642 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ready to cut. The aftermath in the fall should be left for protection and 

 stock kept off at all times. Do not cut the last crop later than the middle 

 of September. 



It is easier to make first-class alfalfa hay in all kinds of weather than 

 any other kind of tame hay we grow here. This statement may cause some 

 surprise and there may be some inclined to dispute it from their own 

 experience, but I believe no one who has practiced the right method will 

 question its truth. I will endeavor to describe in detail how we haye 

 handled it with uniform success during the past five seasons, which, I 

 think, you will agree have not been without an abundance of rain during 

 the alfalfa haying season. We always take off the dividing board of our 

 mower. This is an important point. I wish to impress on you that it is 

 essential to success that the cut alfalfa must lay in an even, thin layer 

 on the ground so that it may dry sufficiently for raking as evenly as pos- 

 sible. This is especially important if rain should fall soon after cut- 

 ting. If it lies as it falls it will dry as quickly as though cut after the 

 rain and without damage, provided it had not already dried too much 

 before the rain, whereas, if the dividing board is used the thick ridges 

 and bunches made by it will not be in condition to rake for from one to 

 three days, and in the meantime the balance has been parched to a crisp, 

 and perhaps another rain falls and it is all seriously damaged. 



We never cut more at one time than we can put into cocks before it 

 is dry enough for the leaves to break. The secret of success lies in never 

 letting alfalfa get dry until after it is in the mow or stack. On a good 

 drying day the morning's cutting can be raked and cocked in the after- 

 noon. We have sometimes handled it three hours after cutting. If very 

 heavy when raked small cocks should be made and it will take a little 

 longer for it to get dry enough for the stack or mow, but the quality of hay 

 will not suffer. In cutting it is not necessary to wait for dew or rain to 

 dry off, as with clover, as it does not mat to the ground, but lies loose 

 enough for air to pass through. Windrows should not be made too 

 large; in a good crop they should only be about 10 steps apart. We put 

 two or two and one-half dumps of the rake in a cock, and never bunch it 

 with the rake, but make neat, round-topped cocks by stacking one forkful 

 on top of another. Alfalfa handles so nicely that this work can be done 

 very rapidly, especially by making rather small cocks, which are the best 

 in every way. We never risk any hay in the windrow. If it is to be 

 rained on before it is cocked up we prefer it in the swath. Therefore, 

 if the weather is threatening we only rake a little at a time and never 

 leave any windrows over night. When safely in the cock we consider it 

 practically secure. No ordinary wind will disturb it nor rain damage it to 

 any extent if it is left alone. It should never be touched after a rain 

 until the weather has settled and it has dried out so that by turning the 

 cocks upside down in the morning they will do to put in the same day. 



If the cocks are not too large all the surplus moisture will be found next 

 to the ground and will evaporate very rapidly when exposed to the sun and 

 wind. They will be set and firm, shaped like half an orange and a man 

 can turn over a row of them as fast as he can walk across the field. If 

 more are turned over than can be put in that day the rest can be turned 



