Alfalfa in Kansas. 73 



Saline county: "Sometimes over one day. At other times mow in 

 morning and rake and cock in afternoon, especially if it is hot and dry." 



Labette county: "Jn good drying weather let it get just well wilted. 

 In damp weather let it cure until nearly dry enough to haul." 



Mitchell county: "Depends on weather. If alfalfa is very heavy it 

 ought to lie in the swath twenty-four hours; if not, it may be raked the 

 same day it is cut. Don't let it get too dry." 



Labette county: "One to three days; depends on sunshine." 



Pottawatomie county: "If there is sunshine it should be raked five 

 hours after it is cut, and left in the windrow. Most people let their 

 alfalfa get too dry before they rake it." 



Pratt county: "Depends on the wind. On a dry, windy day rake two 

 hours after cutting." 



Sherman county : "From one-half day to twenty-four hours, according 

 to the weather." 



Sumner county: "Owing to the weather. Let it lay longer if humidity 

 is plentiful." 



Russell county: "When the leaves are wilted soft, but not yet brittle." 



Ottawa county : "Depends on condition of weather, how long it is left 

 in swath. We start the rake as.soon as it is dry enough to rake clean, 

 and before the leaves begin to shatter." 



Rawlins county : "I start the rake just as soon as it will rake clean." 

 Morris county: "Just as soon as wilted and the rake will take hold." 



Wichita county: "I aim to rake as soon as the hay will not pack or 

 wad." 



Nearly all growers believe that hay of the highest quality is best ob- 

 tained by slow curing, and that curing is best done by air under the 

 more or less shaded conditions obtaining in a pile of some kind. Ob- 

 viously the swath is a very poor place to cure hay, and reports indicate 

 that hay cured in this way is of poor quality and subject to an excessive 

 loss of leaves. The best results are usually obtained by cock curing. By 

 this method the color and aroma are better, and the danger of spoilage 

 from outside moisture, of getting dusty hay, and the loss of leaves, is 

 reduced to a minimum. Yet, in spite of these facts, two-thirds of the 

 growers reporting prefer to cure in the windrow. 



The reason for the greater preference for windrow curing may be ac- 

 counted for in the facts that it takes longer to put up hay by the "cock" 

 method, and requires more hand labor, which is expensive. Haying ma- 

 chinery has been so developed that large quantities of hay may be most 

 quickly and economically handled, by fewer men, where the "windrow" 

 method is followed. This is particularly true in the handling of large 

 acreages. Cocking seems better adapted to and is most generally pre- 

 ferred on the smaller acreages and in the more humid regions. Most 

 growers would rather have hay in the cock, in case of rain, than in the 

 windrow. Weather conditions, however, generally demand that hay that 

 is "down" be handled as quickly as possible; and when it is cured, the 

 sooner it is in the stack, the shed or the mow, the better, both for the 

 present crop of hay and for the next crop. 



