126 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the plants a backset from which they seldom fully 

 recover before the second or sometimes not until the 

 third year. And it is not often that, in the arid 

 States, the rain falls with sufficient frequency to dis- 

 pense with the necessity for irrigating the plants 

 during this period. By soaking the earth before 

 seeding, however, the plants will make vigorous 

 growth until they are ten to twelve inches high, after 

 which they may be irrigated with safety. Under this 

 system I never failed to take two crops the first 

 season, aggregating, perhaps a ton and a half to the 

 acre in two cuttings, provided the seeding was done 

 not later than the 20th of May. From the first crop 

 of the second season onward the yield was full 

 fledged. 



TIME AND MANNER OF SOWING. 



Alfalfa should not be sown until the danger of hard 

 frost is past. I have seen very young alfalfa survive 

 frost,' and I have seen it completely destroyed by it. 

 It is not prudent to take the risk. 



A point scarcely second in importance to that of 

 irrigation before seeding is that of burying the seed to 

 a sufficient and uniform depth. For this purpose I 

 know of nothing equal to the press drills. The seed 

 should be put into the grain box and be run down the 

 spouts. But with the drill great care must be taken 

 not to bury the seed too deep, for too deep seeding 

 is quite as fatal to success as too shallow. A depth of 

 two inches is about right. Whatever implement 

 may be used for covering the seed it should be 

 followed by the plank drag to smooth and compact 

 the surface. When the drill is used, twenty pounds of 

 seed should be sown per acre; but if broadcasted, 

 thirty pounds should be used. Great care should be 

 exercised in the selection of seed to see that the 

 grains are plump and healthy and that it is scrupu- 

 lously clean. If it contains many shrunken seeds reject 

 it, for if they spring at all they will produce only 

 puny, worthless plants. 



After alfalfa has become established, a single copi- 

 ous irrigation after each cutting will ordinarily be 

 found sufficient. Irrigation before cutting is undesir- 

 able, because it leaves the earth so soft as to interfere 

 with the movement of loads. 



MAKING ALFALFA HAY. 



The conversion of a heavy mass of green alfalfa into 

 a choice quality of hay is an operation calling for no 

 small degree of skill and experience. But the pro- 

 cess is one to be learned by intelligent observation 

 and practice, rather than from written description. 

 The first and second crops of each season need to be 

 cured with special care or they will certainly mold 

 in the stack. Beginners need to beware on this point. 

 The knack to be acquired is that of curing the hay 

 sufficiently to insure its keeping sweet in the stack, 



without becoming so dry as to shed its leaves in the 

 handling. This cannot possibly be accomplished by 

 curing fully in the swath. A method much practiced 

 is to rake the alfalfa while still quite green into wind- 

 rows, where it is allowed to cure somewhat more, and 

 finally to make it into moderate sized cocks in which 

 it is allowed to stand until ready for the stack. This 

 process makes very nice hay, but where a large acre- 

 age is to be taken care of it is too slow and expensive. 

 Alfalfa may be cured with entire success in the wind- 

 row, but it is important, when cured in this way, that 

 there be ample facilities for putting it into stack very 

 rapidly when ready, otherwise it will become too dry, 

 and much of it will be lost in the handling, especiaily 

 if it has to be carried from the field on wagons. Alfalfa 

 should be cut on the first appearance of bloom. 



STACKING MACHINERY. 



After trying a variety of appliances for stacking 

 alfalfa, I found the so-called table rakes (which are 

 simply an improved form of the old "go-devil ''), and 

 the ricker which supplements them, the best suited 

 to my conditions. By means of these rakes the hay- 

 was taken from the windrow by horse power, and was 

 conveyed to the stack in masses weighing from 200 

 to 400 Ibs. ; was there delivered to the ricker, and was 

 by the ricker landed into the middle of the stack. 

 The only hand power required was for the distribution 

 of the hay after it was placed upon the stack. Five 

 men and five horses with two rakes and the ricker 

 easily put thirty tons of hay per day into stack, at a 

 cost, as wages were, of about thirty-five cents per ton. 



The great drawback to these rakes is that they 

 can be used to advantage only on short hauls. The 

 plan on which I had laid out my farm happened to be 

 one, however, perfectly adapted to their use. The 

 special feature referred to was a system of parallel 

 roads running through the farm about thirty rods 

 apart. These roads were protected from the irriga- 

 tion water by ditches on either side, and the fields 

 consisted of the long and comparatively narrow belt 

 lying between the roads. The alfalfa was cut in 

 blocks of about ten acres, and was stacked in the road 

 immediately adjacent. The stacks were thus distri- 

 buted on the roads all over the farm, but as the hay 

 was used for feeding stock this arrangement was not 

 objectionable, while it reduced the tost of moving 

 the hay during the most busy season to the minimum. 



I have received many requests from men who are 

 bringing new lands under alfalfa for helpful sugges- 

 tions as to how to proceed. Were I to attempt to 

 condense my advice into a brief paragraph, I should 

 say: First subdue your land by one or more grain 

 crops ; then carefully lay off your farm by a system 

 of fields and of roads having special reference to con- 

 venience and economy in handling the crop. Next 

 grade your fields so perfectly that, in irrigating, when 

 you shall turn the water from the ditch, gravity will 

 do the rest. Then irrigate your land and sow your 

 seed. And, finally, let there be one man on the place 

 who shall make it his business to master the details 

 of irrigating, curing and stacking alfalfa, and who 

 shall exercise personal oversight of these processes; 

 and let this man, if possible.be the proprietor himself. 



