HOW WE MADE OUR HAY. 135 



upturned, or lapped over, a tuft of hay about three 

 times as big as an ordinary straw beehive, through 

 which the wind and sunny air may circulate, and in 

 which a shower can effect no lodgment any more 

 than in the chip roof of a sawyer's shed. "Lap- 

 cocks " they are appropriately termed in Ireland ; 

 "summer-cocks," or "grass-cocks," this side the 

 water. It is a clever, clean-handed process : just 

 this way and that way, and the roll of hay is snapped 

 off and upraised. It is by far the safest form in 

 which hay can be drawn up to await the charge of 

 wet, if unfortunately it should happen to interrupt 

 affairs. 



And in the morning, when the sun has been up a 

 few hours, a veritable hot hearth is the intervening 

 space, whereon to spread the summer-cocks again 

 for a baking, as will be explained just now. It will, 

 perhaps, be better here to recapitulate and enume- 

 rate in close succession the operations requisite from 

 the mowing until the carrying. Supposing, then, 

 that you have no mowing-machine, but have been 

 fortunate enough to engage a strong gang of men, it 

 will be time enough for you to commence cutting 

 with the early dawn. You will then have several 

 acres cut down by the time the sun is high enough 

 for the other hands to spread the swathe — that is, 

 about nine A.M., when your own men will have 

 finished supplying vetches to the stock, looking over 

 and shifting the sheep-pens, feeding the pigs, &c, &c, 

 and their wives and daughters can join them, having 

 attended to their household duties. At nine A.M. let 

 them begin to spread about, as uniformly as possible, 



