BALING
The increasing general demand for alfalfa hay in the city markets of the United States, away from the distinct alfalfa regions, has made finding a method of preparing it for economic shipment of much importance. The compressing of timothy and prairie hay has become so general that alfalfa raisers and shippers are also following this method. The problem of saving the leaves, and, at the same time, being able to market alfalfa green, has been hard to solve. Baling it uncured meant mold, and baling it when very dry meant loss of leaves and, hence, loss in feeding and selling value. The Kansas station a few years ago carried on a series of experiments extending over several years from which the conclusion was that the only safe procedure is to cure carefully in the field, put in the stack or mow, and bale after the final sweating—say thirty days. Most of the hay cured and baled in the field was moldy or brown. It is possible, however, that a more careful curing, the use of hay-caps, letting it stand for several days in cock, baling, and then storing in an open shed, the bales stacked on edge and separated about every third layer by poles, rails or rafters, might result in securing high-grade hay direct from the field without stacking. Seemingly it will never be safe, away from the semi-arid regions, to bale the first cutting from the field; but the secret may yet be found of so baling the second and third cuttings and obtaining prime hay. Its doing is not likely to prove satisfactory, however, except in the drier portions of the alfalfa district where large cocks of, say, 500 pounds may be made and left standing for several days before baling. But baling is not likely to be largely followed except in territory where extensive areas are devoted to alfalfa. When practically every farmer in the United States has his field of alfalfa as he now has of corn, cotton or clover, the greater part of the product will be fed on the farm and the surplus hauled direct to the local markets. Western Kansas and Nebraska alfalfa raisers are having this problem solved for them by the growing practice of stockmen shipping cattle and sheep from the mountain ranges to be fed or fattened where the hay is raised, and hauled directly from the stack to the feed lots.
POOR STUFF
Hay dealers report that much of the baled alfalfa shipped is poor stuff. They advise small bales, weighing about sixty to eighty pounds; about 27 to 36 inches long, 14 or 15 inches thick and 18 inches high when laid on edge. They also recommend that in loading a car the bales be placed on their edges instead of on the sides, as they are less liable to heat. The problem of the city hay dealer is to sell what he has received, with satisfaction to the purchaser and profit to himself and to his client. If he receives moldy, dead hay, with little protein value, he is not able to please his customer, not able to secure a good price, and hence, not able to please either shipper or buyer. The farmer who raises and ships hay and receives two dollars less per ton for it than his neighbor, should learn by such money losses the necessity of harvesting and storing his product properly.
A. S. Hitchcock says in Farmers’ Bulletin No. 215, of the United States Department of Agriculture, that the baled hay for export to Alaska, Hawaii, and other trans-oceanic points is compressed by the process known as double compression, done with baling machines operated by electricity or hydraulic power. The hay obtained by loosening the ordinary bale is compressed into square or cylindrical packages of smaller and more compact form than the ordinary bale. The hydraulic presses used for making the round bales are similar to those used for the cylindrical bales of cotton. The measurements of the different types of double-compressed bales are about as follows: Square, 15 by 18 by 38 inches, weight 160 pounds; square bale for Alaskan trade, 14 by 18 by 26 inches, weight 100 pounds; round bale, 2 feet in diameter, 24 inches long, weight 145 pounds, or 36 inches long, weight 260 pounds. The saving of space in transit may best be understood by comparing the weight and cubic contents of baled and compressed hay. The ordinary bale occupies 140 to 160 cubic feet per ton, and round bales 55 feet per ton. The most essential point in loading new hay into a car is to see that it is not loaded flat, that is, with the flat sides of the bale up. When loaded in this way, with the smooth sides of the bales together, no space is left for air and as a consequence the hay not infrequently heats. A properly loaded car has the edges or rough sides of the bales together. This allows air space between the bales and always prevents danger of heating.
A new machine is being introduced which makes (from the windrow if desired) a cylindrical bale, with a hollow space lengthwise through its middle. This open space must undoubtedly facilitate the curing of hay baled before sufficiently dry. The machine has a capacity of four to six tons per hour, makes a bale thirty-six inches long and twenty inches or less in diameter, as desired, bound with twine, and the hay can be eaten from the bale, with a minimum of waste, without unfastening. This baler, if it justifies the claims of its inventors, should be very useful to those who grow alfalfa for marketing away from the farm.
GRADING AND GRADES OF ALFALFA HAY
On account of the increasing demands for alfalfa hay, and growth in the business of selling it in cities, dealers have found that the establishment of some uniform and generally accepted method of grading the different qualities was a business necessity. As a result of this its consideration was taken up by the National Hay Association’s committee on grades and upon the committee’s recommendation the association in 1905 adopted the following classification:
Choice Alfalfa—Shall be reasonably fine, leafy alfalfa, of bright green color, properly cured, sound, sweet and well baled.
No. 1 Alfalfa—Shall be coarse alfalfa of bright, green color, or reasonably fine, leafy, of good color, and may contain five per cent of foreign grasses; must be well baled, sound and sweet.