The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1927-04-14
(Charles R. Hutcheson
ST. Cloud TimeS)

st, ClOuQ llIlCoI
Why do you want to grow al
falfa? Why are you increasing
your acreage of this valuable le-
gume crop? l believe l am safe IN
answering that 80 times out OF
100, alfalfa is being grown because
of the fact that it is richer in pro
tein than any other forage or hay
crop that can be handled in a de-
pendable manner one year after
another on the average Minnesota
farm.
Now, since it is protein that you
are endeavoring to produce, what
part of the plant is richest in pro-
tein? "The leaves, but they are
hard to save" you say. Yes, 90
per cent of the protein in Alfalfa
hay is in the leaves, and only 30
per cent in the stems. So, If you
lose half the leaves, you are los
ing 321s per cent of the protein.
There is as much protein IN
1000 pounds of alfalfa leaves as
there is in 1900 pounds of bran.
Furthermore, there are more wit
amins" in alfalfa leaves per acre
than any other crop or plant that
is produced for livestock feed.
The amount of protein in prop
erly cured alfalfa hay as compar-
ed with the amount in oats, our
old champion protein feed, is a
surprise to many stockmen. In
ton of ripe oats, there are only
100 pounds of protein, while in a
ton of No. 1 alfalfa hay, there are
200 pounds of protein. So 1T takes
a Weld of about 62 bushels of oats
to the acre to produce protein
equal to, one ton of alfalfa. You
wouldn't think of wasting bran
or oats, and yet these alfalfa
leaves are worth lot more, pound
for pound, than either. Last sum-
mer, one MONDAY morning, l was
driving through Wright county,
and a farmer had just begun to
cut his first crop of alfalfa hay.
/ returned again on Wednesday,
two DAYS later and the alfalfa was
still lying in the swath. 1t sure
did look lifeless, all bleached out,
colorless, leaves curle1 up. Inc
farmer was moving down more
hay. I stopped my car and walk
ed over to find out from the owner
of this wrongly treated hay now
he was going to get it into the
barn or stack without wasting the
leaves.
When I got over to where he
WAS in the field. he stopped his
team and asked, "Do you know
anything about curing alfalfa
hay "
I introduced myself, and told
him that I had found out many
things from Minnesota farmers
since had been carrying on this
campaign. I thought the farmer
looked like a good-natured fellow,
so I said to him, "Do you mind my
asking you a question:" He said,
"No, go ahead"
So / said, "What would you do
with a boy of yours if you sent
him to town after a load of bran,
and while he was loading at the
feed store, he rolled the sacks over
the side of the hayrack, tearing a
big slit in each sack; drove home
over the rough roads, through
the barnyard, to the barn; picked
up each sack; put it over his
shoulder and walked in and set it
down in the entry way, leaving a
stream of bran all the way back to
town, thus sprinkling good money
all along the way?"
81 would give him mighty good
ta,rashing," was his immediate
answer.
"Well," says I, 'that's what
someone ought to do to you for
the way you are putting up this
alfalfa because you are going to
have stream of leaves from
where that hay is lying, all along
from where you start to rake it I'M
til you set it into the haymow or
stack"
stWell, this is the first alfalfa
hay I ever put up, and I thought I
had to leave it here to dry" he
said.
So I explained to him that al
falfa hay should be cured and not
dried, and showed him how side
delivery rake and hay loader would
handle his Is acres of alfalfa, and
he was very much pleased.
The next day when I came
back, I noticed that he had gone to
town and purchased a side delivery
rake and a hay loader. During the
season, he took off an average of
five tons to the acre from three
cuttings or rs tons sof alfalfa hay
off these Is acres. He told me
that they saved him from having
to hire a lot of help. The side de.
livery rake and hay loader hal
paid for themselves by properly
and economically handling his Is.
acre field of alfalfa. And they
will be good for at least 10 to IL
years. He had to hire only one
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