 1, and so bring the highest
current price. Due care in this matter will make the major part of even
ordinary seed bring the best price.
=Renewing.=--When the stand of the alsike is but partial, as, for
instance, when young plants have failed, or partially so, on the high
land, and are sufficiently plentiful on the lower land, a full stand may
sometimes be secured by simply scattering seed where it is needed so
late in the fall that it will not sprout before winter, covering with
the harrow and then top dressing with farmyard manure well decomposed.
But where the winters are so mild that the clover might be sprouted
during some warm spell followed by severe weather, the seed should not
be sown then.
On certain soils, as those naturally moist and porous, it may be
possible so to renew alsike clover that it will produce hay or pasture
crops almost indefinitely, by simply allowing some heads to seed every
year and fall to the ground. In meadows, this may be done by not
grazing after the hay has been harvested until other heads have formed
and ripened. A limited number of these will thus form after the crop has
been mown for hay. If the crop has been cut for seed, many heads will in
any event be left upon the ground. The same result will follow when
grazing the crop, if grazing is made to cease at the right time, and for
a period long enough to allow a considerable number of heads to mature.
This method of renewal will not prove a complete success on all soils,
as, for instance, on those very stiff and very light.
Natural meadows that lie low may be changed in whole or in part into
alsike meadows or pastures in some of the States, as has been previously
intimated, by sowing seed on them in the early spring. (See page 202.)
In some instances such change has been effected by sowing seed but once,
and at the rate of from 3 to 4 pounds per acre. In other instances it
has been found preferable to sow a less quantity for two successive
seasons, lest one of the two should prove adverse to successful growth
in the plants. But on some slough soils a stand cannot be secured by
this method of sowing, more especially when they are composed of raw
peat.
CHAPTER VI
MAMMOTH CLOVER
Mammoth Clover (_Trifolium magnum_) was long ago named _Trifolium
medium_ by Linnaeus. However appropriate the designation may have been at
the time, it is not so now, at least under American conditions, as in
this country there is no other variety of clover so large, unless sweet
clover (_Melilotus alba_). To apply to it the distinguishing term
medium, therefore, is positively misleading, since the smaller variety
of red clover commonly grown occupies such middle ground, as the term
medium would indicate. Because of this, the author has ventured to
designate it _Trifolium magnum_. It has also been classified, and with
no little appropriateness, _Trifolium pratense perenne_, which has
reference to the mildly perennial habit of growth in this plant. In
common phrase it is known by such names as Large, Tall, Saplin or
Sapling, Giant, Meadow, Perennial Red, Red Perennial Meadow, Pea Vine,
Zigzag, Wavy Stemmed, Soiling, and Cow clover or Cow grass. Each of
these names has reference to some peculiarity of growth in the plant.
For instance, the terms Large, Tall, Saplin and Giant have reference to
the size of the plant; and the terms Pea Vine, Zigzag and Wavy Stemmed
to the somewhat irregular and trailing habit of growth in the stems,
and so of the others. The designation Cow grass is an English term.
Mammoth clover is a large variety of red clover; in fact, the largest
variety of red clover in America. The plants are strong, stronger than
those of the medium red variety, and the stems are much larger. They are
softer than those of the medium red, which to some extent may account
for the less erect habit of growth which characterizes it. The leaves
are usually destitute of the white spot found on those of the other
variety. The heads are also probably larger and somewhat more open, but
there is no appreciable difference in the size of the seed. The plants,
notwithstanding, bear so much resemblance to those of the common red
variety that it is not easy to distinguish them unless by the large size
of the plants of the former. The roots are larger and stronger than
those of the medium red variety, and as a result have more power to
gather plant food in the soil.
Mammoth clover is biennial under some conditions and under others it is
perennial, although it is not usually a long-lived perennial. It has a
stronger habit of growth than the medium red, and is, therefore, rather
better fitted to thrive under adverse conditions, more especially when
it has once obtained a hold upon the soil. It grows chiefly in the first
half of the season, and makes but little growth, relatively, in the
autumn, or, indeed, any time the same season after the crop has been
harvested for hay. In the Northern States it comes into flower about
the middle of July, and in those of the South correspondingly earlier.
It is relished by all kinds of domestic animals kept upon the farm, but
the hay is relatively better adapted to cows and other cattle than to
horses and sheep. If cut too late, or much injured in the curing, it is
too dusty for horses, and the growth is too coarse to make first-class
hay for sheep. It makes excellent soiling food, because of the abundance
of the growth and the considerable season during which it may be fed in
the green form.