PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES 299 



here, and on sandy loam and gravel soils the full yield is 

 attained the second year, while, on heavy soils, it requires 

 three or four years. I have some that is 20 years old, and 

 cannot say how long it will yet continue vigorous. There 

 is difficulty in ridding land of the plant, unless it is 

 flooded In the winter time. We have usually two cut- 

 tings each season, with an average yield for each of about 

 two tons to the acre, although some parts of the land 

 yield four tons at each cutting. I have found it more 

 profitable to raise seed than hay, and for this purpose I 

 prefer the second cutting, using the self-rake, allowing 

 the alfalfa to lie in small piles until dry, then hauling, 

 stacking, and threshing, the same as wheat. The hay lies 

 about 22 hours in the swath, 24 hours in the windrow, 

 and one or two days in the cock, after which it is stacked 

 in large ricks with a horse fork. If properly cured, it 

 will not mold or heat, as it will if damp. On land valued 

 at $30 an acre, the cost of the alfalfa, in the stack, is 

 about $1.50 a ton. The cost of baling is about $2 a ton, 

 the popular weight for bales being about xoo pounds. 

 An average yield of seed is from 300 to 500 pounds to 

 the acre. Threshers take one-sixth toll, and can thresh 

 about 100 bushels in a day. The common machinery 

 saves only about two-thirds of the seed. A bushel of seed 

 weighs more than 60 pounds, and we put 175 pounds in 

 a two-bushel seamless sack. The average selling price of 

 the seed is about $3*50 a bushel. I have one piece of 

 land, containing 60 acres, not irrigated, valued at $30 

 an acre, from which, for ten years, I have cut one crop 

 of hay, and one of seed, and realized an annual net profit 

 of $1000 cash. As compared with clover and timothy 



