66 BRITISH DAIRYING. 



most of all effective on a somewhat heavy and retentive loam, 

 damp, but well under-drained. 



Alternate annual dressings of natural and artificial manures 

 are, I believe, much preferable to unvarying dressings of either 

 one or the other. The more natural manure there is available, 

 the less artificial will need to be bought, and as the land im- 

 proves in condition -as improve it will under this treatment 

 the dressings may well be slightly lessened in quantity. Hay 

 grown in this way, if well saved, is always of superior quality. 

 It takes more drying for the rick than that from poor land. 

 There is more strength and steam in it, and consequently it is 

 better food for stock in winter. The difference, indeed, is far 

 greater than a novice would think possible. 



When to Mow. 



Winter- and spring-saved meadows are fit for mowing early. 

 No fixed date can be laid down, for the time of maturity varies. 

 I knew an old-time farmer, long years ago, who invariably began 

 mowing on Midsummer Day, unless it fell on a Sunday, what- 

 ever the weather and the state of his crops might be. The 

 time to mow meadow grass is when the bulk of the crop is still 

 a little unripe that is, when the seed-stems are well in flower, 

 and the pollen of the flowers is freely falling on our boots 

 as we walk through the grass, or when a tinge of brown steals 

 over the face of the field. It is a mistake with grass to let it 

 stand until it is dead-ripe, for then the indigestible woody fibre 

 has increased, and the sugar that was in the sap has gone. 

 Doubtless there is more weight of hay if the grass is cut late, 

 but the quality is greatly reduced. Cut early, and well har- 

 vested, hay from well-farmed land is hay and corn combined. 

 When most of the heads of clover are in bloom, and the rye- 

 grass is browning, is the time to cut a field of " seeds," if only 

 the weather be suitable. 



Freshly-cut grass has an oily or waxy coating on the 

 outside, which makes it waterproof for a time ; but when it 

 has been repeatedly stirred by the tedder, the stems are more 



