PRESERVING FOODS FOR STOCK 127 



1. Drying, or Haymaking. Green foods like grasses 

 and clovers are made into hay (i.e. dried in air), after 

 which, with ordinary care, they will keep sweet for one 

 or more years. 



In England it is usual to cut the grass, turn it and 

 possibly ted it, till sufficiently dry. A side-delivery 

 rake places it in a row, from which it is made into small 

 heaps called "cocks," containing \ to I cwt. each. After 

 a few days it is carted and made into a stack, the 

 whole operation being concluded in a week or a 

 fortnight, according to the weather. 



In Scotland as soon as the grass is turned and 

 approximately air-dried, although too green to cart 

 it is placed in large heaps or " tramp coils " in the field, 

 each containing 10 to 20 cwts. of hay. In wet districts 

 a " boss " is placed in the middle to facilitate drying. 

 After one or two months it is carted and stacked. 



The chief difference, although not constant, is that 

 English hay "sweats" a little, and becomes a nice 

 brownish yellow colour, while the Scotch hay retains, 

 more or less, its natural colour. 



2. Silage. Occasionally in Great Britain the weather 

 is very wet at haymaking time, and any hope of getting 

 the grass dried with the sun may seem, at the moment, 

 remote. In such a case, the grass may be cut and 

 carted at once into a stack, or in some cases a cemented 

 pit called a silo. The grass settles down very consider- 

 ably, and becomes dark brown in colour, with a very 

 strong smell. It is then called silage. Stock, however, 

 eat it, and it has a rather laxative effect on the system. 

 Although grass may be preserved in this way, it is 

 better, where possible, to make it into hay. 



In America, green maize is chaffed and blown into 

 a tall cylindrical building (silo). It is simply trodden 



