Gathering Alfalfa Hay in Windrows with a Side-delivery Horserake
Cutting a Fine Field of Alfalfa
CHAPTER VII.
Harvesting
CALLS FOR INTELLIGENCE AND PAINSTAKING
Considerable space in this volume is devoted to the discussion of soil and seeding, but their importance cannot well be over-estimated. Really the whole subject of alfalfa might well be treated under the two heads, “Seeding” and “Harvesting,” so very inclusive are these two phases of the subject. Without careful seeding one cannot have a crop to harvest, and without careful harvesting he might almost as well not have a crop. Both call for intelligence and painstaking farming, and much patience and hard work. But the rewards of these virtues and labors are heavy yields from the most valuable forage plant. If it is worth nine times as much as timothy, it can well demand a little more time and labor than the average crop.
GREAT VALUE OF LEAVES
The first point to accentuate as we approach the subject of harvesting is the preeminent value of the leaves. These contain from seventy-five to eighty per cent of the protein of the whole plant, that valuable compound that goes to produce milk and meat. It has been estimated that a ton of properly cured alfalfa leaves is equal in protein to 2800 pounds of wheat bran; and when it is also estimated by careful observers that the loss of leaves in harvesting, even under favoring circumstances, ranges from fifteen to thirty or more per cent it is readily seen that the harvesting is an important part in alfalfa haymaking.
WHEN TO CUT
For the best hay the cutting should begin when the alfalfa is about one-tenth in bloom. Of course, if the acreage is small, calling for but one or two days’ cutting, it might stand without particular harm until a fifth or fourth was in bloom. Cutting should be completed, if possible, by the time one-half is in bloom, as after that it is cut at a loss of leaves. As they have more experience the tendency among farmers is to cut alfalfa earlier than had before been believed at all desirable, and some experienced growers and feeders now insist upon cutting just before the blossoming stage is reached.