| Show IN MAKING ALFALFA HAY EXACT METHODS OF HANDLING ARE OF GREAT importance 14 ir 11 w viV sy Wv aw rw Z xa U ayi A 0 y w fy sv y v ff ali v the side delivery rake Is an excellent tool to use in making alfalfa fa hay but it should be used before the leaves become dry enough to sh shatter atter prepared by the united states department of agriculture val valuable aall le as alfalfa Is it has its drawbacks it Is difficult to establish in some parts of the country especially in the eastern states tates fc it requires careful methods of handling it la Is no crop for the careless farmer but 1 Is a very profitable one for the farmer who akes the trouble to learn how to handle it from the seeding to the feeding one of the important things to learn Is just how to make mahe alfalfa hay bay according to specialists of the united states department of agriculture alfalfa does not cure at all readily and good quality hay Is hard to get especially Is this true of the first cutting which comes when villen heavy rains rain are apt to interfere with its proper curing the bright green tiny hay so cornmon common in the irrigated Ir sections Is almost never seen in the humid regions due to injury from rain time of cutting most farmers are prone to cut their alfalfa too early they are anxious to get more cuttings thereby thinking to get a bigger crop the fact Is 18 the extra cutting Is frequently made at the expense of total tonnage the real test of the size of the seasons crop Is total tonnage rather than number of cuttings where four cuttings are arc possible three usually are more desirable and more profitable more afore hay Is actually made ride tor for the season and the plants arl are left in better condition for the winter the first growth usually Is rank sometimes causing the tha farmer to think it should be cut before e it really Is 19 read ready the stage of growth Is the indication di tor for cutting rather than the size fize of the plants the general rule Is to cut alfalfa just as it Is coming into bloom and add the inq basal il shoots aro ti ro making a good for the next nest crop in the eastern states cutting earlier ran may y injure and frequently kills the plants cutting later lowers the feeding value of the hay methods of harvesting methods of making alfalfa hay bay vary tary in different sections of the country but the basic principles are the same the motto everywhere Is cure alfalfa hay quickly with as IS little handling and exposure to tile the weather as possible rapid curing holds the leaves on better less handling knocks fewer of them off tills this Is imbor important tant because the leaves are the most nutritious part of the alie plant in the west where there Is little rain during the haying season the mowers are started in the morning and the hay raked into windrows wind rows t the he following day the hay Is then coch co ck ed or Is stacked or baled direct from the windrow as soon as the hay la Is sufficiently cured the raking commences as soon as the leaves are wilted but when the stems are still green it Is cocked when the stems are half dry it may be stacked when moisture can no longer be twisted out of a wisp of the hay in the humid sections of the country the process ol of curing the hay Is much more difficult the cutting frequently must b be e delayed several days on account of bad weather the operations and methods method are practically the same as in the try dry sections except that more time Is required ilay hay caps and stack covers may prove necessary stack alfalfa hay high moisture content sometimes makes it desirable to stack alfalfa hay bay instead of putting it in the barn this is e especially P ally true of the first cutting build stacks carefully and in it a shape that will expose as little of the hay lay to the weather as possible cover the tops with marsh grass sudan grass millet or some other long grass that will make a good that thatch C h anchor a well made thatch with rocks on the ends of wire on oil top of a properly made stack and the hay bay will keep almost as well as in the barn in fact it way may keep better on account of the likelihood of new alfalfa hay heating in the mow it if the hay bay Is put in tj the mow it Is well to provide for fop some aoma extra ventilation ti especially it if its moisture content is ls high this can be arranged by placing horizontally horizontal horizon ay at ai frequent intervals vals ventilators rs made of 0 lumber these may be simply a framework in triangular or rectangular shapes shape placed in the hay bay as the mow is fillad Is an operation that must be done in a certain space of 0 time that Is short at best and that Is always liable to bo be made shorter by bad weather for this reason there is no farm operation 1 in which system and efficiency count for more mor e so it will pay every farmer to know just when find and just how to make the most of his alfalfa crop |
