Sivine Groivers' Session. 93 



Mr — That is a little premature yet. We conceived 



the idea at the World's Fair. Experiments were made with hay, 

 subjecting it to the heat of an oven, and it retained its green color. 

 I asked Dr. Waters what he thought of it, and he said he thought 

 it would be hard to compete with old Sol when it comes to making 

 hay. But we are not discouraged, and have done some experiment- 

 ing with the ordinary lumber kiln. The U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture has sent their Mr. McClure to our place, and he has worked 

 with us in curing alfalfa, and we have found some very encourag- 

 ing results brought out in the feeding quality of this kiln-dried 

 hay. The idea is to cut the hay, no matter what the conditions of 

 the weather, just so it is not pouring down rain, take it up with a 

 rake, put it on a wagon, put it right through the kiln and in an 

 hour's time it will be dried. We dried some hay in fifty minutes 

 and it has kept ; but I don't know whether we can make it practical 

 or not. There are many points in its favor. When we want to cut 

 it we won't have to wait to see how the moon is, or the condition 

 of the weather. As long as it is not raining we will be cutting it. 

 This will enable us to get the whole plant. The best part of the 

 alfalfa is in the leaf, and if it is too dry when you take it up a big 

 per cent of the leaf will be left. Another thing, we will have regu- 

 lar even growth on all of our hay, which ought to demand a better 

 price. The analysis from the government shows a gain of 25 per 

 cent over the barn and field cured hay. 



Q. Do you bale that hay? 



Mr. Russell — Yes, bale it if you can, because that is one of the 

 biggest savings in the process. It saves storage and gets on the 

 market 30 days sooner. 



Q. What is the comparative value of a crop of alfalfa and a 

 crop of corn on your land? 



Mr. Russell — Well, I'm not sure. Alfalfa is worth six or 

 eight times as much as corn. 



The table given below shows the chemical analyses or the 

 feeding value of alfalfa hay when cured by the common method in 

 the field, and of artifically cured hay. 



The samples were secured and prepared by Mr. A. S. Russell 

 of Hayti, Mo., in co-operation with H. B. McClure of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. Chemical analyses made by the Bu- 

 reau of Chemistry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture : 



