FOR BETTER CROPS jsg 



curing. It is then drawn and stored. In showery weather it is a 

 g-reat advantage to have the cocks covered with caps of rain- 

 proof cloth, weighted at the corners. These are kept over from 

 year to year. In such weatlier it may be necessary to open out 

 the cocks a few hours before drawing the hay. 



This method of curing makes excellent hay, but is costly 

 when hay is made on a larger scale. Because of this, clover is 

 sometimes cured in the swath and windrow, and the same is the 

 common metliod of curing alfalfa in dry areas. The plan 

 answers well with clover well sprinkled with timothy when the 

 weather is good. It can then be loaded with the hay loader. 

 Cow peas are cured in much the same way as clover, but they are 

 even more ditficult to cure in good form. 



The grasses proper are more commonly cured in the swath 

 and windrow than in the cock. They cure much more quickly 

 than the clovers and alfalfa, and are much less injured by rain. 

 When put up in cock they also turn or shed rain much better 

 than the clovers. With the aid of the tedder it has been found 

 possible to cut some of these in the morning and to store them 

 the same day. Usually in good weather they may be ?ut one day 

 and stored the next. 



When grains grown alone or in mixtures are cut with the 

 mower, they are harvested in the same way, substantially as 

 grasses, but may take somewhat longer to cure. The tedder 

 should also be used on these with more caution lest the hay should 

 be soiled with earth. In locations where the bundles are not 

 liable to be thrown down by the winds when cut with the binder 

 they are most quickly cured in long shocks in which the sheaves 

 are set up in pairs. 



When sorghum and kafflr corn are cut with the binder, after 

 the sheaves have lain a day or two to dry the butts, they are 

 stood up in round shocks, as these frequently stand for weeks 

 and even months. These shocks are tied near the head with a 

 band. When cut with the mower the crop may lie where it 

 fell from two to four or five days. It is then raked and put 

 up into large cocks and fed from these as desired. It does not 

 readily mould in these, nor does it take injury easily from rain. 

 Millet is cured in best form like clover, but it is more commonly 

 ciired like the grasses. 



Feeding Hay on the Farm— Of course, the question as to 

 whether hay should be fed to live stock on the farm, or sold, must 

 be determined by the conditions. These are such as touch the 

 relative market value of hay and meat, the needs of the live stock 

 on the farm, and the condition of the soil as to fertility. There 

 are instances when it is justifiable and commendable to sell hay. 

 The revenue of some farms is in great part or entirely from the 

 sale of hay and this is not incompatible with the maintenance 



