Show ALFALFA YIELD AND WATER requirements the total consumption of water I 1 by alfalfa can e cont tolled to a consider considerable considerably abl extent by pasturage or frequent c juping without serious injury to the plants according to U S department of agriculture bulletin no 1129 effect of frequent cutting on the water requirements of alfalfa AL and its bearing on pasturage with a limited amounts ot of st tafv n a i moisture in the greid gr fid often the greatest amount of if alfalfa can be obtained by allowing the crop to grow when the ike water requirement is the lov eart t in the fall or spring and by keeping the leaf surface at a minu mum during the summer imer through clipping or pasturage the effi cancy of thus conserving the moisture during the periods of drought has been observed many times the moisture supply fala short of the amount necessary sary to produce normal cops fe throughout the season grazing appears to afford a simple and practical means of obtaining a retura from alfalfa commensurate with the available moisture and at the same time reduces the danger of drought injury when the moisture supply is adequate for continuous crop production throughout the season close pasturage or clipping would result in a marked reduction in the amount of alfalfa produced is the opinion expressed in the bulletin when grazing is practiced greater production cari can be secured by intermittent grazing that isby employing several fields which are pastured in rotation summer pasturage with alfalfa is extensively adopted in australia and the combined system of hay and pasturage has found much favor in new south wales it is carried out in the rolling plains country on loam or sandy soils where there is no possibility of sub irrigation in the management of australia alfalfa fields it is the practice to grow a crop of hay early in the spring and to pasture the alfalfa during the remainder of the year for grazing purposes alfalfa is considered d very valuable because it responds to summer rainfall while the native grasses being annuals afford no late pasturage in new south wales alfalfa is handled under tinder this combined system of hay and pasturage on some of the large ranches and as high as three sheep per acre are carried during the summer autumn and I 1 winter months during early september in australia which is the early spring season there the sheep are taken off and the alfalfa makes a luxuriant growth affording a cured hay crop of approximately a ton per acre thus the haasis procured NN when the weather is cool and the amount of moisture given up by the plant and soil ishmall is small the crop being handled in this way makes the most efficient use of the water supply normal rainfall in this region is about 21 inches and is rather uniformly distributed each month having more than 1 inch of rainfall and only two months june and october which correspond to our december and april respectively more than 2 inches bulletin no shows by a large number of small area experiments peri pen ments that the above outlined methods of handling alfalfa might profitably in some years be adopted here in the united states |