PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES 235 



ond, and it is not irrigated. The time required for curing 

 depends on the stage at which the hay is cut, the dryness 

 of the ground, etc. ; a good rule is to rake as soon as the 

 rake will take it up clean, and let it cure in windrows or 

 cocks. I use a ''Landen" single pole stacker, with slings, 

 which puts the hay, just as it laid on the wagon, in the 

 center of the stack. The seed, threshed on an ordinary 

 thresher, contains straw and chaff, which are easily taken 

 out by running through ordinary wire screen-door net- 

 ting, and then it is suitable for the "Cahoon" seeder. On 

 land worth $40 per acre, the hay in the stack costs $3 per 

 ton. Baling costs $2 per ton, the best size being 100 or 

 150 pounds in weight. Size does not affect the keeping 

 quality of the hay. The hay has sold here for $6 to $12, 

 averaging about $7.50, and the seed sold here last year 

 for 9 cents per pound. I do not think the straw is of 

 much value. Alfalfa will yield abundantly the second 

 year, and, if harrowed with a good harrow, digging up 

 the soil, it will yield for a very long period. Mine, which 

 is 10 years old, looks as well as it did when two years 

 old. To rid land of it, it would be well to plow when dry, 

 then cross plow later on. On naturally damp bottom it is 

 hard to kill. Cattle pastured on rank alfalfa in the spring 

 are liable to bloat. 



Thomas C. Graham, Pinal county. — Though I have 

 been familiar with alfalfa growing for 10 years, my first 

 experience on a large scale was five years ago, when I 

 seeded the Kenilworth farms, containing 900 acres. I 

 was successful in securing a good stand on the entire 

 tract. Some of the land is upland, with sandy loam soil, 

 washed from the mountains, and various subsoils, hard- 



