The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-01-29
Talks on ALFALFA
interesting Facts About the
Great Weed.
IT'S GROWTH AND CURE
It's Results When Fed thanked
TO Cattle.

Charles V. Ferguson is quite an inter
esting student OF alfalfa He reads
everything he can find relating 10 the
grass, and has fund of information on
the subject of is growth. care and cure.
There. IS no better hay plant than al
/ falfa, where it viii grow" said Mr.. Fer
( guson to a reporter. "'The making Of hay
I requires considerable skill, on account Of
+ the nature OF the plant II the hay is
put into stacks or into barns tcfore
! the stems are cured, it is liable TO heat
and mould; and if It Is allowed to lie on
/ the ground too long before stacking, the
( leaves get dry and brittle and will drop
/ off and a large share of the most yaIua-
/ bible part of the forage will be lost. To
make the best hay. the field should be cut
Z just when the first flowers commence to
appear. If allowed TO go until in full
bloom. or until after the plants have fin
ished Towering. the stems become hard
and woody, and are unit to be eaten by
stock To make good hay, cut alfalfa
in the forenoon, let it lie in the
swath until the leaves are thoroughly
wilted. but rot dry and brittle; then rake
IN windrows and leave it awhile, and
remove it from the windows directly 10
the stack or 10 the barns. The best ma
chine for this purpose is q stacker, or
some machine constructed on the principle
OF the old fashioned goodwill 1t is
better to stack itsin the field than TO
carry IL a long distance TO q barn, for al
falfa hay should be handled as little as
possible. Every time it is forked over
some of the leaves Kill be lost. and the
leaves are the most palatabIe and nu-
tritious part OF the hay.
The art Of making good alfalfa is to
be acquired by practice, rather than by
following directions, as the quality de-
ponds upon putting it in the stack just
sufficiently cured to keep without heat
ing, and is yet green enough to hold
the leaves. This happy mean can be ac-
CURED only as the result of practice. In
the eastern states the general practice is
to cure in vindrows, and then put in
cocks five or six feet high and as small
rs viii stand. If cocks are too large, they
must be opened in a day or two. so that
the hay in the middle will have chance
to dry. The cocks must be small enough
to allow the air to get at every part of
the hay. If the weather is hot and dry,
the alfalfa win soon be thoroughly cured,
and there viii be no danger of its mold
ing or heating. The curing process may
be materially FASTENED IL a tedder is used
before the hay is raked, especially If the
growth is a very rank one. Tho value
of the hay will depend upon it's being
well cured before the leaves have COM
menced to drop off. An alfalfa stack viii |
not turn water as readily as red clover or
timothy. A hard, soaking rain will often |
decrease the value of the hay one-half !
so that at an average of ten dollars per /
ton the loss viii amount to five dollars |
per ton in feeding value. Where the I
land IS under irrigation, the field should /
be flooded Immediately after the first
cutting and again after each subsequent
cutting during the season. unless there
have teen rains
THE number Of cuttings will vary from
two or three IN New York or Pennsyl-
vania to seven or eight. ard sometimes
more. in California and the states Dor
dering on the Gulf of Mexico
when grown on the most suitable
soils. namely, those which are rich and
well drained, and which abound in lime,
potash, phosphcric acid and magnesium,
and with the stimulus of heat and Inois-
ture, alfalfa yields. with ordinary good
care and cultivation, from one TO two
tons of rich. nutritious hay every four
to six weeks. 1t, however, deteriorates
rapidly after the third year unless taken
care OF. But, as already shown, with
proper care. the limit of profitable produc-
ton need not be set a. five CT twenty. or
even fifty years.
There is in the state Of Sonora, Afexi-
60. q field which is known to nave been
kept in alfalfa continuously for over sixty
years. and II s said to be in as good
condition today as 1t ever vas.
when alfalfa is grown for seed the
second crop is the one usually saved. The
yield from this IS heavier. and, what is
# more Importance. the crop ripens uni
-ornly. The first crop does not often seed
well, probably because the insects which
aid in the fertilization Of the towers
ire not present in sufficient numbers in
May or early June. when the flowers first