206 FIELD AXD GARDEN PRODUCTS 



only in this manner can the best grade of hay be secured. In the 

 drier regions these cocks may safely be made quite large. In curing 

 bundled sorghum the same principles must be observed by putting it 

 immediately into shocks varying in size from 12 to 60 bundles, 

 depending on the dryness of the region. Preferably, these shocks 

 should be large and the hay will be bright, sweet, and palatable. 

 In the more humid regions sorghum hay should be stacked or stored 

 immediately after it is thoroughly cured. This is not so urgent in 

 the drier regions, because the hay is less likely to be damaged by 

 rain ; however, unless it is to be fed early from the field it should be 

 hauled and stored as soon after curing as possible. (F. B. 458.) 



Saccharine Sorghum Hay. Where grown for hay, sorghum 

 may be allowed to stand until after the first light frosts if not suf- 

 ficiently mature. In case a heavy frost strikes it while still standing, 

 it should be cut at once and will be found very little injured, if 

 at all. If left standing three or four days after such a heavy frost, 

 it will be found unpalatable to stock. Broadcasted or close-drilled 

 sorghum may be cut either with a mower or with a grain binder. 

 When cut and bound with a binder, the bundles are set up in small 

 shocks like small grain and allowed to cure in the shock. The hay 

 may then be put in a mow or stack or fed directly from the shock. 

 The ordinary grain binder may be adapted for sorghum cutting by 

 an extension reel and open-end elevators. The binder is used more 

 commonly in Kansas and adjacent territory than anywhere else. It 

 will probably be more successful in that dry region than in moister 

 climates, since the danger of spoiling in the bundles is considerably 

 less. The bundles should not be too tightly bound. When cut 

 with a mower there are two quite different methods of handling the 

 hay. The older and probably still the more common method is to 

 cure the hay in the swath, then in windrows, and finally in cocks, 

 as ordinary hay is handled. This method has the advantage of get- 

 ting rid of the moisture as fast as possible before the hay is handled 

 much. The weight is thus largely decreased and the labor and ex- 

 pense of handling the hay are also decreased. On the other hand, 

 the curing hay is exposed to sunshine and dew, often to rain and 

 to frost, all of which affect its quality. It must be handled more 

 times before the curing is finished, which in part offsets the gain of 

 handling a smaller weight. A more recent method, and one which 

 is growing in favor, is to allow the cut hay simply to wilt down in 

 the swath, and then to rake it at once into large cocks, the size of 

 which will depend somewhat on the size of the stems of the sorghum. 

 Where it is fine and slender, the stems not larger than the little 

 finger, it is best to make the cock not much larger than the ordinary 

 haycock. If the stems average nearer the size of the thumb, the cock 

 may be made two or three times as large. The cocks should be 

 dressed down with a fork to shed water well. They are also some- 

 times capped with straw or hay for the same purpose. No effort is 

 made to cure the hay before putting it in the cock, the curing being 

 all done in the cocks. If the steins are not too large there is little 



