The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1926-06-03
BLUE VALLEY FARM SERVICE
Cutting Alfalfa.
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One OF our great livestock feeders
of the central west has said "Well
cured alfalfa hay is more readily eat
en- by all classes Of livestock than
any other kind of hay" Well cured
note that.
The Ohio Experiment Station has
just come out with a circular on
cutting alfalfa. Professor Willard
comments as follows: cit is clear that
use his own words: cit is clear that
quality of hay and longevity of stand
are somewhat opposed to each other,
so that the man who wants the high
est feeding value will cut somewhat
earlier than the man who is particu-
larly interested in maintaining his
stand for a long period. Since the
decrease in per cent of leaves and
feeding value from one stage to an
other is much more rapid at the first
cutting than at any subsequent cut
ting it would seem that one desirable
way to obtain the highest possible
quality with the least damage to the
stand would be to make the first cut
ting early and the other cutting at
a somewhat later stage. This had not
been eXperimentally proved, and
the unfavorable weather and compe-
tition of other work about June 1st
may tend to prevent carrying out
this plan.
The earlier one cuts alfalft the bet
ter the quality Of hay; the later it is
cut up to full bloom, the longer the
stand will last. A good general rule
is to cut when it is from tenth to a
quarter in bloom. Never cut before
bloom or after full bloom, unless
forced to by accidents.
"The presence of the shoots at the
base should be largely if not entire
ly disregarded in considering the time
to cut. The stand will not be in
jured by clipping those shoots. 1t is
not necessary or desirable to cut al
falfa high. The ordinary setting Of
the moving machine leaves ample
crown for reproduction.
"The last cutting should be made
early enough so that the alfalfa goes
into the winter with a growth of at
least to inches"
Through the central states good all
falfa hay is hard to find.
What are the more important and
specific steps in making good alfalfa
hay?
1. Cut the alfalfa a little later
than the shoot stage-or about the
time one-tenth of the blooms are out.
2. Let the hay remain unraked
until the leaves and stems are thor
oughly wilted. This means that fire.
quently the hay cut in the morning
may be raked in the afternoon of the
day when the crop was cut.
3. The following afternoon the
hay may be cooked. Sometimes two
or three days may elapse before the
hay can be stacked or placed in the
barn.
Where rains are of frequent &C.
currence it is sometimes necessary to
do much of the curing in the cock
but where the weather promises to be
fair two or three days it is usually
advisable to hasten the process by
doing much of the curing in the
windrows even at the sacrifice of
some of the leaves.
The big job is to get the hay into
the stack or hay NOV with all the
leaves as far as possible. Alfalfa
hay may be safely stacked or put in
CIlS UdIH Will dUUuI ~ per CeIlI IIlOlS-
ture.
More will be said about making
good alfalfa hay later.
w. l.. Burlison,
University of Illinois.
n
Scientists Studying Appetites of
Cows-Five more cows and heifers,
all giving milk and all seriously af-
fected by that strange disorder known
as "depraved Appetite" have been
shipped from western Minnesota
points to the Minnesota Experiment
Station for purposes of observation
and study.
"Depraved appetite" is known to
be due to a lack of mineral sub
stances in the ration. The univer-
sity investigators will try to deter
mine what effect, if any, the lack of
mineral in the cows ration has upon
her utilization of feeds in general.
Some of the cows will be given the
proper amount of minerals along with
the hay grown in the western coun-
try and the general run of oats. The
same ration will be fed others ex-
cept that mineral will be omitted =.