Alfalfa in Kansas. 



113 



A Miami county reporter writes: 



"I will tell you my practice in handling and baling alfalfa. Cut when 

 the dew is off, and when well wilted use a side-delivery rake, throwing 

 two windrows side by side, but not touching. Let lay until the next day 

 about noon; then bunch with a sulky rake into small cocks. Start the 

 wagons directly after the sulky rake. This insures easy pitching and 

 gets all from the ground without any trouble. Fill the mow in sections, 

 so that the hay can easily be gotten out. Watch closely, but don't get 

 excited if the top gets damp and tough for a few days, as the heat 

 naturally comes to the surface. In from eighteen to twenty-five days 

 bale, using a 14-by-18 self -feeding power press, making the weight of 

 the bales to be from seventy-five to eighty pounds. Store the bales on 

 edge. In the winter you will have as near No. 1 hay as can be found." 

 (See page 246.) 



FIG. 111. Load cars of hay to full minimum weight. 



"Where the distance from market necessitates a long haul or where the 

 produce is shipped by rail, alfalfa hay should be baled. The bulk is thus 

 reduced to about two-sevenths of that of loose hay. The disadvantage of 

 baling lies only in the extra cost. Where the hay is to be fed on the 

 farm it is not worth while. When, however, the hay is to be sold in the 

 general market, the cost of baling is more than compensated for in the 

 increased price which may be received for it, in the facility with which 

 it may be handled, and in the market economy of storage space when it 

 is being held for higher prices. Whether it is better to sell the hay at 

 once or to hold it for higher winter prices, is determined by the rela- 

 tion between the shrinkage in weight during storage and the increase in 

 price so obtained; also damage from storms, sunburn, and cost of in- 

 surance." Bulletin No. 73, Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station. 



