60 THE FARMER'S MAXVAL. 



sow the buck- wheat thin ; and what you sacrifice upon 

 the buck-wheat crop will be gained upon the clover. 

 Never cut your clover the first season, nor feed it 

 too close, both are an injury to it ; but the second 

 season cut your clover when in full bloom, when not 

 more than one fourth of the heads begin to turn 

 brown, which will generally be in the month of June. 

 The cutting and curing of clover is very nice and 

 critical farming, and demands the first attention. The 

 heads and leaves of clover are its principal value, 

 the stalk when coarse, is of little use ; therefore, in 

 order to preserve the most valuable parts, cut your 

 clover in dry weather ; and when||he dew is dried off 

 from the first swaths, turn them over gently, without 

 'spreading, until you come to the swaths which are 

 free from dew, let those lie untouched until noon, un- 

 less showers, or a storm become threatening; in this 

 case, break off your mowers, and get your clover from 

 the swath into small cocks. Let the cocks be made 

 with the fork, with only once or twice rolling ; but 

 if the weather continues fair, let your mowers keep 

 on and your haymakers follow with their forks, and 

 put all the swaths into small cocks. The next 

 day let these cocks stand, and go on cutting as be- 

 fore ; proceed thus until you have secured your clo- 

 ver. In two, three, or four days, as the weather may 

 be, the clover first cut will be fit to cart, if the wea- 

 ther proves fair, if not, the rains will never penetrate 

 farther than the winds and sun will dry ; the clover 

 will be injured only upon the surface. Should a long 

 cloudy, or moist turn of weather succeed, you may 

 give your clover air, by taking off the top of each 

 cock and placing it for the bottom, and thus with 

 your fork change the order of your cocks by bring- 

 ing the bottoms to the top, this mode will cause your 

 cocks to shed rain better than the common mode of 

 turning them over at once with the fork. When you 

 find your clover sufficiently cured for housing, take 

 the first good hay-day, turn over your cocks in the 



