The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1928-05-17
CURING ALFALFAE
VERY IMPORTANT
Should Not Be Allowed to Get
too Dry-Leaves Rich in
Protein
TURN HEAVIER CROPS
Method More Important Than
Time-Leaves Should Be
Down, Stemps Up
(By Charles r. Hutcheson)


Now, since it is protein that
you are endeavoring to produce
when you grow alfalfa, what part
of the plant is richest i'm protein?
'The leaves, but they are hard to
save" you say. Less, 65 per cent
of the protein in alfalfa hay is in
the leaves, and only 35 per cent
in the stems. So, if you lose half
the leaves, you are losing 321a per
cent of the protein.
Leaves Rich in Protein and
Vitamins
There is as much protein in
1000 pounds of alfalfa leaves as
in 1900 pounds of bran. Furth-
ermore, there are more "vitamins"
in alfalfa leaves per acre than any
other plant that is produced for
livestock feed. The amount of
protein in properly cured alfalfa
hay as compared with the amour!
in oats, our old champion protein
feed, is a surprise to many stock
men. In a ton of ripe oats, there
are only $50 pounds of digestible
protein, while in a ton of No. 1
alfalfa hay, there are PIP pounds
of protein. So it takes a yield of
over 80 bushels of oats to the
acre to produce protein equal to
one ton of alfalfa. You would not
think of wasting bran or oats, and
yet these alfalfa leaves are worth
a lot more, pound for pound, than
either. One Monday morning I
was driving out through Wright
county, Minnesota, and a farmer
had just begun to cut his first crop
of alfalfa hay. / returned on
Wednesday, two days later, and the
alfalfa was still lying in the
swath. 1t sure did look lifeless,
all bleached out, colorless, leaves
curled up. The farmer was now
ing down more hay. I stopped my
car and walked over to find out
from the owner of this wrongly
treated hay how he was going to
get it into the barn or stack with
out wasting the leaves.
Improper Methods Costly
When / got over to where he
was in the field, he stopped his
team and asked" Do you know
anything about curing alfalfa
hay?"
l introduced myself, and told
him that / had found out many
things from Minnesota farmers
during our alfalfa campaign. I
thought the farmer looked like a
good-natured fellow, so / said to
him, 'Do you mind my asking you
a question He said, "No, go
ahead"
So I 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
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 the hay
rack and all the way back to town,
thus sprinkling good money all
along the way?"
81 would give him a mighty good
thrashing," was his immediate
answer.
"Well," says /, "that's what
someone ought to do to you for
the way you are putting up this
alfalfa because you are going to
have a stream of leaves from where
that hay is lying, all along from
where you start to rake it until
you get it into the haymow or
stack"
"Well, this is the first alfalfa
hay / ever put up, and / thought
/ had to leave it here to dry" he
said.