CHAPTER VIL 



Harvesting 



CALLS FOR INTELLIGENCE AND PAINSTAKING 



Considerable space in this volume is devoted to the 

 discussion of soil and seeding, but their importance can- 

 not well be over-estimated. Really the whole subject of 

 alfalfa might well be treated under the two heads, 

 ''Seeding" and ''Harvesting," so very inclusive are these 

 two phases of the subject. Without careful seeding one 

 cannot have a crop to harvest, and without careful har- 

 vesting he might almost as well not have a crop. Both 

 call for intelligence and painstaking farming, and much 

 patience and hard work. But the rewards of these vir- 

 tues and labors are heavy yields from the most valuable 

 forage plant. If it is worth nine times as much as tim- 

 othy, it can well demand a little more time and labor than 

 the average crop. 



GREAT VALUE OF LEAVES 



The first point to accentuate as we approach the sub- 

 ject of harvesting is the preeminent value of the leaves. 

 These contain from seventy-five to eighty per cent of the 

 protein of the whole plant, that valuable compound that 

 goes to produce milk and meat. It has been estimated 

 that a ton of properly cured alfalfa leaves is equal in pro- 



