86 THE BOOIt OF ALFALFA 



"With regard to the exclusion of dew, it is not alone its 

 power to carry off aroma that should be considered. 

 When dew 'falls' it must tend to carry with it any particles 

 of solid matter that may happen to be in the air from 

 which it is deposited, and, in this way, the spores of fungi, 

 such as would cause the hay to mold, are put upon it. It 

 can scarcely be questioned that many of the organisms 

 deposited with the dew are likely to promote hurtful 

 decomposition, especially in case the hay should remain or 

 become damp, and the less of these organisms that infest 

 the hay the better it will be/' 



When the farmer considers that a ton of well-cured 

 alfalfa hay is worth about as much as a ton of wheat 

 bran, he ought to see that it is profitable to protect it 

 from the rain and the dew. He would scarcely hesitate 

 to provide suitable covering if he had several tons of 

 bran in the field exposed to the elements. Hay-caps will 

 soon pay for themselves by the finer quality of the hay 

 they assure, aside from the larger quantity of the best 

 grade that their protection guarantees. 



Storer further says, "there can be no question as to 

 the very great merit of hay-caps when properly used. 

 They are simply pieces of stout, cotton cloth of suitable 

 size, say 40 to 45 inches square as a minimum, (60 inches 

 square would be far better — ^Author) which are thrown 

 over the cocks when rain is imminent, or at nightfall. 

 These cloths may have wooden pegs or some sort of 

 weight attached to each corner to hold them in place; the 

 pegs can be driven into the ground or pushed under the 

 hay, as seems most suitable to the size of the cock or con- 



