The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-14
FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
AGRlCULTURISTs.
some Up-to-Date Hints About Cultiva-
ton OF the Soil and Yields Thereof
horticulture. sittculture and Florlcul-
ture.
MANAGEMENT o. Alfalfa.

A correspondent of the Kansas state
BOARD Of agriculture says:
After the alfalfa has been sown in
the spring, it will be necessary to run
moving machine over the ground
two or three times during the summer
TO keep down the weeds. The sickle
bar should be set high, so as to in
jure the small young plants as little
as possible. If the vegetable debris is
so abundant that it promises to
smother the young alfalfa, it should
be raked up and removed. In harvest
Ing NOV down as much of the crop at
once as can be handled in one day.
Let it wilt in the swaths and then rake
1T into windrows to cure. If the
weather is fine. it can be stacked from
the windrow by using a sweep rake
and stacker. II the weather is threat
ening, bunch the windrows and cock
the lunches to allow it 20 finish cur
ing. 1t should be put into the stack
with just as little handling as possible.
To avoid molding, I have advised
farmers to store alternate layers Of dry
straw and fresh alfalfa hay together
in the barn or stack. The straw need
not form more than about one-fourth
of the total weight. l think this meth
cd especially applicable to the first
crop in localities where old straw
stacks can be easily acquired.
When possible, alfalfa should be
stored under roof, as it does not turn
rain we'll. A cheap hay shed can be
built by setting telegraph poles in
the ground, braced by two-by-sixes.
and putting a good single roof on
the structure. The sides should be left
open and the hay stacked under this
shed in ricks. A stacker of some sort
or other should be used, as it does not
pay to hire men to handle the hay
with fork. They waste too much by
shaking off the leaves, which are COM
siderably better to feed than wheat
bran, pound for pound. Where roof
cannot be had, the hay should be
stacked in high, narrow ricks and COW
cred with long slough grass. Alfalfa
should be cured and stacked, If posi-
Bile, without being rained upon. No
other crop is SO easily injured py rain.
Alfalfa hay rained upon is worth
about half what it would be were it
unexposed.
Harvesting alfalfa at the RICH time
| and in the right manner very largely
determines its feeding value. The ma
jority of farmers wait too long before
starting the moving machine. Alfalfa
should be cut for hay when one-fourtt
70 one-half of the blossoms have open.
ed. When let stand longer, many Of
the leaves fall off and are wasted
Moving early stimulates the growth
Of the following crop. Allowing it te
go to seed seemingly exhausts the
plant for that season.
Alfalfa fed green, either as pasture
or as a soiling crop, has few equals II
its nutritive value. In localities where
there is no difficulty in getting stand
the cheapest way to feed it is prob.
ably to pasture it. 1t should never be
pastured until the plants are more
than year old. Owing to their liabil-
ity to hoven or bloat, it is always risky
to pasture cattle or sheep upon alfalfa
Before turning animals liable to bloat
upon the alfalfa give them all they will
eat of some other foou, Death from
bloat is often very sudden.