128 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



when this can not be done it is best to put it in cocks so as to pro- 

 tect it from the dew. There is a great difference between good 

 sweet hay cut before the rich juices have turned to woody fiber, 

 and that which has been allowed to get over-ripe, and then 

 allowed to lie for two or three days exposed to dew and burning 

 sun, and the former who likes to see his stock comfortable and 

 thrifty, and who expects to find a profit from feeding, will be 

 watchful and vigilant to see that all the work of hay-making is 

 done at the right time and in the best possible manner. The use 

 of hay caps is usually recommended in giving directions about 

 hay-making, but I have serious doubts as to whether they would 

 pay. If the rain is heavy and long-continued the hay will be 

 wet from the ground, and the heat and moisture from the cock 

 will gather under the cap and damage the top. Besides, our 

 summer showers usually come up so suddenly that it would be 

 impossible to cover a field of hay in time to protect it. Bar- 

 racks similar to those described in our chapter on wheat, will be 

 found profitable on farms where hay is grown as a leading crop, 

 and for this purpose they can be built cheaply by setting posts 

 of lasting wood in the ground to support the roof. When hay is 

 to be stacked or put in barracks in the field, much time and labor 

 in handling can be saved by the use of the "twenty-foot hay 

 rake," which you will find described and illustrated in the chapter 

 on "Handy things." 



Since the introduction of the self-binders for wheat, I have 

 heard of some farmers cutting the timothy hay with these ma- 

 chines. I believe that it would cure out in the shock as well as 

 wheat, and would be very little damaged by rain, and I would 

 recommend that farmer's owning these machines try this plan. 



Shrinkage of Hay in Barn. It is a question of con- 

 siderable interest to the farmer who sells hay, to know what the 

 shrinkage will be between the time it is stored and the following 

 winter or spring when it has thoroughly dried out. 



I have before me the results of seventeen trials made at the 

 Pennsylvania State College Farm. The experiments extended 

 over a space of three years, 1879-81, and included timothy and 

 clover, and the cutting was made at different stages of growth 



