The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-08-22
Saving Pea Hay. tNA.txN

Southern Agrfculturist. In this section more peas have been sown than in any previous season. and a few words in regard to curing and saving this hay should not be amiss. In the first place want to say, there is no better hay, when properly cured, and I have fed all kinds from mllet to alfalfa.
 To cure pea hay in a perfect condi- tion, that is. so when taken from the mow in winter, 1t still retains its leaves and that fresh. green color. so
 much desired. we need the weather conditions just right, and then 1t takes some judgment in regard to time of cutting, curing. etc. I have found 1t much easier to cure some years than others.
 I would not cut the pea vines until
 many of the pods are ripe. If you let them get too ripe you lose many of the leaves. If cut too green, it Is almost impossible to cure the hay so that it will not heat in the now. It If heats | slightly. 1t may result in no harm.
 but if 1t gets very hot it destroys that
 bright green color and may result in | badly nodded hay.
 INhave noticed that most people cut | too green for best results. Quite q | quantity of ripe peas only makes it l the richer food.
 Cut when the weather shows indi- | cation of settled dry spell. When | cGtting I take the track cleaver off | mN mower. as 1t only serves to drag | the vines up in piles. so that they will not cure without being shaken out and | vines are left in their natural position
 and the next round with the mower | cuts clear through them again. thus f entirely severing and separating each l swath.
 If your mower is properly construct | ed so that the width of wheels is the
 same as the width of cut, you can drive
 by the wheel marks. keeping the left | wheel in the track of the right of the | previous round and your mower will not pack the vines down so that they
 will cure without turning or ted
 dering.
 If the weather Is hot and dry. half a
 days sun will sometimes cure the vines | sufficienly to be raked in small wind | rows I usually begin raking after l noon what l cut that morning and
 the previous afternoon. The idea Is to ! rake up before the leaves have dried | enough to become brittle. frequently
 put this up in small shocks as soon as l raked and let it cure in the shock. This usually takes from two to four
 days. If the vines appear very green | IF
 1t remain in the wind row until the
 following day. when I turn them over, | thus drying the under side and then
 shock.
 Remember ito put 1t in small shocks
 as this Is the only way I have been
 able to cure 1t with that bright green | color before spoken of. and large | shocks are no advantage in turning | rain. heavy rain will go complete 1 ly through them, no matter how well l put up and they are much more trouble l to turn out again should they get wet.
 | This method requires good weather | but 1t Is the only way I have been able | to get 1t cured in the condition in l which I want. because If you try to 1 cure 1t sufficiently to put in the barn
 before shocking. the leaves become too | dry and are shattered and lost before | the stems are cured.
 | Last year I saved thirty acres of the | heaviest pea hay I have ever seen: 1t | made about three tons of cured hay per acre, and ] saved 1t fin perfect con | dition. I don't think there was a fork
 full of moldy hay in the entire field | and I never had stock to keep up so | well as they have done on this hay | and l have fed less corn than usual. | have dwelt considerably on the lit- | tie details, but did you know that the | difference between success~and failure depends largely on these? Not only is
 this true in hay making. but in the | entire management of the farm. It Is l close attention to the little details that l leads to success.
 | Robert Gallagher. | ShelbyVille, Tenn,