324 



THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



of water, about six inches each time. After the first two 

 or three years, only about half the quantity used at first 

 will be needed. After the first year I cut twice, and 

 obtain about i>4 tons to the acre each time. The first 

 crop is best for seed, and is harvested when the top bolls 

 are dead ripe, raked the day after cutting, bunched for 

 two days and then stacked, to be threshed with the com- 

 mon threshing machinery, putting through twice. Five 

 bushels to the acre is a ccmmon yield of seed, and the 

 cleaning and threshing cost 50 to 75 cents a bushel. The 

 hay is cut when the greater part is in bloom, allowed to 

 lie about a day before raking, cured about three days, 

 and then stacked, 14 to 16 feet wide, 60 feet long, and 

 20 feet high. It does not seem to heat or mold here. The 

 total cost in the stack is about $1.50 a ton, and baling, in 

 100-pound bales, costs $2 a ton. Selling price of loose 

 hay in this section is $5 a ton, and the seed, 10 to 12 cents 

 per pound in the market. The straw is worth about as 

 much as the hay for feed. I am well satisfied with the 

 general results of growing alfalfa here, and am now pre- 

 paring 200 acres for seeding. Where it will grow well, 

 it is the best forage plant ever discovered, being good 

 feed for cattle, hogs, sheep, fowls, and, in fact, all ani- 

 mals on the farm, while as a fertilizer it cannot be sur- 

 passed. But one cannot do anything with it if there is 

 not sufficient moisture to raise wheat or oats. 



