108 ELEMENTS OF FARM PRACTICE 



it off. Such a cover helps to protect hay, while curing, 

 from both the sun and the rain. 



We would advise our readers to test curing clover largely 

 in the shade, as suggested above, with at least one cock of 

 hay, then compare with other clover cut at the same time 

 but exposed to the sun and dew for two or three days. 



If clover is cured until thoroughly dry, and then cocked, 

 it will shed very little water, as the stiff stems stick out 

 in every direction and the water follows them down through 

 the cock. But, if hay is cocked when only partly dry, 

 the stems are limber and wilted and so hang down over 

 the sides of the cock, and tend to shed water. 

 Questions: 



1. In what ways may the value of hay be reduced in curing? 



2. At what stage of growth should a hay crop be cut? Why? 



3. What is gained by protecting clover hay from the sun when 

 curing it? 



4. Do you think it will pay to use cock covers in curing hay? Why? 

 Arithmetic: 



1. If a cock cover large enough to cover 80 lbs. of hay costs 20c. 

 how much will it cost for enough to cover 1 ton of hay? 



2. If cock covers can be used five times each year and will last 

 5 years, how many times can each be used during its lifetime? 



3. If enough cock covers to cover a ton of hay cost $5.00 and 

 can be used 25 times, how much does it cost per ton for cock covers? 



ALFALFA 



Alfalfa has been grown for forage for many hundreds of 

 years. It is not a new crop, though in many sections of the 

 country it is just being introduced. Alfalfa and corn are 

 the two crops that have been most talked about during the 

 past ten years, and on this account many persons regard 

 alfalfa as a new crop. 



Advantages. — The chief advantages of alfalfa over 

 other hay and pasture crops are its richness in food value, 

 the rapidity of growth, — it produces from two to four crops 

 per year, — and its perennial habits. Common clover us- 

 ually grows but two years, and furnishes a crop but one year. 

 When alfalfa is once established in a field, it remains and 

 continues to produce good crops for many years. Alfalfa 

 is also a valuable crop to enrich the soil on which it grows. 

 Like clover, it has on its roots bacteria, which gather the 

 free nitrogen from the air and eventually add it to the soil. 



