Gilpin observer., 1909-04-15

! plowed up before the dodder goes to
seed and the land kept in cultivated
crops for two or more years.
The worst animal pests are gophers,
ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and
mice. These are especially trouble
some in the western half of the coun-
try, where they injure the alfalfa by
eating the roots as well as the foliage.
The mounds of gophers are very an
noying, as they interfere with now
ing. These pests are less troublesome
where irrigating water is available
with which to drown them out. The
burrows however, cause the waste of
much water when irrigating. Poison.
ing and destruction by traps and cats
are the best means of holding the
pests in check.
Grasahoppers are at present the
west insect enemies with which al
falfa must contend. These are most
| troublesome in the arid sections of the
west where the alfalfa fields may be
the only succulent growth for miles,
and the gIasshoppers from large areas
congregate upon the relatively small
fields of alfalfa. They are also es-
pecially destructive to the alfalfa in
| the semi-arid sections where alfalfa
must be produced without irrigation.
| A flock of turkeys is often efficient in
| holding grasshoppers in check, as is
also a sheet-iron device known as a
''hopperdozer," which is run over a
| fed and catches the grasshoppers in
an open oil-flled pan.
Another very effective means of de-
stroying grasshoppers is to disk the
fields in late winter. This exposes the
| halfdeyeloped young to the early
! spring freezes and to the attacks of
birds This operation is also to some
extent effective against the alfalfa
webworm. :.
Blister beetles also prove trouble
some at times when they appear in
considerable numbers. The general
practice is to cut the alfalfa on the
appearance of any such pests, when
they will be forced to starve or
migrate. The alfalfa and clover chal-
els fly found also in Europe and ST.
IBERIA, is proving destructive to the al
falfa-seed crop wherever it is grown.
There are two general classes of dis
eases which affect the alfalfa plant,
namely, those which affect the roots
and those which attack the stems and
leaves. OF the former, root-rot is the
most important. This disease is prac-
tically identical with cotton root-rot
and prevents the successful production
of alfalfa in considerable portions of
eastern and southern Texas. 1t spreads
in widening circles throughout the
field, causing an almost complete de-
struction of the stand as the disease
progresses. There is no practical
remedy, and land so affected must be
kept out of alfalfa or cotton for sew,
eral years. Another disease which at.
tacks the alfalfa roots is the
'sclerotium" disease, which appears
as black eXcrescences about the size of
wheat grains. There is no practical
remedy for this disease other than to
throw the land out of alfalfa for a
number of years.
OF the diseases which attack the
leaves and stems, the leaf-spot dis.
ease is the most common. This ap.
pears as minute black spots on the
small reddish spots on the leaves.
Powdery mildew and downy mildew
form whitish patches of considerable
size on the leaves. Another form of
leaf-spot disease is sometimes destruc-
tive. This appears in 'he form OF
well-defined circular spots which show
numerous small black dots scattered
over their surfaces. The most effec.
tive remedy is 10 cut the plants when
any of these diseases begins to prove
destructive. This process invigorates
the plant. and most of the spores by
which the disease is spread are de-
stroyed. The anthracnose disease at.
tacks the stems and forms purple
patches which gradually increase in
size. This is destructive locally in
the east. No effective remedy has
been discovered for this disease.