Alfalfa in Kansas. 243 



Kansas State Agricultural College, show that when composition of hay 

 alone is considered the best hay is that harvested at an early stage of 

 maturity. Work conducted by the department of agronomy at the Agri- 

 cultural College at Manhattan shows an average yield of less than one- 

 half ton more of hay from alfalfa cut in the bud stage than from ad- 

 joining ground mowed in the one-tenth bloom stage in 1914. Cutting 

 every time the crop reached the bud stage required one more mowing, 

 raking and hauling than was required for cutting in the one-tenth bloom. 

 Such early cutting has a tendency to weaken the roots, for they can not 

 receive so much food from the green parts above ground. This weaken- 

 ing results in slower growth of succeeding crops and becomes more 

 marked from year to year. It allows greater chance for fungus to be- 

 come well established, and does not smother out crab grass and foxtail 

 nearly so well as does a more vigorous-growing crop. 



Plats on the Experiment Station farm, which have been cut every time 

 they reached the bud stage during 1914 and 1915, have been almost com- 

 pletely taken by crab grass and foxtail during the 1915 season. The 

 fourth cutting of hay was the first to show a noticeable amount of grass. 

 It was cut on August 4, and contained 30 per cent of crab grass and fox- 

 tail in the weight of air-dry material. The fifth cutting contained a 

 much larger per cent of grass, and the alfalfa was short, with a very 

 thin stand. Adjoining plats cut in the later stages were either entirely 

 free from grass or contained only a trace. Much alfalfa in eastern Kan- 

 sas in 1915 was completely taken by these grasses. Mowing a little later 

 and less often may tend to smother the young grass sprouts in such 

 cases, while frequent mowing both weakens the alfalfa and gives the grass 

 air and sunshine for rapid growth. Later cutting than full bloom results 

 in a decided decrease in yield and a hay crop made up largely of unpalat- 

 able stems. 



The greater portion of all alfalfa hay harvested is cut between the ap- 

 pearance of the first bloom and the full bloom stage, and the one-tenth 

 bloom stage may be recommended as an excellent time to cut hay for 

 ordinary purposes. It must be remembered that few fields are free from 

 alfalfa leaf spot or other fungus doing similar damage to the leaves. 

 This attack results in the dropping of the leaves, often on three-fourths 

 of the height of the stem. It usually causes such loss after the first bloom 

 and before the full bloom is reached, so that cutting before the leaves 

 drop will add greatly to the value of the hay provided they are cured 

 intact. (See "Cutting," in index.) 



CURING THE HAY. 



Two desirable changes take place in curing of hay, i. e., the loss of 

 water and the production of aroma. Both are favored by slow curing^ 

 while rapid curing, in addition to being unfavorable to them, results in 

 bleaching and loss of leaves. Slow curing requires more time and labor, 

 for the hay must be raked and cocked at the proper time, and most of the 

 curing goes on in the windrow and cock. 



Moisture passes out of the leaves more readily than from the stems, 

 and they are easily burned and bleached on a hot day. Proper slow cur- 

 ing enables the moisture to be drawn from the stems into the leaves and 



