UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1424 
Washington, D. C. 
August, 1926 
COMPARATIVE SHRINKAGE IN WEIGHT OF ALFALFA CURED WITH 
LEAVES ATTACHED AND REMOVED 
H. L. Westovek, Agronomist 
Office of Forage Crops, Bureau of Plant Industry l 
CONTENTS 
Fag« 
Introduction 1 
Tests at Redfield, S. Dak 2 
Tests at Bard, Calif 7 
Test at Rosslyn, Va., near Washington, D. C. 8 
Page 
Test at North'Ridgeville, Ohio 9 
Summary 9 
Literature cited 10 
INTRODUCTION 
There is a rather prevalent opinion, and one that has frequently 
found expression in agricultural literature, that forage crops cure 
more quickly if handled in such a way as to maintain the leaves in as 
fresh a condition as possible until enough time has elapsed to permit 
the stems to lose much or most of their moisture. This view is well 
expressed in the following citations: 
In growing plants there is a constant stream of water entering the roots, carry- 
ing plant food through the plant to the leaves, where the water is thrown off by 
transpiration. When the plant is cut off, as in the case of hay plants, the leaves, 
if kept alive, will continue to transpire or pump the water from the plant until 
a large per cent of it has evaporated. — McClure (4, p. 6). 2 
Proper slow curing enables the moisture to be drawn from the stems into the 
leaves and off from their surfaces. * * *. — Mohler (5, p. 21$). 
If the hay is raked before the leaves are dry and placed in cocks, the leaves 
continue to pump water out of the stems, thus allowing the hay to cure out 
fully and evenly. — {2, p. 242). 
On the other hand, if the mowing is done late in the afternoon or during 
cloudv weather, much of the moisture in the stems passes out through the leaves 
* * *.— Carrier (1, p. 2527). 
Therefore, while the leaf has yet pliancy and some semblance of its natural 
condition, it is most efficiently carrying away the sap of the stem * * *. — 
Wing {10, p. 809). 
There is serious doubt as to the accuracy of the theory that the leaves of 
the cut plants act as pumps. — Piper and others (7, p. 
i The writer acknowledges indebtedness to Samuel Garver and M. W. Evans, of the Office of Forage 
Crops, and H. A. Gunning, of the Office of Cotton, Rubber, and Other Tropical Plants, for assistance in 
procuring the data presented in this bulletin. 
2 Reference is made by number (italic) to "Literature cited," p. 10. 
97190—26 1 
