SECRETARY'S REPORT. 195 



be worth nearly or quite as much as clear Timothy, to feed to 

 a stock of cattle ; and for milch cows, I consider it to be by far 

 preferable to Timothy. Good clover hay will keep up the 

 quantity of milk, while Timothy will diminish it." 



Another practical farmer of the same county, in one of the 

 best farming towns in the State, says : " My method of curing 

 clover is this : what is mown in the morning I leave in the 

 swath, to be turned over early in the afternoon. At about four 

 o'clock, or while it is still warm, I put it into small cocks with 

 a fork, and if the weather is favorable it may be housed on the 

 fourth or fifth day, the cocks being turned over on the morning 

 of the day it is to be carted. By so doing, all the heads and 

 leaves are saved, and these are worth more than the stems. 

 This has been my method for the last ten years. For new 

 milch cows in the winter, I think there is nothing better. It 

 will make them give as great a flow of milk as any hay, unless 

 it be good rowen. For working oxen and horses its value is 

 about one-quarter less than Timothy." 



A practical farmer of Hampshire county says : "I can hardly 

 state my own opinion of curing clover. When the weather bids 

 fair to be good, I mow it after the dew is off, and cock it up 

 after being wilted, using the fork instead of rolling with the 

 rake, and let it remain several days, when it is fit to put into 

 the barn." Another in the same county says : " I mow my clover 

 in the forenoon, and towards night of the same day I take forks 

 and pitch it into cocks and let it stand till it cures. The day I 

 cart it I turn the cocks over so as to air the lower part. I then 

 put it into the mow with all the leaves and heads on, and it is 

 as nice and green as green tea. I think it worth for milch 

 cows and sheep as much per ton as English hay." 



A farmer of Middlesex county says : " I have found no better 

 hay for farm stock than good clover, cut in season. For milch 

 cows it is much better than Timothy. It keeps horses that are 

 not worked hard better than any hay. And small clover, as the 

 rowen crop, is better than any other kind for calves. Clover is 

 not good market hay, as it wastes in removal from the barn. 

 Stalde keepers give much more for coarse Timothy that cannot 

 easily be drawn through a rack." A farmer of Barnstable 

 county says : " We mow clover in the forenoon and let it lie in 

 the swath and put it into small cocks in the afternoon. If the 



