86 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



advantage gained by the use of hay-caps to protect the 

 cocks during the night, is that they hold in the raked-up 

 warmth, and keep the hay from coohng off. Thus it 

 happens that the hay not only improves a little as to dry- 

 ness during the night, but is all ready to dry rapidly 

 when the cocks are again exposed to the air and sun- 

 shine, on being uncovered in the morning. All this as 

 a normal and constant benefit, to say nothing of the 

 advantages derived from the caps in case light rains, or 

 even heavy rains, should fall before the cocks are again 

 opened. The caps keep dew from settling upon the hay, 

 moreover, and thus prevent the loss of aromatic matters 

 that would result if the dew were to dry off from the 

 hay." 



*'With regard to the exclusion of dew, it is not alone its 

 power to carry off aroma that should be considered. 

 When dew ^falls' it must tend to carry with it any parti- 

 cles of solid matter that may happen to be in the air from 

 which it is deposited, and, in this way the spores of fungi, 

 such as would cause the hay to mold, are put upon it. It 

 can scarcely be questioned that many of the organisms 

 deposited with the dew are likely to promote hurtful 

 decomposition, especially in case the hay should remain 

 or become damp, and the less of these organisms that 

 infest the hay the better it will be." 



When the farmer considers that a ton of well-cured 

 alfalfa hay is worth about as much as a ton of wheat 

 bran, he ought to see that it is profitable to protect it 

 from the rain and the dew. He would scarcely hesitate 

 to provide suitable covering if he had several tons of 

 bran in the field exposed to the elements. Hay-caps will 



