GRASS CROP. 123 



I could cure it suflSciently without ; but I would apply that 

 amount to all swale, swamp and meadow hay, for then cattle will 

 eat these coarser kinds with a relish. You can interchange it with 

 English hay, and they will eat up the coarse hay better than they 

 will the English hay, if the latter is not salted. They will eat it 

 for the sake of the salt. 



Col. Wm. Sweet of Paris. My experience in regard to salting 

 hay is different from that of our venerable friend from Winthrop. 

 When I commenced farming, a good deal was said about getting 

 in hay green, and putting on salt to keep it. I tried it when I 

 would have a load of hay a little damp, I would throw on salt, 

 from four to six quarts to the ton. In winter, when I was pitch- 

 ing out hay and came to some of that which I had salted, I found 

 the salt rattled out with the hay. That led me to think whether 

 it was any advantage or not. I thought perhaps my salt was too 

 coarse, and the next year, when I got in some hay that was moist, 

 I put on Liverpool sait. I watched for that the next winter, and 

 I found it was not dissolved. I judged I had as much salt on my 

 barn floor as I put into my mow. I came to the conclusion it was 

 of no use, and gave it up. If I have a load of hay that is a little 

 damp, I put it in, but I am careful to have a dry load put on top 

 of it. 



I have had opportunity, during the last few years, to see the 

 different methods of making hay practised among farmers in 

 various parts of the country. I have seen men cut hay after 1*e 

 dew was off, shake it what they could, and put it into the mow 

 before night. Those who practise this, however, have a different 

 kind of barn from what you generally see. They tell me, "The 

 lighter you can make a barn, the bettor it is. If you put green 

 hay into a barn that is merely boarded, it will spoil ; but make 

 your barn tight, build up your mow, cover the top with straw or 

 meadow hay, two or three feet deep, and the moisture will work 

 up into that hay or straw so that it will rot, but your hay will 

 come out bright." I have seen hay thus treated pitched out in 

 winter and spring as bright as it was put into the barn. 



I think the best way is to put the mowing machine into the field 

 after the dew is off, and cut until about 11 o'clock. With a good 

 machine and. a good span of horses, you can cut as much as you 

 want down in that time. After your grass is cut, put your horses 

 into the tedder, put your boy on it, and every twenty minutes he 

 will go over an acre of grass. After you have done this three 



