FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 135 



Valuable Hay if Properly Cured. 



The great advantages of alfalfa hay are its palatabil- 

 ity, its high mineral content, its ability to help animals 

 assimilate more minerals from the ration, its relatively large 

 vitamine content, its great yield of nutrients per acre, and 

 especially its high protein content. But to secure these ad- 

 vantages, the alfalfa hay must be protected from the sun, 

 dew and rain in curing. 



The hay should remain in the swath just long enough 

 to wilt, but of course it must be wilted before it can be 

 raked properly. 



Much Loss in Common Curing. 



It has Deen estimated that at least half the alfalfa is 

 cured in the swath where the sun, dew, and occasional rain 

 bleach the leaves, and that only 10 per cent is cured in 

 cocks and almost none under caps. When cured in the 

 swath the leaves become dry and brittle and a large per- 

 centage shatter off and are lost when the hay is raked into 

 windrows. This loss is tremendous because alfalfa leaves 

 contain about nine times as high a percentage of protein as 

 do the stems. From 75 to 80 per cent of the protein con- 

 tained in the alfalfa crop is usually in the leaves. And one 

 of the chief reasons for growing alfalfa is for its protein 

 to balance up the excessive amount of carbohydrates in 

 corn. Hence, if we do not retain the leaves in the alfalfa 

 hay, we might as well not grow the crop because timothy 

 hay contains nearly twice as much protein as alfalfa stems. 



Many farmers who pitch the hay onto the wagon by 

 hand do not put the hay into cocks until after it is dry. In 

 addition to losing leaves when hay is handled in this condi- 

 tion, cocks made of dry hay will not turn water nearly as 

 Well ae if made while the stems are yet green. 



On these two counts, then, bleaching and losing the 

 leaves by shattering, the hay not only loses weight but the 

 best and richest part is lost, and the part that is saved is 

 decidedly unpalatable in comparison with hay cured in 

 cocks under caps. Such hay cannot have the six high qual- 

 ities mentioned above. 



