MAKING ALFALFA HAY, 19 



less watste. rnder averaj^e conditions i*(> pounds per acre sown broad- 

 cast should be sufficient, if it is evenly distri))uted nnd covered to a 

 uniform depth; ])ut u few pounds more per acre may be sown to 

 insure a i-ood stand. Where alfalfa is orown for a crop of seed, a 

 less quantity should be sown than where a permanent meadow is 

 desired. 



MAKING HAY. 



As stated, it is best not to cut a crop of alfalfa hay the first season, 

 but to allow the field to get well started for the next year. However, 

 under favorable conditions, especially in California, one or even two 

 or three crops of hav may l)e obtained the first year. The oTower 

 must use his judo-mcnt as to whether a crop can be taken from the field 

 to advantage. In California it is customary to make two cuttings if 

 the seed was sown in the fall with grain; the first cutting consists 

 mostly of grain, and the second of alfalfa. After the first year the 

 number of cuttings depends upon the length of the season and the alti- 

 tude. At the higher altitudes or latitudes not more than two cuttings 

 may })e possible, while in the upi)er San Joaquin Valley in California 

 five or six cuttings are usually obtained, and as high as ten cuttings 

 are reported. The fields are usually irrigated once for each cutting, 

 either before or after. If the irrigation is made after the cutting, 

 sufficient time should elapse to allow the growth to commence, or there 

 is danger of scalding. At Newman, which is in the center of the 

 alfalfa district of the San Joaquin Valley, the first cutting is made 

 about May 1, and others at intervals of four to eight weeks, six weeks 

 being about the average. The last cutting is made in September, after 

 which, for about four months, the fields are pastured. The yield of 

 hay here for the season is about 8 tons per acre, though some farmers 

 state that only three or four cuttings were made, yielding 5 tons. 

 The opinion was expressed that the fields were often pastured too 

 much. On the high plains of southern Wyoming only two cuttings 

 are usually made, yielding about 5 tons of hay per acre. In the Love- 

 lock Valley, Nev., where large quantities of alfalfa are grown, three 

 cuttings are made, with a yield of 5 to 7 tons. 



Alfalfa hay is prepared in the manner usual for hay crops, but the 

 operations are modified somewhat by the climatic conditions prevailing 

 in the dry regions of the Northwest. One man with a team can mow 

 about 1.5 acres per day. The alfalfa is usually raked within a few hours 

 after mowing, thrown into bunches by hand, and stacked as soon as 

 convenient. If the hay is allowed to remain too long in the swath or 

 windrow, too much loss of foliage occurs in stacking on account of the 

 dryness of the air. The stacks may be put up in the field or near the 

 corrals, according to convenience. If the fields are pastured during 

 the latter part of the year, the stacks are inclosed by a fence. In some 



