202 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



ting grass or any of the forage crops at improper seasons, they will be less carelsss and indif 

 ferent with respect to it. 



In actual practice, the evil effects of rain upon clover, and of too early or too late cutting, 

 are more apparent than would appear from the results of a chemical analysis. When prop 

 erly cured, animals eat the hay with avidity, increase in flesh, are healthy, and give milk in 

 abundance, but when fed on hay cut too late, or imperfectly cured, they cease to make fat 

 and diminish in their milk. It is conceded by the best authority that in order to secure the 

 perfect curing of clover hay, two things must necessarily be kept in view: first, the clover 

 must be cut when it contains the greatest amount of nutriment, and second, it must have the 

 water that is contained in its stalks and leaves evaporated as rapidly as possible. The first 

 will be accomplished by cutting it when in full bloom; the second, by not cutting it until 

 every vestige of dew and rain has been dried off from it. After it has been wilted by two 

 or three hours sunshine, it should be tedded with great care, or the leaves will be almost 

 entirely whipped off, and the stalks bruised, which would be a great injury to the hay; those 

 tedders being the best that do not strike with great violence, but lift it from the ground and 

 toss it into the air. It must be raked ano^ cocked so as to shed rain before the dew begins 

 to fall, and if there is a prospect of rain, it should be capped. The next day the cocks must 

 be opened as soon as the sun becomes warm, and be deposited in the barn before night. 



Well made clover hay furnishes one of the most nutritious articles of food for stock, 

 while that which is badly cured is about as poor diet for animals as could well be found. 



When clover is simply dried in the sun without bruising the tissues or beating off the 

 waxy covering that envelopes it, it is as nutritious as it is when green, since in such a process 

 it loses nothing in curing, but simply water. 



When clover is cut, it contains a considerable amount of sugar, gum, mucilage, albumi 

 nous and some other soluble compounds, all of which are liable to be washed away by rains 

 or dews when exposed to their action. 



All feeders of stock have invariably found, that while domestic animals will fatten on 

 well-made, bright clover hay, they remain stationary or go backwards on clover hay that has 

 been injured by exposure to dews and rains. 



Dr. Voelcker ascertained the composition of clover hay that produced such unsatisfac 

 tory results in feeding, by analysis, and found that it contained: 



Of moisture, . . . . . . . . . 20.45 



Nitrogenous organic matter, . . . . . . . 8.50 



Non-nitrogenous substances, . . . . . . 64.27 



Mineral matter (ash), ........ 6. 78 



Containing nitrogen, . . . . . . . . 1.36 



The composition of well-made clover hay, as ascertained by Professor Way, is as 

 follows: 



Moisture, . . ; : ; . . . . 16.60 



Fatty Matters, ...... 3.18 



Albumen and similar nitrogenous compounds (flesh-forming matters), . 15.81 



Gum, sugar, mucilage, and carbon hydrates readily convertible into sugar, . 34.42 



Indigestible woody fiber (cellulose), . . 22.47 



Mineral matter (ash), .... 7.52 



100.00 



Containing nitrogen, .... . 3.03 



On comparing the above figures, it will be seen that exposure to rain caused, in this 

 experiment, a loss of 7.31 per cent, of nitrogenous substance, or, we may say, that nearly 

 one-half of the nitrogenous matters are wholly lost. Clover hay that is badly cured in the 



