92 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



we ever clip either the old or the young. I notice Mr. Gose said 

 awhile ago that he would not allow the alfalfa to bloom at all if 

 he could find time to get around to it, but we let our crop get 

 pretty well in bloom. 



Q. Are you speaking of the first crop? 



Mr. Russell — The first crop will not bloom very much. We 

 don't wait for it. We depend on the appearance of the new shoots 

 at the root of the plant. If cut too soon we have found it seems 

 to turn yellow. And it sometimes dies if clipped too often. It is 

 recommended in some localities to clip often, but it won't work in 

 my section. 



Q. When do you begin cutting? 



Mr. Russell — We occasionally begin cutting in about nine 

 weeks. That can only be done on the bottoms. We have got as 

 much as three crops the first year. We sow in April, and in nine 

 or ten weeks begin cutting hay. Sometimes we make five crops in 

 a year. We cut the hay early in the morning as soon as the dew 

 will permit. Then we run the mower the rest of the day. We 

 sometimes leave the hay on the ground until the following day, and 

 then put it in the barn. We never stack anything up. We have 

 come to the conclusion that barn space is cheaper than to stack 

 the hay out. 



Mr. Crabtree — Right along that line of curing; I take it that 

 you cut early in the morning so that the hay will have the benefit 

 of the sun during the entire day; that's the point, is it not? I 

 have a new idea along this line, and I would like an expression 

 from the farmers who have been thinking and putting their 

 thoughts into effect. It is the nature of the leafage of plants to 

 breathe out the moisture that has been taken up through the roots 

 in the night. If we would mow a crop of any kind late in the 

 evening so that it would not become sun dried, the leaves will go 

 on and perform their function of breathing out the moisture. When 

 cut just before sun down, the plant being green will absorb no more 

 of the moisture of the air and the leaves will perform their duty, 

 and the hay will be cured better. 



Mr. Russell — I have noticed no difference. We cut all day. 

 We have a good many acres of ground, and by the time we go over 

 it five times each season we are kept pretty busy. I have noticed 

 no difference in drying in that cut early and that cut late in the 

 day. If anything, we think the hay cut early in the morning dries 

 out more perfectly than that cut in the evening. 



Q. What about this matter of kiln-drying alfalfa? 



