Leguminous Plaids for Ch-een Forage and May. 



199 



following day liay making proceeds as rapidly as possible, the 

 crop being placed under cover before night -fall. 



Under the third system clover is cut after the dew is off and 

 remains without tedding until afternoon, when it is gathered into 

 windrows, and from these into bunches or cocks before the dew 

 falls, which stand several days, undergoing a sweating process. 

 A.fter sweating they are opened in flakes, which give off their 

 moisture rapidly, and the material is soon ready for the barn. 

 EEay curing in cocks is often protected by muslin covers or caps, 

 which are useful in protecting the bunches from rain. 



Whichever system is adopted, too great care cannot be exer- 

 cised in preserving the finer parts of the plant, which are liable 

 to be wasted, leaving only the coarse, woody stems to be gathered. 

 Under all systems of hay production the clover plant should not 

 be placed in barn or stack when carrying external moisture, either 

 dew or rain. This foreign moisture appears to be more detri- 

 mental in the curing of hay than the natural sap of the plant. 



289. Losses in curing. — According to Wolff, ^ from twenty- five 

 to forty per cent, of the dry substance of clover hay can be ex- 

 tracted by cold water. Eitthausen cured one sample of clover 

 hay quickly and allowed another to lie a fortnight in the rain. 

 The composition of the two samples was as follows: 



Com/position of good clover hay and that injured by rain — Ritthausen. 



We see that the sample rained upon contained more protein than 

 did the one which was well preserved. Evidently much more of 

 the nitrogen-free extract than protein is removed by soaking the 

 hay with water. This explains the fact so often noticed in prac- 



> Farm Foods, English edition, p. 160. 



