34 HINTS ON RAISING FARM CROPS 
to cure is exposed to rain, a serious loss in 
the feeding value of the hay is suffered by 
the farmer. When the hay has sufficiently 
dried out, then the farmer loads the hay on a 
hay-rack, and stores it in his barn for winter 
feeding. The hay can be loaded on the hay¬ 
rack much easier by means of the modern hay 
loader, although this machine cannot be used 
on very hilly land. The old-fashioned method 
of “pitching” hay with the fork is still used 
by many farmers, however. 
PASTURES 
Pasture land is found on nearly all farms 
in this country, and it is safe to say that over 
a billion acres of land in America are devoted 
to this purpose. Pasture, as nearly everyone 
knows, is land seeded to one or more grass 
crops, in order that the farm animals may gra^e 
or feed on the crop while it is in the green 
stage. During the summer months, this method 
affords ideal feed for the various farm animals. 
The best land on the farm is not generally 
chosen for pasture land, but rather nveadow 
land that has become low in fertility, or hilly 
or low land on which it is difficult to cultivate 
other farm crops. However, many farmers pre¬ 
fer to include their pasture land in a system 
of rotation, but this has a drawback in that 
the best pasture plants do not give the highest 
returns always for the short time the pasture 
is allowed to remain as such. 
One of the most practical methods of estab¬ 
lishing a pasture is to convert a meadow that 
