Storing
Category:
ALFALFA
When cured in cocks, these are preferably made small to
facilitate quick curing, but usually from two to four days are necessary
to complete the curing. If the cocks require opening out before being
drawn, the work should be done with care. Ordinary stacking and storing
may be done in practically the same way as in handling medium red
clover, and the same care is necessary in protecting the stacks. In
areas where considerable rain falls in the autumn, hay sheds will prove
a great convenience in storing alfalfa in the absence of better
facilities. In the Eastern States alfalfa is sometimes stored in mows
undercured, by putting it into the mow in alternate layers with straw.
The straw not only aids in preserving the alfalfa in good condition, but
the alfalfa imparts an aroma to the straw which induces live stock to
eat it readily. In showery weather this method of curing alfalfa merits
careful attention where straw can be had near at hand and in sufficient
quantities.
The method is sometimes adopted of cutting alfalfa even for hay by using
the self-rake reaper. The sheaves thus made are allowed to lie on the
ground undisturbed until they are ready for being drawn. By this method
of cutting, the loss of leaves is almost entirely avoided, but there are
these objections to it: that it exposes unduly to sunlight during the
curing process, and in case of rain the sheaves are easily saturated and
do not dry readily unless turned over.
Rain falling on alfalfa will injure it quite as much as it does red
clover. (See page 96.) In climates with much rainfall in May or June,
when the first cutting of alfalfa is ready for being harvested,
according to locality, in instances not a few much difficulty is found
in curing alfalfa without loss. Sometimes the entire cutting will be
rendered practically useless by rain. Because of this, as previously
intimated, it may be well to arrange, where practicable, to cut the
first crop of the season for soiling food.
The number of cuttings during the year depends on such conditions as
relate to the length of the season, the character of the soil, the
abundance of moisture present, and the use to which the alfalfa is put.
In some of the river bottoms southward in the Rocky Mountains, where
irrigating waters are plentiful, it is claimed that alfalfa may be made
to furnish one cutting for soiling food every month in the year. Even in
the Northern western valleys, as many as five or six cuttings for the
use named may be obtained. North from the Ohio and Potomac rivers three
to five cuttings of soiling food may be looked for each season, and
south of these rivers even a larger number. North of the same rivers the
hay crops run from two to four, and southward from the same they are
seldom less than three. In the western valleys they range from three to
five or six, according to location. In States bordering on the semi-arid
States eastward and some distance south of the Canadian boundary, from
three to four cuttings may usually be expected. In Colorado and States
north and south from the same, two good crops of alfalfa may be cut from
spring-sown seed the same season, but where irrigation is not practiced
it is seldom that one crop of hay is harvested under similar conditions
of sowing. But in the semi-arid belt not more than one cutting is
usually obtained each season in the absence of water. But the number of
cuttings will be reduced when one of these is a seed crop. When a seed
crop is taken, the vitality of the plants is apparently so much reduced
for the season that the subsequent growth is much less vigorous than if
seed had not been thus taken.
The yield of hay from each cutting will, of course, vary much with
conditions, but it is seldom less than a ton. An approximate average
would place the average cutting at about 1-1/4 tons, but as much as 2
tons have been obtained per acre at a cutting, and, again, not more than
1/2 ton. In New Jersey an average of 4.57 tons per acre was obtained
under good conditions of management, but without irrigation, at the
experiment station for three years in succession. In Kansas, 4 to 6 tons
per acre may usually be expected from good soils. In Tulare County,
California, as much as 6 to 10 tons have been secured under irrigation.
The yields from the various cuttings are by no means uniform, especially
in the absence of irrigation. They are much influenced by rainfall. In
such areas, the second cutting is usually the best for the season, the
subsequent cuttings being considerably less. Where irrigation is
practiced, the crops are much more uniform, but even in mild climates,
as the season advances, there is a tendency to lesser yields, indicative
of the necessity of at least partial rest for plants during a portion of
the year. The yields of alfalfa are usually exceeded by those of no
other crop, where the conditions are quite favorable to its growth, even
in the absence of irrigation. At the New Jersey Experiment Station, as
stated in Bulletin No. 148, one acre of alfalfa produced 36,540 pounds
of green food; of corn, 24,000; of red clover, 14,000; of crimson
clover, 14,000; of millet, 16,000; of cow peas, 16,000; and of oats and
peas, 14,000 pounds. But where only two, or even three, cuttings can be
obtained per year, some crops may produce larger yields than alfalfa. In
the distinctive alfalfa belt in the West, no forage crop can be grown
that will compare with it in the yields obtained. The protein in alfalfa
is also relatively high. At the station quoted above it was found one
ton of alfalfa contained 265 pounds of protein; hence, its high relative
value as a food; red clover, 246 pounds; timothy, 118 pounds; and wheat
bran, 118 pounds. At the Delaware Experiment Station, in Bulletin No.
55, it is stated that maximum crops of cow peas and of crimson clover
gave 720 pounds of protein, while a maximum crop of alfalfa gave 1230
pounds.
Where alfalfa is irrigated, it is usual to apply irrigating waters just
after each cutting of the crop. It is a matter of some importance that
the water shall be applied at once as soon as the previous crop has been
harvested, otherwise time will be lost in growing the next crop. There
are instances where it is necessary to apply water before the first crop
is grown, but usually the moisture which falls in the winter and spring
will suffice to produce the first crop of the season. Some irrigators
apply water some time previous to harvesting the crop, but not so late
as to leave the ground in a soft condition when mowing is begun. The
amount of water required will vary with the soil, the season of the
year, the distance of the ground water from the surface, and the
precipitation. The more porous the soil and subsoil, the hotter the
weather, the less the precipitation and the farther below the surface,
up to a certain limit, the greater will be the amount of water needed.
There are situations, as in some of the islands in the Yellowstone
River, in which ground water is so near the surface that alfalfa grown
on these is able to get enough of water from this subterranean source to
produce good crops. Care should be taken not to apply water in excess of
the needs of the crop, or the yields will be proportionately reduced.
The amounts that will best serve the end sought can only be ascertained
by actual test. Caution is also necessary where the winters are cold not
to apply water late or in excessive quantities, lest a sappy condition
of the plants shall be induced, which will make them succumb to the cold
of the winter following. Moreover, on some soils alfalfa fields will
produce good crops, if irrigated only the first season, until the roots
get down to moisture, the irrigating waters being utilized when more
needed.
Alfalfa hay is fed freely to all kinds of domestic animals on the farm,
and with results that should prove highly satisfactory. Properly fed, it
is an excellent food for horses and mules. It not only serves to
maintain flesh, but it is favorable to glossiness in the coat. Horses
that are working hard should be accustomed to it gradually. When it is
fed to them too freely at the first, it induces too much of a laxity in
the bowels, too free urination, and profuse sweating. When fed to such
horses or mules, some authorities claim that several weeks should be
covered in getting them on to what is termed a full feed of alfalfa.
When fed to milch cows, free lactation results. Alfalfa fine in
character is now manufactured into food suitable for calves and other
young stock. Cattle and sheep are now fattened for slaughter on alfalfa
hay fed alone, but when thus fattened the finish made is not equal to
that resulting from adding grain to the alfalfa. To meet the needs of
the best markets, alfalfa alone does not produce enough of fat or of
firmness in the flesh, but it has been claimed, and probably it is true,
that one-half the amount of grain required for finishing along with
carbonaceous fodder, such as corn stalks or timothy, will give equally
good and quick increase when fed with alfalfa hay. It is most excellent
fodder on which to grow cattle and sheep, even in the absence of a grain
supplement. The later cuttings of the season are thought to be the most
suitable for calves and also for sheep and lambs, because of the greater
fineness of the fodder and the greater abundance of leaves on it.
Alfalfa hay is used with much advantage in wintering swine, especially
brood sows. Swine have been wintered on alfalfa hay without any grain
supplement where the winters are mild, but they will fare much better
with a grain supplement. It is thought that half the usual amount of
grain fed will produce equal results when fed with alfalfa, to those
obtained from feeding a full allowance of grain in its absence. Alfalfa
and sorghum properly grown make an excellent food for swine, and the two
may be profitably fed thus where the conditions may be over-dry for
corn, but not for sorghum. When feeding alfalfa, the aim should be to
use it in conjunction with a carbonaceous food, as corn. Fortunate is
the country which grows good crops of corn and alfalfa.
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Harvesting For Hay
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