HOW WE MADE OUR HAY. 141 



ordinarily, unless you be very dull or very imprudent, 

 enable you to choose your opportunity of cutting so 

 as to keep clear of rain. 



" A very quick mode of making hay is practised 

 in Saxony, and it is this : the grass that has been 

 cut down during the day is put into large cocks late 

 in the afternoon. A strong fermentation soon ensues, 

 which continues all night until the morning, when 

 the workpeople return to the field, by which time 

 the cocks have contracted very much in bulk, and 

 the steam rises briskly from them. They are then 

 scattered upon the ground, and allowed to remain all 

 day exposed to the sun and air, and by the afternoon 

 the grass has become so dry and won into hay as to 

 be fit to be stacked, for which purpose it is gathered 

 from the ground and carried home. This mode of 

 haymaking might be followed in this country, pro- 

 vided we could trust our climate as the Saxons do 

 theirs ; but here the next morning may prove rainy 

 or even damp, and the fermented contents of the 

 cocks would inevitably be rotted." (Stephens.) When 

 the hay has been all carried to the rick, the horse- 

 rake is driven over the field, and the rolls that gather 

 serve to top the mow. Undoubtedly, the best prac- 

 tice, then, is to give the shorn field a top dressing of 

 dung, if you have it, or guano. Nor should you turn 

 stock into the aftermath until it have grown some 

 inches. It will require exceeding judgment to decide 

 upon the fitting time, for if you leave it too long there 

 will be a great waste from the cattle trampling it, 

 and if you use it too soon the bite will be insufficient 

 to keep up their condition. 



