llg BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



with the scythe, spread somewhat, until thoroughlij iv'dted, then 

 while yet warm, let it be raked and put in cocks of sufficient size to 

 take on a sweat, at the same time not so large as to induce rapid 

 or excessive fermentation in case the weather proves too wet to allow 

 its being opened. If thus put in cocks, when only thoroughly 

 wilted, (not dried,) and these of moderate size, and then let alone, 

 there is little probability of serious injury from fermentation, while 

 if rain falls, and it be let alOne, it is probably less liable to injury 

 from this course than if left in any other way. If, on the other 

 hand, the weather proves dry, we may be sure that while the first 

 sweating goes on, moisture is evolved from the inside of the cock as 

 well as from the outside. A thickening of the juices takes place 

 with a good degree of uniformity throughout the mass, and in most 

 cases, if opened the next day, a comparatively short exposure will 

 suffice to fit it for carting home. It seems scarcely necessary to say 

 that hay in the process of curing should be sedulously guai-ded 

 against rains and dews, and this the more so, as it approaches a 

 state of fitness for the mow. If the soluble portion be washed out 

 by rain, what remains is little better than indigestible woody fibre. 



A point which seems less understood, and upon which, particu- 

 larly in a season so remarkably favorable as the past, there is danger 

 of erring, is the liability to dry hay too much. The degree of dry- 

 ness needful to insure the best quality, is just so much as will save 

 it from injurious fermentation when stored. If so dry that it does 

 not settle to a good degree of compactness in the mow, we may be' 

 sure that it has passed the best stage. I have seen many mows this 

 year into which the hand and arm could be thrust, with perfect ease, 

 its whole length, and doubtless much farther, were the arm longer. 

 Critical observation will enable one to determine the proper stage of 

 dryness with tolerable accuracy. If over-dried, there is a brittle- 

 ness or tendency to crumble upon handling, which sufficiently indi- 

 cates the fact. 



To no other source has the New England farmer to look with 

 greater confidence for aid in his calling, than to the mechanical 

 ingenuity of his countrymen, which may produce implements or 

 machinery capable of economizing or rendering more effective human 

 labor. The agriculturist, formerly slow to perceive that any change 

 was necessary in the modes of culture or in the tools used by his 



