AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY. 193 



sugar — will be destroyed. The action necessary for the decomposition of the sugar is in- 

 duced by the presence of the albuminous matter of the grass ; and the result is that the sugar 

 is converted into alcohol and carbonic acid ; and that alcohol is produced in a heated hay- 

 stack, in many cases, may be detected by the similarity of the odor disengaged to that per- 

 ceptible in a brewery." 



The process of hay-making, then, is the removal of this moisture from the grass ; and Dr. 

 Thomson has found that the only method which succeeds in preserving grass perfectly entire 

 is by means of artificial heat. 



The quantity of water or volatile matter capable of being removed from hay at the tem- 

 perature of boiling water varies considerably ; the amount of variation during his experi- 

 ments being from twenty to fourteen per cent. If the lower percentage could be attained at 

 once by simply drying in the sun, the process of hay-making would probably admit of little 

 improvement ; but the best new-made hay that he has examined contained more than this 

 amount of water, the numbers obtained verging towards twenty per cent. When it contains 

 as much as this, it is very liable to ferment, especially if it should happen to be moistened by 

 any accidental approach of water. Rye-grass contains, at an early period of its growth, as 

 much as eighty-one per cent, of water, the whole of which may be removed by subjecting the 

 grass to a temperature considerably under that of boiling water ; but even with a heat of 

 120°, the greater portion of the water is removed, and the grass still retains its green color — 

 a character which appears to add greatly to the relish with which cattle consume this kind of 

 provender. The advantages attained by this method of making hay are sufficiently obvious. 

 By this means all the constituents of the grass are retained in a state of integrity ; the sugar, 

 by the absence of the water, is protected from undergoing decomposition ; the coloring matter 

 of the grass is comparatively little affected, while the soluble salts are not exposed to the risk 

 of being washed out by the rains, as in the common process of hay-making. 



From the above chemical observations, made by Dr. Thomson, in his recent researches upon 

 the food of animals, we learn the theory of hay-making ; the inquiry now is — How, in practice, 

 can we best approximate to the correct principles laid down ? 



It is an essential point that the mowers should be good workmen, and perform their work 

 neatly and evenly, making the scythe cut as near the ground as possible, in order to insure 

 the greatest bulk of hay, and facilitate the springing up of the young shoots of the eddish or 

 aftermath. They generally begin to work before sunrise, and remain until after sunset ; from 

 one acre to an acre and a half, according to the bulk of the crop, being a fair day's work for 

 a man. As soon as the dew is off, the mowmen should be followed by men and women with 

 forks, who shake and spread the swaths evenly over the whole surface of the meadow ; or this 

 may be most economically and expeditiously done by means of a "tedding machine," drawn 

 by a horse, which will do the work of twelve or fifteen hay-makers, and distribute the grass 

 more thinly and evenly as it crosses the field. 



And this must not be allowed to lie long beneath the scorching heat of the sun without being 

 turned ; for by thus doing, the upper part becomes brown and withered, whereas it is desirable 

 to keep it as green as possible. All the grass which has been tedded and turned during the 

 day ought to be thrown together the same evening in " windrows ;" that is, long rows through- 

 out the field, gathered together by the hay-makers working in opposite directions, the two 

 outside women or boys using rakes, the others forks, the hay gradually accumulating, while 

 thus being sent on from one to another towards the place of the intended row, until it forms, 

 from a party on each side, a double row, and two men follow, putting these two into one com- 

 pact "windrow," about five feet wide and three high; or the hay may be put together into 

 small heaps or "footcocks," the former method being preferable for expedition, and affording 

 sufficient protection from heavy dews, the latter more secure from the injury of rain, and may 

 be adopted if the weather prove cloudy or adverse. The following morning — or on the return 

 of suitable weather — the whole must again be thrown out, so as to secure the greatest possi- 

 ble benefit from the sun's rays and drying winds : and the grass mown on the preceding night 

 and early that morning may be tedded when the dew is off, and afterwards turned ; and, pro- 

 vided it be fine drying weather, the first day's hay will now be sufficiently "made ;" that is, 

 it will have lost most of its moisture — the chief part of its natural juices will remain ; and as 



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