DEMAND FOR CUT HAY ALMOST A THING OF THE PAST.

General Use of Automobiles and Electric Street Cars Cuts Sales—Was Used Mostly in Cities.

The demand for cut, or chopped, hay has diminished to such an extent during the past decade that at present only an occasional car is bought by city dealers while only a few shippers prepare this commodity for market.

But back in the days when phaetons, surreys, and smart traps drawn by high-stepping trotters and easy-going “family” horses were seen upon the boulevards, and the heavy hauling was done by big draft horses rather than by gasoline-eating trucks, many city dealers operated plants for the preparation and baling of cut hay. Numerous plants also were situated in the producing sections of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The advent of the automobile, however, has changed all this, aided materially by the substitution of electricity for mule power as the propelling force of street cars.

The kinds of hay usually chopped were timothy and clover mixed. While hay which had become slightly overripe or which contained a mixture of grasses frequently was used, only good, sound, and sweet feeding hay was considered fit for shipping.

FED MIXED WITH GRAIN.

Cut hay is generally fed mixed with grain and is considered an excellent feed, as it prevents the stock from eating the concentrated grain ration too rapidly. The hay is usually dampened when used in this manner. This is one of the disadvantages of feeding it for if more than enough is mixed for one feed and it is not fed within a short time it is likely to sour if the weather is warm, or possibly freeze if the weather is cold. This condition, together with the labor and bother of mixing, has caused feeders in many instances to turn to ready-mixed and molasses feeds.

However, for feeders who desire to prepare their own mixed feed ration the cut hay is probably the most convenient ingredient that can be used to produce the required bulk.

IMPORTS OF FORAGE-PLANT SEEDS.

The Seed Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry reports the following imports of forage-plant seeds permitted entry into the United States under the seed importation Act.

Kind of seed.September—July 1-
Sept. 30,
1921		July 1-
Sept. 30,
1920
19211920
Pounds.Pounds.Pounds.Pounds.
Alfalfa422,20044,1001,364,000171,500
Canada bluegrass5,200...7,400...
Alsike clover671,40087,0001,106,700109,700
Crimson clover879,500998,1001,581,6001,958,800
Red clover116,4006,8001,792,900305,200
White clover263,600...538,600...
White and alsike clover mixtures2,700...8,100...
Red and alsike clover mixtures2,100...2,100...
Alsike clover and timothy mixtures500...1,100...
Broom-corn millet.........1,100
Foxtail millet...14,700...14,700
Grass mixtures......40,100...
Orchard grass833,300...959,100...
Rape554,100170,900728,700215,700
English rye grass...15,60016,300130,800
Italian rye grass...49,80013,800131,300
Timothy......95,100...
Hairy vetch280,60033,000645,900367,700
Spring vetch......8,800...

The cleaning, if any, that the average farmer gives his seed merely removes dirt, chaff, and weed and other foreign seeds that are much larger or smaller or much heavier or lighter than the kind of seed that is being cleaned.