716 Grasses and Leguminous Crops in New York 



means loss of leaves, palatability, and weight. Essentials of good 

 haymaking are : cut early ; handle no more than necessary ; and 

 cure chiefly in the windrow, cock, and haymow or stack. 



The importance of proper protection from the weather and of 

 prompt barn storage is indicated by lindings of the Colorado 

 station, which were: Alfalfa hay exposed for 15 days after 

 cutting and rained on twice, lost 26.1 per cent of its feeding 

 value; left out for seven davs and having only one lioht rain, it 



Fig. 669. — A Thirty-ton Stack of Alfalfa Grown in New York State. 



lost 10 per cent; left out three days without rain, the loss was 

 5 per cent; also, that, even in Colorado's dry climate, the loss in 

 feeding value from the hour of cocking to the hour of taking from 

 the stack was upwards of 12 per cent, while the loss in hay taken 

 from the barn was but 2^/2 per cent. 



pasturing 

 As pasturage for all kinds of live stock, except such as chew 

 the cud (cattle and sheep), alfalfa is unexcelled. In many 



