Arizona republican., 1892-06-05
A BIG HAY CROP. The Alfalfa Crop of the Salt River
 Valley. HOW THEY PUT THE HAY UP. The Having is Done Principally by
 Machinery. Having From Easter Till Christ mas-FOur Big Crops
 a Year.

Few people, even in this city, have and idea of the magnitude of the hay crops of the Salt River valley,
 It has been variously estimated from 10000 to 100000 tons, and probably the latter is possible for the entire pro. duct that has been and will be cut be- tween Easter and Christmas. This is not accomplished without great deal of labor and expense.
 The cost of harvesting the hay crop of the valley will be at least S225, 900 and this will all be paid out to the laboring man for work or the grocer for provi- sIons. The. bailing will cost $375, ,O0U more. The hay harvest here is not of a few days duration as in the east, but as soon as one crop is off another is begun.
 An alfalfa farm in the rough costs about $50 per acre and when seeded is worth from S75 to Sl00.
 The plant is great drinker and re- quires constant attention while grow ing.
 Cuttings come about six weeks apart usually, although by careful attention and crowding it can be reduced to once d lllpliNli uhllAle NllO NAilN DRlN VI NAiN season, and almost as rapidly again in September and October. Duriug the months of July and August it is so warm that even alfalfa does not grow as vigo' rIuSly as earlier or later.
 The method of irrigating this crop is the flooding system, the field or meadow being divided into lands separated by high borders, like back-iurrow.
 r..N tl Q n and allowed to run the entire length of the land Casualty eighty rods) and spreads from border to border, making the strip look like a long slim lake. The water is then shifted to another, and so on till the field is irrigated
 After the having begins it IS not un' usual to see cutting gangs at one side oi the field, while they are irrigating the others so that IL is a continued round from one side of the field or farm to the other from the beginning of the harvest to the close.
 The alfalfa is cut with an ordinary mower, although it is necessary for it to be doube-geared and very strong, as it is hard stuff to cut.
 In cutting, the borders are not much in the way and are cut over usually the same as the remainder of the field.
 It requires about two days during the cooler months for the hay to cure, some. times three or four, but in the middle of the season it dries in a day, and fre- quently what is cut in the early morn ing is ready to rake in the afternoon. Two styles are used in stacking and cleaning up the hay from the field, one is with the Sulky rake which winrows the hay, after which it is shocked in small stacks of big f0rkiul each and let stand day or two before stacking, and the other is to use patent rake about fourteen feet wide with a horse on either side. This rake pushes the hay (which must be thoroughly dried ) before it, and when from four to six hundred pounds are collected the points of the long eight foot teeth are raised and the load is drawn to the stack yard This rake is driven onto a ricker head about the size of the rake head and is drawn up by the riCker horse and de posted on the stack. But few are using this method yet and the greater portion is taken from the shock and loaded on wagons, after which it is stacked by means of a derrick which saves the high pitching, but like the ricker is q little tough on the man on the stack.
 A few use the old style method oi hand pitching and stackingf but it is growing out oi date as men do not like the hot work of pitching on the stack After stacking, bailing begins and this is done by crew at cost of $2.50 to $3 per ton.
 The uses of alfalfa are varied.
 When green it is nsed for pasture for hogs, cattle and all classes of farm ani- mals.
 Also by the natives as greens, it being equal to lambs quarter, sour dock, canaigre, or beet leaves. when wilted anl covered with vinegar.
 As a hay it is used to fatten cattle for the markets, the beef being almost equal to the corn fed beef from Kansas or Illinois. Hogs are fatted on the hay and seem to relish it as we'll as a Mis- souri pig does clover and corn.
 For iattening qualities alfalfa has few equals and the seed when it is left to stand makes rich grain for barn yard fowls.
 One .of the greatest uses, however, and one that does not interfere with the cutting of hay is "bee pasture" No place in the United States, or in the world for that matter, can it's equal be found for honey, and the hum of the busy bee is almost as audible as that of the mower when passing through the farming region.
 ENTERPRISE.