Book: Clovers and How to Grow Them

T >> Thomas Shaw >> Clovers and How to Grow Them




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.

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