16 



CIRCULAR 863, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



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Figure 5. — Cutting a crop of sericea hay. This is already too tall to make the 



best hay. 



hay. There is some waste in feeding older hay, especially when fed 

 to cattle. Mules and horses will eat coarser material and have 

 even been known to eat the straw left after a crop of seed was 

 threshed. Much of the complaint voiced about sericea hay is 

 due to the fact that cutting had been delayed until the growth 

 was 24 to 30 inches high. When cut at the proper time, there 

 is very little wood and the material cures with no greater loss 

 of leaves than is experienced with annual lespedeza hay. One 

 of the most successful growers of sericea prefers to cut when 

 the shoots are 8 to 10 inches high. His hay brings locally a 

 higher price than annual lespedeza hay. 



Sericea cures quickly and the cut material should be left in 

 the swath only a short time. If left in the swath in the sun too 

 long, the leaves become brittle and shatter. In good summer 

 haying weather, sericea hay, cut in the morning and raked before 

 noon, can be hauled and stored loose in the barn the same after- 

 noon. If the hay is to be baled, it is better practice to let the 

 hay cure in the field until the following day. Some prefer to 

 place it in small shocks after windrowing and leave until cured. 

 Sericea may also be cut and windrowed in one operation (fig. 6). 

 The weather must, of course, be considered, as too much moisture, 

 especially in the baled hay, may result in heating and in the 

 development of mold. It has been shown that the sooner the 

 hay can safely be put under cover the better it will be. 



