GRASS AND HAY 197 



different sections of the country. In general it is desirable to so 

 handle the hay that it will reach the barn or stack with the least 

 possible exposure to the weather and the minimum loss of leaves. 

 Clover should not be allowed to become too dry in either the swath 

 or the windrow, else the leaves will crumble, resulting at best in a 

 very dusty hay, to say nothing of the actual loss of much of the nu- 

 tritive value. If the hay can be cocked before the leaves are entirely 

 dry the movement of the water from the stems through the leaves will 

 continue. When the leaves become well wilted in the swath it should 

 be raked into windrows and then bunched into cocks when the hay is 

 about half dry. Each cock should contain only enough hay so that 

 two men can place the entire cock on the wagon at once, as in this 

 way the loss of leaves due to handling is reduced to a minimum. 

 Where a prime or choice quality of hay is desired and the rains are 

 frequent hay caps for the cocks and canvas covers for any outside 

 stacks are valuable devices. These hay caps can be made from a 40- 

 inch square of canvas or ducking and may be held in place by small 

 weights attached to each corner. Cement weights about the size 

 of a baseball which may be attached to the hay cap by means of a 

 hook and eye are satisfactory. Any excess of clover hay is usually 

 baled for market, but under ordinary circumstances the farm pro- 

 duces only enough hay to maintain the live stock which the place 

 supports. (F. B. 455.) 



Curing Clover Hay. In view of the difficulty generally en- 

 countered in securing properly cured clover hay, it is oelieved that 

 the following suggestions on this subject will be of interest and value 

 to many who are engaged in the growing of clover for hay: 



If it be suffered to remain until a considerable proportion of the 

 heads are brown and the seed ripe, there will be but little rowen, 

 while there is much danger that the roots of the clover will die after 

 the crop is cut. Relatively early cutting then before many of the 

 heads are brown-^is desirable, both because a better rowen crop will 

 be secured and because the clover will persist in the mowing longer. 

 Good weather is desired for the satisfactory making of clover hay, as 

 it is, indeed, for the satisfactory making of any hay ; but it is far more 

 important in the case of the clovers than for timothy, on account of 

 the fact that the clovers need much more drying. The best hour in 

 the day for cutting, as it appears to me, is late in the afternoon. 

 Whatever the hour, it is essential to keep in mind the fact that in the 

 curing of clover hay it should be handled but little after it begins to 

 dry. It is generally well understood that too much handling as the 

 crop dries results in the breaking off of the leaves and heads, which 

 are the most valuable portion of the crop. Whatever the hour of 

 cutting, then, the fact should be kept in mind that this crop should 

 be tedded but little in curing. If cut late in the afternoon, the crop 

 may be tedded once the following forenoon. If the weather is par- 

 ticularly fine, it will then be ready to rake and put into cocks late in 

 the afternoon of the same day. If the clover is curing more slowly, 

 it may be best to leave it in windrows over one night, and to turn 

 these carefully with the fork the next forenoon, and to cock on the 



