634 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



The ricks are made by a person standing upon 

 them to build and compress tliem. Tliey are 

 formed with a conical to[), and arc each bound 

 down with a rope made ol' the hay itself. In this 

 state they may resist a considerable lall of ram ; 

 but the hay is not to be sufl'ered to remain longer 

 in the ricUs than is necessary to dry it in a sufficient 

 degree to fit it lor being stored in a larger stack. 

 When the hay is suiricienily ready, which will be 

 denoted by its fteling dry when the hand is thrust 

 into the rick, it is carried in a large sparred cart to 

 the place where the hay-stack is to be Ibrmed, 

 which is most conveniently, in the barn-yard, near 

 the stables. 



The hay-stack may be built in a circular or ob- 

 long form ; the latter is the most convenient when 

 the quantity ofhay is larjie. A numberof per&ons 

 being placed on the stack to build, the hay is forked 

 up to to them, and the stack, by the treading ol 

 their leet upon it, is compressed in proportion as it 

 is raised. In 24 hours it will have considerably 

 subsided, and in a day, or two afterwards it is 

 thatched with stravp, and bound down with straw 

 ropes; the loose hay of the exterior having been 

 pulled carefully out all around, so that the whole 

 shall present a neat appearance. 



Hay, when put into a large mas3 of this kind, 

 will undergo a slight degree ol lieat ; but, in the 

 case of the clovers, and grasses, the slighter the 

 degree of heat at this period the better, and hence 

 the necessity of a previous preparation of the ma- 

 terial as careful as the state of the weather will al- 

 low. 



Often creat difficulty is experienced in the nro- 

 cessess of the hay harvest by the wetness of tlie 

 weather. In such a case the farmer is obliged to 

 watch the intervals of favorable weather, and 

 employ every practicable means to forward the 

 operations and secure the crop. 



Some recommend the strewing of salt upon the 

 hay, as the building of the stack proceeds. This cor- 

 rects the tendency to fermentation, anil renders in- 

 jured hay palatable to stock. 



In the making ofhay, the great end to be aimed 

 at is to prepare it as quickly as possible, and with as 

 httle exposure to the weather, and as Utile waste of 

 the natural juices, as circumstances will allow. 

 When we are enabled to do this, the hay will be 

 sweet, fragrant, and of a greenish colour. 



It is not usual to cut more ihan one crop of hay 

 from the same ground in the year, although the 

 second crop of the grasses and clovers ma\' also 

 tie made into hay. It is never, however, so 

 good as the first crop in weight and quality ; and, 

 besides, the late period of the season renders the 

 preparation of it difficult or precarious. For 

 these reasons the proper system is to pasture the 

 aliermath, and not to make it into hay. 



Wherever the system of the cultivated grasses 

 is perfectly understood they will never be mown 

 for hay more than once. The first year's after- 

 math, and all the subsequent years' grass, so long 

 as the land remains untilled, are to be used lor her- 

 batre alone. 



The produce of hay varies greatly with the 

 quality of the soil and state of the season. About 

 2 tons per acre may be regarded as a good crop, 

 but often the produce is greatly more, and then the 

 crop is considerd to be a great one. Hay, in the 

 field rick, weighs somewhat better than 112 lb. 

 per cubic yard; after being compressed in the stack 



it weighs Irom 140 to 180 lb., and when old about 

 200 lb. 



Clovers, besides being raised for pasture or soiU 

 inif; are sometimes cultivated for their seeds. In 

 this case the clover to be cultivated should be sown 

 by itself, pastured with sheep till pretty late in May 

 and then allowed to grow and ripen its seeds. 

 When the seeds are fi.illy ripened, the crop is cut 

 down, and formed into very small cocks, which, 

 af\er being, thoroughly dried, are lead home, and 

 put into stacks until thrashed. The process of 

 thrashing is a somewhat troublesome one, from 

 the difficulty of sep:iraiing the seeds from the cap- 

 sules. It is usually done by the flail; and ilie 

 seeds may be winnowed in the same manner as 

 grain, but with sieves adapted to the purpose. 

 This species of cultivation, however, has narrow 

 limits in this country. The crop is a great ex- 

 hauster of the soil, and, from the late period of ri- 

 pening and the extreme dryness to which the 

 plants must be brought, it is a somewhat precari- 

 ous crop, even in the more favorably situated parts 

 of the island. For these reasons the great part of 

 the clover seeds consumed in this country is im- 

 ported. 



The grasses too, are frequently cultivated for 

 their seeds. In this case the particular grass to be 

 cultivated should be sown by itself It should be 

 dried and stacked like a crop ol corn, and thrashed 

 and winnowed. When the crop of this kind ia 

 cultivated, it should be regarded as an exhausting 

 crop, and the land treated as if it liad borne a crop 

 of corn. 



Sometimes the seeds of rye-grass are procured 

 by a more partial process. The hay being put 

 into cocks in the usual manner, it is thrashed just 

 before beingbut into the larger ricks. The thrashing 

 is performed in the field on a moveable floor of 

 boards, placed upon a coarse convass cloth. In 

 this case the hay should be slightly beaten by the 

 flail, so as to detach the best ripened seeds with- 

 out too greatly injuring or breaking the stems. 

 The seeds are then but into sacks, and carried to 

 the granary, on the floor of which they are spread 

 and turned over as occasion requires. When dry, 

 they may be dressed; or they may remain mixed 

 with the chaft' till spring. The hay, however, is 

 always injured where this system is practised, both 

 because it is deprived of the seeds, and because it 

 is necessary to allow the plants to stand for a lon- 

 ger time to ripen llian would otherwise be required. 



No method of producing hay has been found 

 comparable to that of the cultivated grasses. Un- 

 der this system, the forage-plants are cut when in 

 their state of most luxuriant growth, and no ma- 

 nure is laid upon the surlace in order to produce 

 the hay; the manures being applied to the prepar- 

 atory liillow or green crops, in which case they are 

 covered by the plough and rendered entirely avail- 

 able. Yet over the greater part of England, land 

 is kept permanently in grass for the purpose of 

 mowing it, manure being applied from time to time 

 to the surface. This system has become !he very 

 habit of the country, and, by the general adoption 

 of It, beyond a question a vast public loss is sus- 

 tained. The practice of the cultivated meadow 

 was probably introduced into England by the Ro- 

 mans, and at a long subsequent period was made 

 more fully known by the Flemings; and yet by 

 far the greater part of all the hay produced in this 

 island is derived from perennial meadows, and 



