Storing

When cured in cocks, these are preferably made small to

facilitate quick curing, but usually from two to four days are necessary

to complete the curing. If the cocks require opening out before being

drawn, the work should be done with care. Ordinary stacking and storing

may be done in practically the same way as in handling medium red

clover, and the same care is necessary in protecting the stacks. In

areas where considerable rain falls in the autumn, hay sheds will prove

a great convenience in storing alfalfa in the absence of better

facilities. In the Eastern States alfalfa is sometimes stored in mows

undercured, by putting it into the mow in alternate layers with straw.

The straw not only aids in preserving the alfalfa in good condition, but

the alfalfa imparts an aroma to the straw which induces live stock to

eat it readily. In showery weather this method of curing alfalfa merits

careful attention where straw can be had near at hand and in sufficient

quantities.



The method is sometimes adopted of cutting alfalfa even for hay by using

the self-rake reaper. The sheaves thus made are allowed to lie on the

ground undisturbed until they are ready for being drawn. By this method

of cutting, the loss of leaves is almost entirely avoided, but there are

these objections to it: that it exposes unduly to sunlight during the

curing process, and in case of rain the sheaves are easily saturated and

do not dry readily unless turned over.



Rain falling on alfalfa will injure it quite as much as it does red

clover. (See page 96.) In climates with much rainfall in May or June,

when the first cutting of alfalfa is ready for being harvested,

according to locality, in instances not a few much difficulty is found

in curing alfalfa without loss. Sometimes the entire cutting will be

rendered practically useless by rain. Because of this, as previously

intimated, it may be well to arrange, where practicable, to cut the

first crop of the season for soiling food.



The number of cuttings during the year depends on such conditions as

relate to the length of the season, the character of the soil, the

abundance of moisture present, and the use to which the alfalfa is put.

In some of the river bottoms southward in the Rocky Mountains, where

irrigating waters are plentiful, it is claimed that alfalfa may be made

to furnish one cutting for soiling food every month in the year. Even in

the Northern western valleys, as many as five or six cuttings for the

use named may be obtained. North from the Ohio and Potomac rivers three

to five cuttings of soiling food may be looked for each season, and

south of these rivers even a larger number. North of the same rivers the

hay crops run from two to four, and southward from the same they are

seldom less than three. In the western valleys they range from three to

five or six, according to location. In States bordering on the semi-arid

States eastward and some distance south of the Canadian boundary, from

three to four cuttings may usually be expected. In Colorado and States

north and south from the same, two good crops of alfalfa may be cut from

spring-sown seed the same season, but where irrigation is not practiced

it is seldom that one crop of hay is harvested under similar conditions

of sowing. But in the semi-arid belt not more than one cutting is

usually obtained each season in the absence of water. But the number of

cuttings will be reduced when one of these is a seed crop. When a seed

crop is taken, the vitality of the plants is apparently so much reduced

for the season that the subsequent growth is much less vigorous than if

seed had not been thus taken.



The yield of hay from each cutting will, of course, vary much with

conditions, but it is seldom less than a ton. An approximate average

would place the average cutting at about 1-1/4 tons, but as much as 2

tons have been obtained per acre at a cutting, and, again, not more than

1/2 ton. In New Jersey an average of 4.57 tons per acre was obtained

under good conditions of management, but without irrigation, at the

experiment station for three years in succession. In Kansas, 4 to 6 tons

per acre may usually be expected from good soils. In Tulare County,

California, as much as 6 to 10 tons have been secured under irrigation.



The yields from the various cuttings are by no means uniform, especially

in the absence of irrigation. They are much influenced by rainfall. In

such areas, the second cutting is usually the best for the season, the

subsequent cuttings being considerably less. Where irrigation is

practiced, the crops are much more uniform, but even in mild climates,

as the season advances, there is a tendency to lesser yields, indicative

of the necessity of at least partial rest for plants during a portion of

the year. The yields of alfalfa are usually exceeded by those of no

other crop, where the conditions are quite favorable to its growth, even

in the absence of irrigation. At the New Jersey Experiment Station, as

stated in Bulletin No. 148, one acre of alfalfa produced 36,540 pounds

of green food; of corn, 24,000; of red clover, 14,000; of crimson

clover, 14,000; of millet, 16,000; of cow peas, 16,000; and of oats and

peas, 14,000 pounds. But where only two, or even three, cuttings can be

obtained per year, some crops may produce larger yields than alfalfa. In

the distinctive alfalfa belt in the West, no forage crop can be grown

that will compare with it in the yields obtained. The protein in alfalfa

is also relatively high. At the station quoted above it was found one

ton of alfalfa contained 265 pounds of protein; hence, its high relative

value as a food; red clover, 246 pounds; timothy, 118 pounds; and wheat

bran, 118 pounds. At the Delaware Experiment Station, in Bulletin No.

55, it is stated that maximum crops of cow peas and of crimson clover

gave 720 pounds of protein, while a maximum crop of alfalfa gave 1230

pounds.



Where alfalfa is irrigated, it is usual to apply irrigating waters just

after each cutting of the crop. It is a matter of some importance that

the water shall be applied at once as soon as the previous crop has been

harvested, otherwise time will be lost in growing the next crop. There

are instances where it is necessary to apply water before the first crop

is grown, but usually the moisture which falls in the winter and spring

will suffice to produce the first crop of the season. Some irrigators

apply water some time previous to harvesting the crop, but not so late

as to leave the ground in a soft condition when mowing is begun. The

amount of water required will vary with the soil, the season of the

year, the distance of the ground water from the surface, and the

precipitation. The more porous the soil and subsoil, the hotter the

weather, the less the precipitation and the farther below the surface,

up to a certain limit, the greater will be the amount of water needed.

There are situations, as in some of the islands in the Yellowstone

River, in which ground water is so near the surface that alfalfa grown

on these is able to get enough of water from this subterranean source to

produce good crops. Care should be taken not to apply water in excess of

the needs of the crop, or the yields will be proportionately reduced.

The amounts that will best serve the end sought can only be ascertained

by actual test. Caution is also necessary where the winters are cold not

to apply water late or in excessive quantities, lest a sappy condition

of the plants shall be induced, which will make them succumb to the cold

of the winter following. Moreover, on some soils alfalfa fields will

produce good crops, if irrigated only the first season, until the roots

get down to moisture, the irrigating waters being utilized when more

needed.



Alfalfa hay is fed freely to all kinds of domestic animals on the farm,

and with results that should prove highly satisfactory. Properly fed, it

is an excellent food for horses and mules. It not only serves to

maintain flesh, but it is favorable to glossiness in the coat. Horses

that are working hard should be accustomed to it gradually. When it is

fed to them too freely at the first, it induces too much of a laxity in

the bowels, too free urination, and profuse sweating. When fed to such

horses or mules, some authorities claim that several weeks should be

covered in getting them on to what is termed a full feed of alfalfa.

When fed to milch cows, free lactation results. Alfalfa fine in

character is now manufactured into food suitable for calves and other

young stock. Cattle and sheep are now fattened for slaughter on alfalfa

hay fed alone, but when thus fattened the finish made is not equal to

that resulting from adding grain to the alfalfa. To meet the needs of

the best markets, alfalfa alone does not produce enough of fat or of

firmness in the flesh, but it has been claimed, and probably it is true,

that one-half the amount of grain required for finishing along with

carbonaceous fodder, such as corn stalks or timothy, will give equally

good and quick increase when fed with alfalfa hay. It is most excellent

fodder on which to grow cattle and sheep, even in the absence of a grain

supplement. The later cuttings of the season are thought to be the most

suitable for calves and also for sheep and lambs, because of the greater

fineness of the fodder and the greater abundance of leaves on it.

Alfalfa hay is used with much advantage in wintering swine, especially

brood sows. Swine have been wintered on alfalfa hay without any grain

supplement where the winters are mild, but they will fare much better

with a grain supplement. It is thought that half the usual amount of

grain fed will produce equal results when fed with alfalfa, to those

obtained from feeding a full allowance of grain in its absence. Alfalfa

and sorghum properly grown make an excellent food for swine, and the two

may be profitably fed thus where the conditions may be over-dry for

corn, but not for sorghum. When feeding alfalfa, the aim should be to

use it in conjunction with a carbonaceous food, as corn. Fortunate is

the country which grows good crops of corn and alfalfa.