36 BULLETIN 917, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 
from July 18 to August 1, and the third from September 1 to 20. 
These dates for cutting are approximately the same for the other 
regions studied. 
The crew for mowing was in all cases one man and two horses, 
cutting from 8 to 10 acres in a 10-hour day. After mowing, it was 
customary to rake up the hay within a few hours, and not later 
than 24 hours under normal weather conditions. If hay is left in 
the swath more than a day the leaves become dry and brittle and 
break off while it is being raked, causing great loss of feed value. 
At Fort Morgan and Greeley almost all the farmers used side-delivery 
rakes, but at Rocky Ford only a few used these implements. The 
crew was one man and two horses for each type of rake, and by the 
Fig. 30.— Bunching alfalfa. After the hay has been raked into windrows by the use of a side-delivery rake 
it is bunched. 
side-delivery method 10 to 16 acres were raked in a day, while the 
dump rake covered from 12 to 20 acres. After the hay is raked 
into windrows it is bunched. The Fort Morgan and Greeley farmers 
did all the bunching with bunching or dump rakes, either of which 
is operated by one man and two horses. Such a crew can bunch 20 
acres or more of alfalfa in a day. At Rocky Ford some growers 
bunched or shocked the hay with forks, one man handling 4 to 6' 
acres per day. Only a very few men did not bunch the hay before 
stacking it. 
As a rule, hay is permitted to cure from two to five days in the 
bunches before stacking, the methods of stacking varying greatly 
in the different regions and on different farms. A few farmers at 
Rocky Ford hauled the hay to the stack on wagons. This method 
is not used by those having large acreages of alfalfa. Push rakes 
and overshot or side-lift stackers were used by some men in each 
district. At Fort Morgan most of the growers used overshot 
