23 



■over other hay crops is found in the rapidity of its growth, which 

 enables a farmer to sow it as a catch crop at any lime of the 

 summer season from September to February, and to secure one,, 

 two or even three crops. " Teff, if it once gets a good rain 

 to cause the seed to germinate, is of remarkably quick growth. 

 I have cut my first crop for hay seven weeks from the day I sowed 

 it. When i; grows sufficiently to shade the sun's rays from its 

 roots, its progress is simply phenomenal." (19.) 



HARVESTING FOR HAY. 



Teff makes a beautiful hay if carefully prepared ; Teff-hay more 

 «losely resembles English meadow hay than anything else grown in 

 South Africa. But much of the so-called Teff-hay on the market is 

 merely straw or over-ripe hay ; Teff grown for hay should be cut be- 

 fore it is fully ripe to obtain the best quality. The best hay is made 

 fey stacking and allowing a certain amount of fermentation (" heat- 

 ing ") to take place in the stack. But the local market prefers the 

 bright, green colour of hay baled directly from wmdrows or cocks 

 in the field rather than the duller colour of real hay fermented 

 in the stack. Those who are growing for the market should 

 bear this in mind, but those who grow for their own farm use 

 would be well advised to cure it properly in the stack before 

 baling. 



Being fine in leaf and stem. T eff dries, quickly, and mu st^^ot 

 be leiF'ldhgexposed to~1bE e sun ; ~the Teng:h of ti^np will d°pp"d 

 ■oh thewealher. ET bright, sunny, dry weather, Teff cut in the 

 afternoon may be raked inio windrows after the dew is off the 

 next morning ; these windrows may be cocked the same after- 

 noon, against a possible rain at night, and may even be stacked 

 the next day, though another twenty-four hours in cock would 

 probably be beneficial and save the labour of pulling down the 

 slack in the event of over-heating. 



Mr. Gillespie recommends to " cut with mowers and allow it 

 to lie until next day, when the ordinary dump rake can be used 

 in bringing it into windrows, after which a tilt rake, to bring it 

 together, when cocks can be set up. Use wagons with hay tops 

 for bringing on to stacks, as a dragbeam collects sand if used on 

 cultivated land, and this spoils the hay." 



TejEE^iales well, into compact, heavy bales, 75lb. to lOOlb. 

 weight. The usual bale seen on the Johannesburg market is 

 16 X 18 X 36 inches, which measures exactly 6 cubic feet. These 

 are usually wired with three wires. It takes 150 to 170 of 

 these bales to fill an S.A.R. short truck. Some farmers allow their 

 Teff to ripen before cutting, then thrash out the seed for sale, 

 bale the straw, and sell it as Teff-hay ; this has tended to injure 

 the Teff hay industry, and may be the reason why uhe market 

 prefers an uncured sample, so long as it has kept its colour. The 

 best jtage at which to^ cut_ Teff _ for hay is when the ears have 

 hejsdeHout and are just tiirning grey, and when but a very little 

 dark seed can be juibed out bj hand, the rest being siill white 

 or light coloured ; the grass gets harder, less palatable and less 

 nutritious the longer it stands. 



HARVESTING FOR SEED. 



If seed is desired, the crop should be allowed to get ripe before 

 cuttiDg, or the seed will be immature and not give a good ger- 



