Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 56, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 March 1917 — STACK SEED ALFALFA BEFORE THRESHING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STACK SEED ALFALFA BEFORE THRESHING

» (By L. R. WALDRON, North Dakota Experiment Station.) The alfalfa can be threshed either from the cock, or shock If It Is wiit with a hinder, or it can be stacked and threshed from the stack. If the seed crop remains unstacked there Is, of course, danger from storms. It is not an uncommon thing in September for heavy winds to interfere with securing the” selga'Wop In good condition. "•Instances are not uncommon of high winds blowing the small cocks of alfalfa for comparatively long distances and wasting much* of the seed. If the alfalfa is stacked, then of course this difficulty does not appear. If the ulfilfa is stacked it will have tbTihnaln' stacked two or three weeks In order to have it thoroughly seasoned, as it is necessary that the material be quite dry at time of threshing. ,1 As presumably most of the seed alfalfa in North Dakota will be of the Grimm variety, which commands a comparatively” high price, it would seem to be the part d£ wisdom to -stack the seed alfalfa before threshing; for

If one does not do this too much rista Is being assumed and the chances of .money lost are too great. An ulfalfa huller is, of cqarse, the best machine to obtain the seed from the alfalfa, but this machine Is scarce; in this state. The writer has secured' very good results In threshing out seed; alfalfa by means of an ordinary thresher. Instances are ' common' whore no change at all has been made; in the machine and It was certain that comparatively little seed was lost. Tlfe' l ' writer has taken the precaution trrptit~ in corrugated teeth Into the concaves, putting in nearly a full set.' Much attempt was not made to deliver clean seed at the graftl spout, ns it was not desired to risk losing any of the seed either as tailing or in the straw. If the seed is well threshed the dirt can he quite easily eliminated by mean* of a good fanning mill. Generally speaking, if js not ne<,.*snry to rtlft the alfalfa straw through the machine a second time provided that the machine” is properly adjusted and ran properly. .. - v • -- '' •

INSPECTING ALFALFA FIELD AFTER CUTTING.