Alfalfa in Kansas. 107 



Johnson county: "Don't store it too green or too wet. Alfalfa will 

 stand its own greenness better than wet from dew or rain." 



Cloud county: "If hay is damp do not pile it too deep in the mow. 

 About six feet of depth for loose hay is enough." 



Marion county: "Thorough curing is the remedy. Spreading in a 

 thin layer will help. Use 'hay wells' for ventilating shafts." 



Miami county: "Have space enough so you can spread a not-too-deep 

 layer of hay. It will cure out from one cutting to another, and you will 

 have no trouble." 



Cherokee county: "I haul from the windrow to the barn. If not well 

 cured I put two and one-half gallons of salt to a ton of hay. That keeps 

 it from heating. By hauling it a little green to the barn it retains the 

 leaves better. The same will apply in stacking." 



Jefferson county: "Cure the hay sufficiently before putting up. If 

 you can not cure hay, add about two gallons of salt and one gallon of air- 

 slaked lime per ton of hay." 



Hodgeman county: "Watch your hay. Feel the heat. If it gets too 

 hot move and air at once." 

 (See page 246.) 



MOLDY HAY. 



The molding of hay in stack, shed or mow is brought about by the 

 same conditions that cause spontaneous combustion. The only difference 

 is that the conditions are present in a lesser degree. Therefore, the same 

 means of prevention and remedy should be applied in a case of molding as 

 are applied in case of combustion. Heating of the hay is said to destroy 

 the mold germ, but there is danger that the heating may become so in- 

 tense as to cause combustion. Heating from the juices of the plant 

 results in what is known as "brown" hay a hay very palatable to cattle. 



DUSTY HAY. 



Another evil caused by dew or rain on hay is the accumulation of small 

 particles of dust and dirt, which, when the dew or rain is ,no longer 

 present, remain on the hay. Such hay is said to be "dusty." 



BALING. 



Large quantities of baled alfalfa hay are shipped out of Kansas 

 annually. Aside from that which is shipped, considerable quantities are 

 baled and sold locally, and some growers even bale it for feeding on the 

 farm, as hay requires less storage space when in the baled form. The 

 growers were asked: "Do you bale afalfa from the swath, the windrow, 

 the cock, the stack, or from the shed?" The replies to this question indi- 

 cate that most of the baling of alfalfa hay in Kansas is done from the 

 shed or stack, after the hay has gone through the sweat. It is claimed 

 that hay of much higher quality is had in this way. Of the growers 

 ivho have tried baling from the windrow or cock, 100 per cent of those re- 

 porting from the western third of the state declare that it is satisfactory 

 providing the weather conditions are favorable and the hay well cured: 



