| Show Cutting Alfalfa For a Seed Crop J G Smith in Field and Farm When alfalfa is grown for seed the second crop Is the one usually saved The yield from this is heavier and what is of more importance tao crop ripens uniformly The first crop does not often of-ten seed well probably because the insects In-sects which aid In the fertilization of the flowers are not present In sufficient numbers in May or early June when the flowers first open Cut for seed when the pods are dark brown Rake at once into heaps and allow it to cure there then place in the stack and thresh directly from the stack I the hay gets wet I will heat and mold and there will be considerable loss In Colorado the firt crop is considered consid-ered the best for seed especially I i has not been irrigated The plants are smaller and coarser than later in the season and more thickly set with flowers than the ranker midsummer growth Considerable success has been had in Colorado Kansas and Nebraska in cutting of seed alfalfa with a twine binder and threshing directly from the field or from the stack A higher yield is claimed for this method because the alfalfa is more easily handled and does not shell so readily as when I is cured in heaps and windrows I is claimed that there is a sufficient increase sufcient in the I amount of seed saved to more than pay the additional cost of the binding twine besides the saving In time and labor and the greater ease in handling the crop The yield of seed varies greatly from year to year according to natural conditions con-ditions The average Is probably from five to nine or ten bushels an acre I Larger yields are sometimes reported I There are 60 pounds to a bushel of alfalfa I al-falfa seed The price ranges In different I I differ-ent parts of the country from 5 to 15 cents a pound Alfalfa can be threshed I with any of the ordinary machines which have been provided with a set of pcreenr of small mesh such as are used for hauling clover Seed intended for sale must be recleaned and run through a fanning mill before I is placed on the market Higher prices are always to be obtained for clean seed The alfalfastraw which is left after threshing Is worth less than half as much a the hay for feed |
