192 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



of digestibility, bearing out the opinions of experts that it yields, all 

 things considered, a forage superior to that of the foxtail and broom- 

 corn millets. 



Alfalfa Hay. Probably four-fifths of the alfalfa of the country 

 is utilized in the form of hay. The number of cuttings depends 

 upon the length of the growing season and the varieties and varies 

 from eight and sometimes nine in the extreme Southwest to two in 

 the northern and the semiarid sections. Under favorable conditions 

 three cuttings may be obtained in the northern portion of the coun- 

 try, but in very dry sections one cutting may be all that can be 

 secured in dry seasons. From thirty to forty days of good growing 

 weather are usually required to produce sufficient growth for a hay 

 crop. The general rule is to cut alfalfa just as it is coming into 

 bloom. Feeding experiments show that the feeding value is highest 

 when the alfalfa is cut in early bloom. Results obtained at the 

 Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station show that with hay cut 

 when one-tenth in bloom the protein content is 18.5 per cent ; when 

 one-half in bloom, 17.2 per cent; and when in full bloom, 14.4 per 

 cent. Cutting just as the field commences to show the blooms 

 usually gives satisfactory results. It is safer and better, however, to 

 watch for the starting of the basal shoots which are to form the 

 growth for the succeeding crop. In this way the new growth is 

 ready to take immediate possession of the ground and no delay re- 

 sults. On the other hand, if the cutting takes place before these 

 shoots are formed the new growth is delayed until they can be 

 formed. If the cutting be delayed until these shoots have at- 

 tained any considerable height they will be cut off by the mower, 

 to the injury of the succeeding crop. In case, however, dry weather 

 retards the development of the basal shoots until after the plants 

 commence blooming, the crop should be cut at once so as to get the 

 best quality of hay. The methods of harvesting alfalfa hay vary 

 considerably in the different sections of the country. The ideal 

 everywhere, however, is to enable the hay to reach the feed lot or 

 barn with the least possible amount of handling and exposure to 

 the w r eather. In the West, where the absence of rainfall during the 

 haying season is the general rule, the conditions for curing the hay 

 are nearly ideal. It is the usual practice to start the mowers in the 

 morning and rake the hay into windrows the following day. The 

 hay is then cocked or is stacked or baled direct from the windrows as 

 soon as it is sufficiently cured. This is usually within two days after 

 raking if the hay is to be stacked, or three days if it is to be baled. 

 The raking commences as soon as the leaves are wilted, but when the 

 stems are still green. It is cocked when the stems are "half dry." 

 It may be stacked when moisture can no longer be twisted out of a 

 wisp of the hay. It is not in suitable condition for baling, however, 

 until the stems will break under heavy twisting in the hand. 



Alfalfa should be cut when not more than one-tenth of the 

 plants have come in bloom. Cut at this early stage, the yield of 

 hay for the season will be much greater than if the alfalfa is cut near 

 maturity, and every pound of hay secured will be worth more for 



