334 THE PREVAILING PRACTICE. 



o'clock in the afternoon, while still warm, and before 

 the evening dew falls it is put into cocks. It is spread 

 and turned the next morning, and at one o'clock is 

 ready for the barn. I cannot tell, on paper, the precise 

 point of dryness at which hay should be housed ; but 

 with my hands, eyes, and nose, I can judge when it is 

 dry enough not to hurt in the mow, and not so dry as 

 to crumble, or to have lost any more of its virtues than 

 necessary. The less drying the better, if it does not 

 injure in the mow." Another practical farmer says : " I 

 prefer two days, but want to have it lay thick together, 

 and stirred often the first day, and but little the second. 

 In this way the hay retains more of the juices, smells 

 sweeter, looks greener, and the cattle like it much better. 

 Hay should be cured so that it will not heat in the mow, 

 arid no more/' Another says : " Hay may generally be 

 dried enough in one good hay-day, with proper care, to 

 be left over night in the cock, and carried to the barn 

 the next afternoon without spreading. Hay may be 

 dried too much, as well as too little." " Timothy and 

 redtop," says another, " carefully spread as soon as the 

 ground between the swaths is dry, and, if heavy, turned 

 about noon, will dry sufficiently in one day, if a clear 

 one, to be put into the barn before sunset. I believe 

 many dry their hay too much. Never dry it so as to 

 make it brittle when twisted in the hand." 



These, and many other extracts of a similar import, 

 which might be given did space permit, indicate, with 

 sufficient distinctness, the prevailing practice among 

 the best farmers : but, as constantly intimated, it is very 

 common to find hay dried far too much. Every farmer 

 is aware of the importance of keeping his grass and 

 hay as free from dew and water as possible. An expos- 

 ure to rain washes out much of the soluble constitu- 

 ents of the grass, leaving a useless, brittle, woody fibre. 



