140 



ARID AGRICULTURE. 



HARVEST 

 AFTER ANY 

 INJURY 



STORING 

 GREEN 



ALFALFA 



to the stack, where the hay is delivered to the 

 stacker. New stacks, especially where the wind 

 blows, should be anchored by wires over the tops 

 and fastening weights to them. 



Do not hesitate about or delay the cutting of 

 alfalfa at any time if its tops are injured se- 

 verely by frosts, or hail, or insects, or drouth. It 

 never pays to leave such injured alfalfa with the 

 hope that it may recover, because the plants al- 

 ways make a second growth from the crowns, and 

 the injured tops both spoil the hay and interfere 

 with the growth of the second crop. 



Green alfalfa may be stored either in the 

 silo or by a new method recommended by the 

 Kansas Experiment Station. We do not rec- 

 ommend silos for the West, because dry alfalfa 

 hay is such a perfect food that there is no neces- 

 sity of putting it up green. The Kansas method 

 of storing green alfalfa is of interest. The al- 

 falfa is hauled in as soon as possible after cut- 

 ting and stored on floors, two to three feet above 

 ground, made of poles or slats, which supply 

 openings through which the air from beneath can 

 pass up through the hay. These sheds are cov- 

 ered with some kind of roof. The alfalfa is 

 piled from three to five feet deep on the floors, 

 and if the weather is dry and there is no outside 

 moisture on the stems or leaves, it is claimed 

 will cure perfectly without heating. Such 



