CARE IN CURING
After all possible care has been taken in seeding, cultivating and harvesting alfalfa, its feeding value may be greatly impaired or quite lost by ignorance or carelessness in storing; that is, by stacking or putting it into sheds or barns, or by baling it for market when in an unsuitable condition.
The only path to safety in stacking or storing in shed or mow is having the hay in proper condition for completing its own curing. The true medium for its curing is air, not sun; the sun has done possibly more than its share already. But good hay is not completely and properly cured in swath, windrow and cock. If cured in the windrow, the exposed parts are liable to be much injured by the sun. Therefore the principle stands, “Handle alfalfa green.” It must be cut green, teddered, raked and cocked or bunched while comparatively green, and must not then be allowed to dry and parch to brittleness. True, it must not be put into a stack so long as it is possible to wring water out of the stalks. A constant study should be to find the best method of getting the hay into storage without loss of its natural color. The method that will safely store it greenest will be the best to follow. Handled green the leaves are saved, and these constitute from 50 to 75 per cent of the whole value.