114 



ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



Taste. 



"Nose" 

 or aroma. 



Distinc- 

 tion 



between 

 new and 

 old hay. 



Clover 

 hay. 



in isolated trusses of an otherwise good sample if they happen to have 

 been exposed to damp after they were cut out of the stack. 



Taste. — The taste of good hay is not very marked, being faintly sweet 

 and rather mawkish ; the sweetness is more pronounced in mowburnt 

 samples, and when musty or mouldy it becomes bitter. 



'"'' Nose.^^ — The aroma of good hay is due to the aromatic grasses con- 

 tained in it, Sweet Vernal being the variety which is mainly responsible. 

 This pleasant characteristic is generally spoken of as the " nose " of the 

 hay, and when in perfection has the well-known smell of a newly- 

 mown field ; it becomes fainter with age, but persists as long as the hay 

 is good. Rain destroys it very rapidly, and in such case absence rather 

 than presence of smell is to be desired, any marked odour being due to 

 the result of damp. Mowburnt hay, as previously noted, acquires when 

 only slightly marked a decidedly sweet and pleasant nose. 



Disiinctioii betii'een New and Old Hay. — In the trade, hay is termed 

 "old" after Michaelmas Day (29th September), and this practice is 

 followed in contracts ; but, generally speaking, when reference is made to 

 " good old hay," it is understood to be between 6 and 18 months old, 

 before which period it is not at its best as a rule, and after which it 

 deteriorates. In the autumn it is sometimes difficult to decide whether 

 a particular sample is to be classed as new or old. In an early season, 

 when the cut is light and well saved, it will mature quickly, and trusses 

 cut from a heavy stack where they have been subjected to enormous 

 pressure and some heat may have a deceptive appearance of age. The 

 following are the points to be considered in deciding. New hay is softer, 

 wants crispness, carries more colour, tastes sweeter, and has a stronger 

 nose than old. The fibres are not so dry or brittle, contain more moisture, 

 and it consequently cuts out bulkier and heavier in the truss. Thick 

 stems of plants, and the nodes on the stalks of grasses, hold moisture 

 longest, and this may be tested by cutting and biting them. Old hay is 

 crisper to feel, more brittle, has less decided taste and smell, with the 

 colour of the grasses and flower heads more faded and the herbage and 

 weeds blackened. It is more closely packed owing to longer pressure in 

 the stack, and cuts out smaller and more solidly in the truss. When the 

 sample has been slightly mowburnt, the difficulty of deciding is increased, 

 and allowance should also be made for the fact that the finer kinds of 

 hay are more compressible and cut out more solid than the rougher, 

 herbaceous sorts. 



Clover /lay. — When grown alone as a hay, clover is, owing to its 

 weight and succulence, a difficult crop to save well except under the most 

 favourable conditions, and even then it may waste in the stack to a fifth 



