126 



Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



STORING SEED. 



Alfalfa seed is generally put in heavy, seamless cotton bags. It may 

 be sold direct from the machine or it may be stored in these bags. Pew 

 growers store their seed in bulk in bins. If the seed is green or damp 

 when threshed it had best be spread twelve or eighteen inches deep on a 

 tight floor, in a dry place, and shoveled over once or twice before bag- 

 ging. The place of storage should have sufficient ventilation to prevent 

 heating, should be dry, and should afford protection against mice and rats. 



MARKETING SEED. 



Seventy-seven per cent of the growers sell their seed locally, either 

 direct to the consumer or to local dealers. These dealers, while they 

 ordinarily may be engaged in conducting merchandise stores or elevators, 

 buy the seed and sell it to regular seedsmen. To communities where 

 seed is raised in sufficient quantities to justify, seedsmen send buyers. 

 Only three per cent of the growers sell their seed direct to seedsmen. 

 Twenty per cent report selling their seed both locally and to seedsmen. 

 (See pages 267 to 271.) 



FEEDING VALUE OF ALFALFA STRAW. 



The growers reporting estimate that alfalfa straw, where it is prop- 

 erly cared for and not allowed to get wet, has a feeding value of nearly 

 50 per cent of the value of good alfalfa hay. A number of growers re- 

 port its feeding value to be equal to that of prairie hay, ton for ton. 

 It is good for horses especially, although beef cattle are reported as 



Fia. 120. Growers estimate that alfalfa straw when properly cared for has a feeding 

 value of nearly 50 per cent of the value of good alfalfa hay. [Courtesy U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture.] 



