lht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
827 
The Big, Hay Crop: Changes in Handling It 
A n IMPORTANT CROP.—Men now living on 
American farms can easily recall the days of 
the past generation, when a score of men went into 
the hayfield in June and July, and with the old 
scythe “mowed their way around the field.” Of 
necessity hay production, upon which rested the live 
stock industry, was a limited quantity, and the great 
expansion of the nation's agriculture was instituted 
with the perfection of the modern mower, which 
removed hay harvesting from the realms of man 
power and the antiquated system then 
in vogue and placed hay among the 
prime crops of our farms. Within the 
next few days American farmers will 
harvest 110.000.000 tons of hay. valued 
at $2,250,000,000, which gives us some 
conception of the enormous proportions 
haying has achieved in this country, 
in fact, because lie utilizes the latest 
methods from seeding to storing in 
stack and barn, our farmer leads the 
world in hay production. 
DEFICIENCIES IN QUALITY.—But 
this year, as in years past, due to lax 
methods of handling, a comparatively 
small per cent of this hay will rate as 
A-1 on the market and be of prime 
quality. If fed on the farm the poor 
quality will be responsible for a lower 
feeding value, which is a direct loss to 
the farmer. Investigation made by 
Uncle Sam’s experts shows that only 10 
per cent, of the hay sold in any year is 
of prime quality. Twenty to JO per 
cent is No. 1. and from 00 to 70 per 
cent grades as No. 2. No. 3 and “No 
Crade” hay. This in spite of the fact 
that the value of hay both for feeding 
and on the market depends upon qual¬ 
ity. A ton of choice hay sells for $4 to 
$10 more per ton than inferior grades. 
It has been demonstrated as impossible 
to get a choice quality of hay unless 
improved machinery is used to facili¬ 
tate the handling of the crop. There 
are few men nowadays who could go 
out into a field with the old-fashioned 
handle scythe and swing it all day long 
as people used to do in grandfather’s 
day. If we had to rely upon these 
crude methods of harvesting hay. it is 
doubtful if much of if would ever be 
harvested. Today machinery has made 
the whole process so that practically 
no hand work is required, and even 
animal labor has been greatly reduced 
by the coining of the tractor. 
MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. — 
Many farmers place the hay in rows 
with sulky or side-delivery rakes, and 
then it is elevated into the wagon by 
loaders. After it is loaded hay forks 
and other appliances remove the whole 
load at once, stowing it away in any 
desired place in the barn. The process 
of making hay and the machinery used 
in haying varies with the different sec¬ 
tions of the country. In the West, 
where hay as a rule is stacked in the 
open, sweep rakes and stackers are 
used: in the corn belt and in the East 
most of the hay is placed in barns. 
This requires hay loaders and barn 
derricks. In the drier regions, where 
the weather conditions are exception¬ 
ally favorable, the greater part of the 
hay is baled in the field. 
TIME OF CUTTING.—The time to 
cut hay depends upon two facts: First, 
tin' state of growth, and, second, the 
weather conditions. In most cases the 
hay should be cut quickly, and always 
it must be cut when ready, although it 
is not advisable to cut hay when it is 
wet with rain or dew. The moisture 
evaporates more rapidly from hay that 
is still standing, and hay cut when it 
is free from moisture is less likely to 
develop mold. Tedding wet hay will 
usually more than repay the farmer 
for his effort and the investment in the 
machine. A good practice is to start 
the mower in the morning after the dew is off, cut 
until late afternoon, and when the hay is wilted rake 
it into windrows with the side-delivery or sulky 
rake. The standard 8-ft. mower insures more acres 
of hay cut and raked in a day than is ordinarily 
possible in twice the time with a 5-ft. machine. 
CURING.—Hay should be cured in the windrows 
or cock, and not left in the swath. If if is left in 
* 
the swath the leaves cure faster than the stems, and 
as a result bleach and scatter. In the windrow the 
process of curing takes place naturally, because the 
aii takes the water off gradually through the leaves. 
Forty per cent of the leguminous value is in the 
leaves, so that any method of putting up hay which 
loses many of the leaves is decidedly unprofitable. 
Contrast the modern easy-running mowers with 
those of the first days, which ran so hard that they 
were justly termed “team killers." These light-run¬ 
ning machines of today permit a team to cut a wide 
swath with a minimum of effort on the team. The 
bunching attachment is one every hay 
producer should consider. This is of 
value in cutting short grass or 
Alfalfa or clover which is to be used 
for seed, and which is short and thin 
in growth. Many farmers have been 
enabled to save a crop of Alfalfa or 
clover worth from $10 to $25 per acre 
with the buncher. which they could not 
have handled with a mower and rake. 
SECURING QUALITY. — Farmers 
have learned a great deal in recent 
years about methods of curing hay in 
order to secure the highest grade. For 
instance, it has been found that hay, 
cured in a loose swath, will retain its 
color and sell for a higher price than 
hay cured as it falls from the cutting 
bar. This is one of the greatest factors 
leading to the perfecting of the side 
delivery rake. The old hand-dump rake 
was a great boon to the hay farmer, 
the self-dump rake eliminated most of 
the hard work from raking, but the 
side-delivery rake, properly used, has 
served greatly to increase the quality 
of the hay produced, and therefore its 
market and feeding value. In using 
the side-delivery rake the hay is al¬ 
lowed to cure only slightly in the 
swath, and the side-delivery rake picks 
it up and delivers it in a loose windrow 
through which the air can pass freely, 
and in which most of the hay will be 
protected from the bleaching action of 
the sun. Some side-delivery rakes can 
be adjusted so as to be used as tedders, 
thus eliminating the immense amount 
of work which was formerly done in 
the field when the hay had to be hand- 
turned with a fork. The hay tedder 
can perform the same work better than 
a dozen men. since it performs its work 
evenly and surely. 
CUTTING AT THE RIGHT TIME. 
—When hay is cut too early there is a 
great loss of nutrients through loss in 
bulk and weight, and when cut too ad¬ 
vanced. or late, there is a serious loss 
in palatability, and also in digestible 
nutrients. The loss from undue delay in 
cutting is least from crops that pro¬ 
duce only one cutting in the season and 
greatest from those that produce more 
than one. Alfalfa and Medium Red 
clover are of the last named class, 
therefore delay in cutting the first crop 
is followed by serious shrinkage in the 
next crop, in addition to the loss in 
feeding value in the crop thus cut at 
too advanced a period. The best stage 
at which to cut Alfalfa is when it is 
coming into bloom, when probably not 
more than one-third of the blooms are 
opened. All the clovers are at their best 
for cutting when approaching or at full 
bloom. They will then have some heads, 
not many, beginning to tint brown. If 
cut sooner than the period named. Al¬ 
falfa and Red clover will be hard to 
cure; if cut later, there is likely to be a 
serious loss of leaves in the curing 
process, and leaves are the most nutri¬ 
tious and palatable portion of these 
foods. Timothy is at its best for cut¬ 
ting when in the later stage of bloom; 
that is. when the bloom still lingers 
upon, say one-third or one-fourth of 
the top of the head. If cut when in 
full bloom the adherent blossoms make 
the hay somewhat dusty when cured. 
Red-top should be cut. when in bloom, 
A Giant ffu ham Plant. Five Month k from Reed ini/. Fit). 323 
Center Plant, Jin ham. At. A, Annual Yellow; at B, Biennial White. Fig. 32 If 
Tractor Faking, Loading ami Itrairing Hag to Barn. Fig. 323 
Tractor and Hag Loader Doing Work of Three Teams. Fig. 326 
