384 FIELD CROPS 



removing the hay when it is cut. A little delay at each 

 cutting may mean the loss of an entire crop in the course of 

 the season. 



The methods of curing alfalfa hay do not differ from those 

 of curing clover hay. It is very desirable that the hay be 

 cured with as little loss of leaves as possible, and that it be 

 green rather than brown when cured. This means that a 

 large part of the curing must be done in the windrow or 

 cock. Alfalfa should not be left in the swath exposed to the 

 sun and wind for more than a few hours unless weather con- 

 ditions make it absolutely necessary. 



After the hay is cured, it may be put into the barn or 

 stack with the ordinary hay tools. This is the usual practice 

 in the East, but in the West it is commonly stacked with the 

 sweep rakes or " go-devils" in common use there. With 

 these tools, several hundred pounds of hay are gathered in 

 bunches and brought to the stacks without the use of wagons. 

 These stacks are usually scattered over the fields to obviate 

 hauling for long distances, the several cuttings of the season 

 all being put into the same stack or group of stacks. 



As alfalfa hay does not shed water readily, the stacks 

 should be covered with grass hay or straw to prevent 

 injury from the weather. If the hay is to be sold, it is some- 

 times baled in the field as it cures, particularly in the dry 

 sections of the West, but for immediate baling it must be 

 much drier than for stacking. 



484. Harvesting the Seed. The best seed crops of 

 alfalfa are produced only in the drier portions of the country. 

 Alfalfa does not produce good seed freely under humid con- 

 ditions, though a good quality and yield of seed can some- 

 times be obtained. Most of the seed which is now raised 

 in the United States is produced in the irrigated districts 

 of the West, though some dry-land alfalfa seed is grown. 



