ALFALFA HAYING IN COLORADO. 
A WHOLISALE BUSINESS IN CUBING GKASS 
Hayfield as Big as a Farm. 
A beautiful day in early .June, clear and bright. A 
gen’le breeze bringing grateful coolness from the 
snow-crowned Rcckies, makes the heavy work in the 
hayfield easier for man and beast Day after dayi the 
same bright sunshine and often the same welcome 
breeze. Little need to look ahead for showers or 
storms to spoil the work of the haymakers. Sunshine 
is the rule, storms the exception at this season of the 
year. 
In the valley of the Cache LaPoudre River, midway 
between Denver and Cheyenne, on the Union Pacific 
Railroad, lies the pretty little city of Greeley. One 
mile north of Greeley lies the large dairy farm owned 
by Albert Howard, comprising about 450 acres. The 
river runs 
through that 
portion of then 
land used fcr 
pastures, but 
upon the bluff 
something like 
150 a cr es. of 
Alfalfa are 
now being 
harvested. A 
hayfield scene 
is always a 
pretty o n e— 
let it be in one 
State or an¬ 
other—and to¬ 
day a visit has 
been planned 
to the “upper 
80 ” to see the 
hay-makers at 
their work. 
Uncle Joe from 
misty Massa¬ 
chusetts, is 
making his 
first visit to 
this favored 
portion of 
Uncle Sam’s 
fair domain. 
He has (Seen 
the great fields 
of Alfalfa 
grow purple 
with their 
honey-laden blossoms, and now he must see how 
modern invention has made it possible for the owner 
of large tracts of that wonderful forage plant, to 
handle comfortably the immense crop that springs up 
for him, three, and even four, times in a season. Mr. 
Howard has returned from his morning drive, deliver¬ 
ing milk in town. Leaving the empty cans in care of 
the man at the milk house, another seat is put into 
the “ Valley Home Dairy” wagon, together with a pail 
of dinner, and a can of fresh ice water for the men, and 
we start for the place where they are stacking, a mile 
from home. On the way we pass acres ready for the 
mowers. The morning breeze is freighted with the 
odor of countless blossoms. The mowing machine and 
the rake, are doing their work on the left, and right 
before us a stack newly begun is well under way. 
How They Handle the Machines. 
“ How long have your mowers been running,” asked 
Uncle Joe, as he saw the ground for acres around, 
literally covered with windrows left to cure just as 
the rake had tossed them together. 
“It takes about four days to make Alfalfa,” said 
Mr. Howard; “so we must keep them that much 
ahead of the stacker.” 
“ Do you use a tedder ? ’ 
“No! There is little need of one in this country. 
The native grass on the bottom land cures in one day’s 
time without much stirring excepting that given by 
the rake, and it does not do to shake Alfalfa up too 
much ; it loses its leaves as readily as clover.” 
By this time we had reached the stack. Daisy was 
left to nibble at-the sweet new hay, while we watched 
the men at work. “ How full of juice the Alfalfa is,” 
said Uncle Joe, as he gathered a handful of the purple 
clusters, left growing upon the banks of the irrigating 
ditch near by ; “I don’t wonder your cows enjoy it, 
especially if it is always as fresh and green looking as 
that in the stack.” 
“ That is all due to the curing,” Mr. Howard re¬ 
plied ; “a thorough wetting would blacken it quickly 
enough.” 
“ Not much danger of that, I should judge,” said 
Uncle Joe, laughingly. 
“ It does not look so now; but I recall one August 
when it rained a little every day for a week, and be¬ 
fore we could get the hay off the field, the new crop 
had grown up through the windrows of old hay ; that 
shows you how fast Alfalfa grows. In six weeks, we 
shall be going over this same ground cutting Alfalfa 
two and three feet high.” 
“ And over the same ground again in six weeks 
more,” said Mrs. Howard with a sigh. “ I did not 
know but Alfalfa would be the death of us, before we 
got this new arrangement for stacking.” 
“That was about it,” said Mr. Howard. “Ten 
years ago we handled the hay a good deal as you do in 
Massachusetts. We had mowers and rakes, of course; 
but every load had to be pitched on and off by hand. 
That meant hard work and lots of men for our amount 
of work.” 
“I notice the difference, not so much in the smaller 
number of men,” said Mrs. Howard, “ as in the time I 
have to cook for them. Then they were hardly 
through with one haying before another began. Now 
the haying is done in about half the time, with about 
half the men.” 
“ That man on the gatherer is bringing in a load of 
hay,” said Uncle Joe. “ I declare, how the stuff 
counts up ; he has driven but a rod or two, and see the 
quantity of hay.” 
“ There’s a pile of hay spread out there,” said Mr. 
Howard. 
“ It makes me think of the sea with its white cap¬ 
ped waves,” said Uncle Joe—“I wonder if I should ever 
get used to the vastness of these prairie scenes. 
Those bluffs the other side of the river melt into 
the sky like the distant ocean, and how distinctly 
the stacks and the pump-house, and even the un¬ 
mown ditch banks, show in the distance.” 
Stacking By 
Horse-power. 
On came the 
horses hitched 
to the gather¬ 
er, with their 
heavy load be¬ 
tween them. 
The fork of the 
richer (as the 
machine that 
throws the hay 
into the stack 
is called) had 
been unloaded 
and was low¬ 
ered to the 
ground. The 
rake of the 
loaded gather¬ 
er was driven 
squarely upon 
it. A s th e 
horses were 
backed, and 
the teeth of the 
gatherer with¬ 
drawn, a man 
held the hay 
firmly with his 
hay fork to 
prevent any of 
it from going, 
too. At the 
word of com- 
m a n d, the 
horse at the 
stack straightens the rope and pulls hard aud well, 
the ropes run through the pulleys, the fork rises, 
higher and higher ; when it is upright, the load slips 
from it, the good mare knows her work is done, turns 
and walks leisurely back to her old post by the stack, 
there to stand and nip the hay, till a new load comes 
for her to draw up. The horses on the gatherer trot 
off for a new load, the rake is lowered by a lever, the 
work of gathering begins, and soon the lever is raised 
and the three wheeled machine again comes in with 
its burden. . 
“How much hay could you put up in one day,” 
asked Uncle Joe after watching the work a while. 
“If no breakages occurred, and we used three 
gatherers, as we often do, I should say 40 tons.” 
“ How long a piece do you build on to your stack at 
once ? ” 
“ The benches are about 30 feet each.” 
“ Isn’t it difficult to make the stack waterproof 
where they join ? ” 
“ We have to be careful to lap them well; with 
reasonable care there is no trouble, in fact no more 
Wholesale Hay Making in Colorado. Hokse-power fob Stacking. Fig. 119. 
