he will swear by it. It is important for him to play sure and to take 

 no weather risks. Large growers who are accustomed to using hay 

 loaders and sweep rakes, side deliveries and the like often scoff at 

 the idea, claiming it impracticable and out of the question with their 

 more extensive farm operations. 



What Peter Swartz Says 



Peter Swartz, of the Cornfalfa Farms, not only enjoys the dis- 

 tinction of being the largest alfalfa grower in Wisconsin, but [was 

 recently elected president of the largest and most active alfalfa 

 growers' association in the United States the Wisconsin Alfalfa 

 Order. He has this to say about curing alfalfa hay by the [cock- 

 and-cap method: r^ 



"You get the best hay. It is the surest way of curing alfalfa [and 

 it is all right for the man with ten to fifteen acres. But it is too 

 slow, costly and laborious for our hundred and ninety acres. We 

 have to use methods that are more rapid and that require less hand 

 labor. We have to use machine labor wherever possible. [Farm 

 labor is scarce and will be scarcer if the war continues." (See Fig. 34.) 



Fig. 59. Haying in a Hurry. 



For stacking large acreages of alfalfa, sweep rakes may be used. 



Side Delivery Rakes for Windrowing 



"We rake our wilted hay from the swath into windrows with side- 

 delivery rakes. With two days of fair weather it is generally ready 

 to store, but an hour or so before loading we turn the windrow bot- 

 tom side up with the side deliveries to allow the hay next to the 

 ground to dry out. Oh, yes, we gamble on the weather, but we 

 make hay while the sun shines to beat the band. If it rains we stir 

 up our windrows by turning them over with the rakes. (See Fig. 35.) 



"After the damp hay is thoroughly dry we load it with drum 

 loaders and put it in the mow, or if our barns are full we stack out- 

 side, using sweep rakes. It's wonderful how much rain alfalfa will 

 stand and still make good hay. It will stand bad weather far better 

 than timothy or clover. Of course the rain hurts it, but it's sur- 

 prising how well the cattle do on rained-on, bleached alfalfa hay." 



73 



