506 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



It is a good plan to start the mower as soon as the dew is off in the 

 morning and the prospects seem good for two or three days continued 

 good weather. This hay should be tedded in the swath in the afternoon, 

 so that it will dry out underneath. The side delivery rake is good, in 

 fact the ideal machine to turn the hay. Beginning on the outside of the 

 field, the hay is carried further out, leaving an open space which will be 

 heated by the sun before the next round is made. On turning the next 

 swath the dry hot stubble and soil will quickly draw the moisture from 

 it, therefore the hay is curing from below as well as from above. The 

 following morning the same rake is used as soon as the hay is sufficiently 

 dry, and two swaths put in one, and in the afternoon it is ready to be 

 stacked or hauled into the mow. Ofttimes when the crop is very heavy, 

 it is best first to put into small cocks and left to cure for a few days. 



The following method is practiced, and lends itself admirably to taking 

 care of a hay crop if it is not too heavy. The mower is run late in the 

 afternoon, when not much wilting will take place and when the under- 

 growth is perfectly dry. The advantage of this over the early morning 

 is that the soil is warm and dry, and that less surface is exposed to be- 

 come wet by dew than when alfalfa is standing. The hay is turned in the 

 following morning just before noon, and will be ready to rake and stack 

 in the middle of the afternoon. Another plan is to rake in the afternoon 

 and put it up in small cocks, turning these over the following day, replac- 

 ing these two into one, and letting them cure for a few days before stack- 

 ing. It is of the greatest importance that the hay be absolutely dry from 

 dew before putting it into the barn or stack. Alfalfa is more difficult to cure 

 properly than the grasses, because the leaves fall off so readily, and when 

 we consider that these make up from forty-eight per cent of the crop by 

 weight, their true value is very significant. 



Whenever a late frost catches a crop and the tops turn yellow, it should 

 be mowed at once, because the stalks will make a more rapid growth. 

 The frozen parts of the plants will also discolor the hay, reducing its 

 market value. The second and third cuttings are more easily taken care 

 of, because the weather is more settled at that time. Hay cut late in the 

 afternoon may be put up without any hesitation whatever, as far as its 

 feeding value or market value is concerned. 



DO SUGAR BEETS PAY? 



A. E. MILUGAN, LOCAL MANAGER OF THE IOWA SUGAE COMPANY, HAMPTON, lOWA^ 



Does it pay the average farmer to grow sugar beets? I am sure that it 

 does pay. I have had twelve years experience in the beet fields and have 

 had a chance to see the ups and downs of this crop. There have been 

 years when the beet crop has been a partial failure. In Michigan, my home 

 state, we think the beet crop the safest crop that the farmer can grow and 

 the best money maker of any crop in the state. The beet roots alone, that 

 we sell to the sugar factories, are not all the profit derived from grow- 

 ing beets. The tops are worth. Secretary Wilson says, five dollars per 

 acre as a fertilizer, if left on the ground and plowed under, and if fed 

 to milch cows they are worth the same. B. E. Ray, of Hampton, tells 



