The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits / Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer

by F. D. Coburn

THE USE OF HAY-CAPS

Any man who goes into the business of raising alfalfa anywhere in the rain belt cannot well afford to ignore hay-caps as a part of his equipment. Comparatively the cost is slight and the trouble of using them small considered in the light of their great utility, although the expense, and the use and care of them may at first blush appear to be quite formidable. American haymakers do not seem to appreciate the bad effect of dew upon the color and aroma of all kinds of hay. Prof. F. H. Storer in his “Agriculture” (Vol. III, p. 559) says: “One advantage gained by the use of hay-caps to protect the cocks during the night, is that they hold in the raked-up warmth, and keep the hay from cooling off. Thus it happens that the hay not only improves a little as to dryness during the night, but is all ready to dry rapidly when the cocks are again exposed to the air and sunshine, on being uncovered in the morning. All this as a normal and constant benefit, to say nothing of the advantages derived from the caps in case light rains, or even heavy rains, should fall before the cocks are again opened. The caps keep dew from settling upon the hay, moreover, and thus prevent the loss of aromatic matters that would result if the dew were to dry off from the hay.”

“With regard to the exclusion of dew, it is not alone its power to carry off aroma that should be considered. When dew ‘falls’ it must tend to carry with it any particles of solid matter that may happen to be in the air from which it is deposited, and, in this way the spores of fungi, such as would cause the hay to mold, are put upon it. It can scarcely be questioned that many of the organisms deposited with the dew are likely to promote hurtful decomposition, especially in case the hay should remain or become damp, and the less of these organisms that infest the hay the better it will be.”

When the farmer considers that a ton of well-cured alfalfa hay is worth about as much as a ton of wheat bran, he ought to see that it is profitable to protect it from the rain and the dew. He would scarcely hesitate to provide suitable covering if he had several tons of bran in the field exposed to the elements. Hay-caps will soon pay for themselves by the finer quality of the hay they assure, aside from the larger quantity of the best grade that their protection guarantees.

Storer further says, “there can be no question as to the very great merit of hay-caps when properly used. They are simply pieces of stout, cotton cloth of suitable size, say 40 to 45 inches square as a minimum, (60 inches square would be far better—Author) which are thrown over the cocks when rain is imminent, or at nightfall. These cloths may have wooden pegs or some sort of weight attached to each corner to hold them in place; the pegs can be driven into the ground or pushed under the hay, as seems most suitable to the size of the cock or conditions of the weather. The porosity of the cotton cloth hinders dampness from collecting beneath it at the top of the cock which it covers.”

Curing alfalfa in dry regions where the problems and dangers of rainfall do not need any large consideration, is attended with few of the difficulties which confront the grower in a region of much humidity. In western Kansas and Nebraska, and in Texas and other states where summer rains are somewhat infrequent, the mowers start at the beginning and do not stop until the field or fields of alfalfa are all in the swath. The rakes follow close behind, frequently the side-delivery rake, and then the gathering implement, usually designated as a “go-devil,” keep only about a half-day behind, dragging the cured hay to the stack or rick where the horse-fork lifts and carries it to the center of the stack, to be distributed and placed by men with pitchforks. The market and feeding value of hay so cured and gathered, is deemed by some authorities as not the highest. Curing in the windrow alone is likely to be a mere drying (perhaps too rapid drying) of one side of the exposed portions. Alfalfa should cure successively in the swath, windrow, cock and stack or mow, to develop its greatest value. The man who has so many acres that he cannot cure it in this way might do better with fewer acres for hay, and pasture hogs on the remainder, or use the land for other crops. Still it is true that alfalfa even poorly cured has no inconsiderable feeding value. Many farmers in the West and Middle West claim to secure very good hay by early following the mower with the tedder, this with the rake, and then the “buncher,” letting the hay remain in bunches over night and dragging it to the stack the next day. Others take from the windrow to wagons by a hay-loader, preferably one operated by a belt.

After all is said and done, and regardless of thrift and yield, it is unquestionable that the grower of alfalfa in humid regions meets with difficulties in the matter of satisfactory curing that in some years are almost or quite disheartening, and of a character to which his brother in arid territory is virtually a total stranger. Curing in the two regions presents different problems, with advantage all the time favoring the man in the country of little rainfall.

Second and later cuttings are not so much endangered by rains as is the first, and, hence, these are usually cured in better condition. Notwithstanding this, virtually all tests point out that the first cutting has more feeding value and is better relished by all kinds of stock. Most farmers are agreed that it pays to cut every time the alfalfa blooms, up to the last of September in the North, and possibly a month later in the more southern latitudes. A few have reported that they prefer to make but two cuttings a year, claiming to realize a greater feeding value by so doing; but it seems that the loss in leaves and protein, together with the fact that live stock has less relish for the more mature cuttings, makes frequent cutting by far the most profitable.

To sum up, the points to be emphasized in cutting alfalfa for hay, and its treatment immediately after, are:

Cut in early bloom.

Handle as little as possible.

Prevent its being wet after cutting.

Cure if possible partly in the swath, in the windrow, in the cock and in the stack or mow.

Cut as often as it blooms, which will range from twice in New England to nine times a year in southern Oklahoma, southern California, Texas and Louisiana.

In a region of frequent rains protect with hay-caps.