1G6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



can cut it, in many cases the growth of the "bottom," with the 

 provender in the seed, will nearly compensate for the loss on the 

 stalks which have ripened." 



By E. K. French, Chesterville. 



" With regard to hay-making, I will give my own practice. In 

 curing herdsgrass or redtop, I cut and sjDread out evenly in the 

 forenoon, ralvc up and cock in the afternoon, open the next fore- 

 noon suiEciently to finish drying by noon, and then get in. Late 

 in the season we not unfrequently cut and get in the same day. 

 This kind of hay should be sufficiently dry to keep perfectly sweet 

 without salt or lime, a point too often neglected by farmers when 

 they begin haying. Clover, let remain in the swath till about sun- 

 set, then turn over, exposing the green side to the dew — rake and 

 cock the next day and let it remain in cock till it requires little, or 

 hetter, no drying to prepare it for getting into the barn. For neat 

 stock, there should be sufficient moisture left in the hay to cause it 

 to mat together well ; the cattle seem to relish it better than when 

 dry. 



If I could have all my grass cut when I wanted it, it would be 

 immediately after the bulk of the grass was out of blossom — when 

 the seed is said to be " full in the milk." Then the plant has per- 

 fected itself — the juices of the stalk are matured, and, as the seed 

 is developed, these will be consumed to the detriment of the former. 

 Hay that is cured too early is wanting in substance. Cattle can- 

 not perform so much labor, or keep in so good heart, as when fed 

 upon the hay from fully matured grasses. 



If grass be cut before the second crop starts, the roots are much 

 more likely to be sunburnt than when a vigorous undergrowth has 

 commenced. We have had some pieces of " new ground" nearly 

 destroyed by cutting too early, and I may here remark that the 

 second crop starts up about the time the first goes into blossom. 

 I give it as my opinion that double the loss is sustained by cutting ' 

 grass too early than by cutting too late, for in the late cutting we 

 always have the benefit of the imdergrowth which at the time of 

 early cutting has not appeared. 



From observation of the effect produced, I am of the opinion that 

 grass should not be cut off below the lower joint, say two inches in 

 hight When cut close to the root, the heat of the sun parches it 

 up, and in a measure kills them out. I have seen instances of this 



