AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 177 



** Bad hay \vill change a horse s appearance in two days, even with an 

 unlimited quantity of oats. The kidneys are excited by it to extraor 

 dinary activity. The urine, which in this disease is always perfectly 

 transparent, is discharged very frequently and in copious profusion. 

 The horse soon becomes hide-bound^ emaciated, and feeble. His thirst 

 is excessive. H never refuses water, and he drinks as if he would never 

 give over. The disease does not produce death, but it renders the horse 

 useless, and ruins the constitution. Musty hay is said &quot; to be bad for 

 the wind,&quot; and it is certainly so for every part of the body.&quot; (Stephens.) 



400. Grass is cut with (a,) a scythe, or (b,) a mowing ma 

 chine. It is raked with (c,) a hand-rake, or ( dj a horse rake, 

 of which there are several kinds. It is pitched with a hay 

 fork, for which purpose the two-tined is generally preferred. 

 The mowing-machine and the best horse-rake will cut and rake 

 about 12 to 15 acres a day, under favorable circumstances, with 

 four horses and two men. The same work to be done by hand 

 would require about 18 men. 



401. It is laid down as a principle) which appears to be 

 strictly true, that hay can scarcely be injured by its own juices 

 alone, but if wet with rain or heavy dews it requires very care 

 ful drying before being put away, 



402. In hauling, three and sometimes four men are required. 



principles. &quot; Damp hay, or even grass, may be stacked with layers of straw, or of 

 old hay, sprinkled with salt to prevent heating, and to draw out the juice from the 

 damp grass, which is then absorbed by the straw.&quot; [Rev. A. Huxtable, an eminent 

 English Agriculturist, has long practiced this mode of putting hay by; and he fine s 

 that by so doing, not only does the grass require but little drying, but it so imparts 

 its juices to the straw, as to render the latter still more valuable. The two are 

 placed in layers, and in use are cut through, and mixed.] &quot; Mouldy hay, put together 

 with salt, from 8 Ibs. to 25 Ibs. per ton, was better relished by cattle, and did them 

 more good than sound hay stacked without salt ; of which many instances are re 

 corded. (Johnson on salt, p. 105.) In Germany they even cure fresh cut grass by 

 pitting with salt, 1 Ib. to the 112 Ibs.; it comes out quite a paste, and is said to go 

 further as food than the same quantity of grass made into hay. When hay is packed 

 with straw, the latter may vary from one-eighth to one-quarter, and the salt from 

 1 Ib.to 3 Ibs. per cwt., according to the dampness of the new hay. If old dry hay 

 is used instead of straw, it must be in larger proportion because less absorbent. 

 And where neither can b* had, chaff might do, or even bran if salted enough to pre 

 vent fermentation.&quot; farmer s Magazine, vol. iv , (1853) p. 280. 



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