

39 



that llierc were (liffi-reiit opinions iis to llie proyi- 

 ei-i^lase for cultin^' j!rass ; l)ul he tliouslit l >« ob- 

 seiviince of certain in-inci|iles nnj;lit afiord a 

 snide in the caVe. For exan,|.hs the stems o 

 brasses were filU'il jnst helore the tcrniiuion ol 

 theseetl, with a starchy or saccharnie substance. 

 In perfecting the seeil, the stems were exhausted 

 of this substance, it liein-; consnnjed m Uirmnig 

 Beed. Now if the herhia-e is the object, the 

 plant shonid be cnt before the nntrinient has 

 passed from the stems. If seed is the object, the 

 plant nmst of comse be allowed to atlani a good 

 defiree of malmiiy. It is obvious, tor ceruun 

 reasons, that grasses are valuable cneHy lor then- 

 stems an.l leaves. In the fnst p ace the seeds 

 ure so minule that domestic anima s do not mas- 

 ticate them, and they are envelo|ie(i in so hard a 

 coveriii" that they are not dissolveil by the juices 

 oftheslonmch-the heat and nioisinre they pass 

 thron"h, only swelling them a little, so that they 

 are known to vegetate, generally hetler (or bav- 

 in., passed through the animal. Sheep partially 

 delilrov ihe vegetative power ol grass seeds, but 

 cattle 'and horses scarcely injure them at^all. 

 Hav made from ripe grass may " go (artber, or 

 "spend better," as the argument is; and it is ad- 

 iuitt<:<l that this mav be true, for animals are less 

 inclined to eat it it ; but this is no proot that it is 

 more nutritive. 



Jn regard to iTiaking hay, Mr. H. said he was 

 brou'^ht up in the belief that it could only be 

 done^vhen ihe sun shone; but the present gen- 

 eration had in one respect, perhaps, grovvn wiser 

 than th.-ir fathers, for we have found that hay 

 can be made when the sun does not shine, lie 

 snoUeof the dilTerent modes of curing hay, with 

 nearlv all which, he said, he ha.l been aciiiamt- 

 ed. Clover hay was altogether belter when cur- 

 ed in cock, than by any other mode he knew 

 practiced. All hay was better for iindei-gomg, 

 to some extent, sweating in the cock. Coarse 

 timothy was thus rendered much solter, and 

 was le'ss strawy and stiff, and every description 

 of hay was less likely to be " mow burned. 



As to seeding grass lands, Mr. H. prelerred the 

 latter part of the season. If grass was sown in 

 the spring, it was likely to be killed by the sum- 

 mer drouth. If sown the latter part ot August or 

 the first of Seplend.er, it generally got root 

 eiion.'h to stand the winter, and it would gener- 

 ally pro.lucea good crop the next year, though it 

 would be later than other grass. When it became 

 necessary to plough grass lands, and it was mu 

 desired 'to devote the land to other crops, it 

 nii-htbe plowed after baying, and grass seed 

 sovveil at once on the inverted sward. It the 

 land was tolerably clear of stones, an.l a good 

 plow,1n good order,was used, the work might be 

 Lo well done, that a light, sharp harrow would 

 make the surface sufficiently level to torni a good 

 "bottom" for mowing over. A roller might 

 sometimes be used to good advantage before 

 hnrovviii"-. The success ot clover, sown in the 

 tidl depended much on the nature of the soil, 

 and the character of the succeeding winter. 11 

 the soil was porous an.l not likely to he thrown 

 by frosl.and the weather of ibe next wilder and 

 M.rin;: not such as to " winter kill," it would do 

 very well. He had known it sown with rye with 

 good results. As a general rule, however, it was 

 better, prob:,blv, to sow clover in the s|.ring. 

 The late snowi furnish a good bed lor sowing it 

 —as the snow went off it softened the ground 

 sufficienllv for the seed to sink into it. 

 Mr. Bf.tts thought the time for cutling 



depended on the weather, in a great degree. Me 

 tbouirhi iirass might retain its nourishing ipm i- 

 ties till the seeil was formed— it someinnes look- 

 ed dry at top when it was green at bottom. In 

 wet weather it mav sour or rot at the bottom. Ue 

 B^reed that clover should not be much exposed 

 to the sun in making. But the great thmg in 

 hav-inakins, was to have good weather, and then 

 wi'th proper care we could liave good hay. lie 

 was not in favor of mowing a great .leal ol grass 

 while Ihe dew is on. He was in the habit of 

 snrea.ling the swathes as soon as the groun.l was 

 drv,and always had it well cockeil up before 

 ni^bt. The next dav, if ilie weather was good, 

 he^Miened it again, if it <li.l not dry enough be 

 put it tn-ether aeain ; but bis object was to get 

 it so it wonl.l do to put it in the barn. He was 

 in favor ..fusing a little salt with it. He bad 

 sometimes found his bay heat too much in the 

 inow. From being luirried he had occasionally 



put a load into the barn too green. 1 o stop the 

 heat an.l fermentation which ha.l ensued in such 

 c.ises, he had ma.le holes in the hay with a crow- 

 bar, an.l sci.ttere.l in sail. In this way he had 

 ^lopped Ihe f.^rmentalion an.l saved the hay in 

 very good or.ler. In see.ling, he did not use so 

 much see.l as Mr. Bem.M.t ha.l mentinne.l. 11 H 

 was properly put in, an.l the w.Nither was favor- 

 able, u less quantiiy than ha.l been mentioned 

 would answer, lie had had as goo.l a crop as 

 he ever saw, wilh four poun.ls of cl.iver se.ul to 

 the acre. It was oli.'ii buried too ileep— so deep 

 that a great deal of it iloes not vegetate. He pre- 

 forred using only a light bush for covering it— 

 this was beller than harrowing it in. He chose 

 lo sow cl.)ver before the frost was out ol the 



^'iMr.'GiRRETSON, of the Assembly, from Dutch- 

 ess county, said he generally cut from 150 to 200 

 tons of hay per year— cliielly timoiby and red- 

 toi>. He generally begun when the grass was 

 in th.'. blossom. Hi» melho.l was to cut in the 

 morning, spread the swathes lightly, and in the 

 afternoon put it in cocks. The next day, it the 

 sun came out, it was again spread, and if ma.le 

 eiiou-h put in the barn, with a liltle salt sprink- 

 led on it. Aliout three quarts of salt to the ton 

 was as much as he used. There was danger ot 

 usiii" too much. He had formerly ii.sed more 

 salt "and was satisfied his animal.s, particularly 

 sheep, had suffered by it. It occasioned scotir- 

 ii,.r_and by keeping the bowels oui of or.ler lor 

 some time, ihev died. Grass on Ins meadow 

 land run out. W he did not wish to break up the 

 land, he had gone over it with a scarifier, anil 

 .sown the grass seed after it, bushing it m, with 

 '..ood suc.-ess. Some ii,ead.)ws, however, requir- 

 ed plowing u|i. It was deci.ledly best to sow 

 timothy itrihe fall. As lo quaniity of seed, peo- 

 ple generally err in not using enough— he use(1 

 it liberally. He usually got about two tons of 

 hay to the acre. In the latter part of the season 

 it vvoul.l sometimes make enough in one day. 



Mr. Mack said that allhuugh some regarded 

 hi- claim to he considered a farmer rather equiv- 

 ocal, he thought he had a good right to the title. 

 He ha.l a farm on which he speni his summers, 

 and on which he had expende.l $10,000 within a 

 few years. He felt a great interest in farming, 

 and the subject before the meeting was one of the 

 most interesiing departments. He always diretjl- 

 ed his men to make hay as rapidly as possible. 

 He had oflen made it an.l put it in the barn in one 

 day, and never had better hay. He was always 

 particular to secure it from dew when it must be 

 left over night. It is sai.l by some who had 

 much practice in making bay, that it is never m- 

 uired from its own inlernal juice, but only from 

 rain or .lew. He has not had much experience 

 in sowing grass, but generally sows timothy and 

 clover in the spring— had found the best results 

 fioni sowing on snow. From what he had 

 learned, however, he thought it best to sow titn- 

 othy in ihe tall. 



Mr PoTHAM did not like the plan of salting 

 hay neither .lid he like hay ihat was made m 

 one'day. If it eoul.l be so made that it would 

 lake no hurt, in one day, it must have been too 

 dry fur good hay before it was cut, oj- else very 

 Ii.."ht burden. He would as soon have goo.l 

 bn"ht straw for his cows or sheep, as timoiliy 

 hay after it had gone to seed. He cuts clover 

 when a part of it is in the blossom and pan in 

 the head. Cuts all his grass early. It takes 

 longer to make hay cut thus early, but for cows 

 and sheep, especially, it was a great deal better. 

 The obieclion to salting hay was, that animals 

 were forced to eat salt whether they wanted it 

 or not, an.l it made sheep scour. His hay CjUiie 

 out of the barn of a bright green color, and his 

 stock would fatten on it. There was another 

 -neat a.lvantage in cutting early— the roots re- 

 uiined their life and strength better, and the af- 

 ler feed, anil fnlure crop were much more abun- 

 dant. He dill not like timothy for hay— he nev- 

 er saw it in England— Ihe farmers there thought 

 it was loo coarse and wiry for stock. Rye gra.ss 

 made good hay-would yield in England two 

 ions per acre. "Pacey's was the best variety- 

 red top made good hay. He had tried saintoin 

 —it did not come up well— there was always a 

 dlfiiculiy about it in this respect, because the 

 «epil was good only a short time— it could hard- 

 Iv be brought across the ocean and vegetate. If 

 we could get it here it would be very valuable, 



especially for dry lands. As to pasturing iiiuw- 

 ing Ian. Is, some lands would not bear it— partic- 

 ularly if wet- blithe fed his dry lands very close, 

 ill the fall, with cattle and sheep, and experienced 

 no damage bom it. . . 



Mr. Dkv ma.le some inquiries about sainfoin, 

 lucerne an.l florin, &.C., to which Mr. Howard 

 bri.-fly replied. , , ■ • 



Judge ChkkVek said a.t others ha.l told then- 

 experience in the quantities and inunner of mak- 

 ing hay, he would take the liberty, in some mea- 

 sure, to follow iheir example. 



Twenty-two years ago, he purchased a small 

 hay liirni, and upon that and elsewhere, he has 

 ever since cut fioni 100 lo 2.50 tons of hay, (.er 

 year. Of course it had become his interest lo 

 learn all he eoul.l of the best meihodof seeding, 

 and keeping up his meadows ; the best season 

 and best mode of culling and curing hay, and 

 then how to turn it to best account. His liollom 

 lands upon the rear, he seeded with limolhy on- 

 ly, except in some places where it was too wet 

 to grow timothy, there he seeded with red-top. 

 On bis up lands he seede.l with timothy and 

 clover. He did not use so much seed as Mr. Be- 

 nient had meniioned. Where he used timothy 

 alone, about eisht quarts to the acre was Ins 

 quantity. Where he lused clover with it, he used 

 six or eiuht pounds of clover to six or eight 

 quarts of timothy. He had succeeded in see.ling 

 vvith timothy at almost all seasons of the year, 

 but always best when he covered the seed well. 

 He had ha.l good success in seeding with buck- 

 wheat, sowing the fore part of July, sowing the 

 buckwheat thin, not over five quarts of seed to 

 the acre. If he steded with winter gram lie pre- 

 ferred sowing timothy in the fall with grain, and 

 in the spring of course if on a spring crop. He 

 had succee.led much the best by sowing and 

 passing a light harrow over it once to cover it well. 

 He had had good success in sowing clover in the 

 tall with grAin on san.ly and gravelly lands, but 

 on clavs and tenaceous soils there was great daii- 

 „ev otioosing it fiom the aclfon of the winter 

 fr.ist It was safest to sow clover in the spring, 

 upon some of Ihe last snows, if on winter gram, 

 and with the grain, using the harrow upon It, it 

 sowed wilh spring crop. He always used he 

 harrow when he could. He had kept up his 

 meadows by leaving the after growth or rowen 

 upon them as much as he could ; and where he 

 grazed considerably in the fall, to repay it by an 

 occasional top dressing. Grass land, whether 

 bottom or nplan.l, will keep itself up, if.'>'ovf'l 

 once in the year, at the ordinary .season, it all he 

 after growth is left, without lop-dressing. It the 

 tall is dry and the after growth light, the next 

 crop will not be full, but Ihe first wet tall will 

 bring it up again. Meadows should be d'aiued, 

 when practi.:able, as well as tillage lands. Al- 

 though irrigation is vei^ nsefiil where properly 

 applied, an excess of water is very hurtful espec- 

 ially to the quaniity of the bay. . 



Making //«^.-He would cut his clover in blos- 

 som, not sooner. He would let it take the sun 

 one day, but not enough to have the leaf bieak 

 off, then put it in small eocksand cure it until by 

 a fow hours drying, by turniug oyer and break- 

 in" the cocks, the fluids would he so far out ot 

 it That it may be boused without hurting Ihe 

 lenmh oftiine necessary to cure It wil depend 

 up.m the state of the weather and the l";?"" J 

 smaller growth of the crop. Upon this the tar- 

 nier must exercise his judgment. , 



He would not cut timothy until it had passed 

 out of the blossom. Professor Davy, >" '"^ Af ri- 

 cultural Chemistry, says, the 64 P'"'^ /^ ';'°^^'^ 

 hay cut in the blossom, pro.luced ten P« 's°';""- 

 triiive matter, and the same taken m see. 1 . - 

 othy, 10 parts in blossom, and 23 in ^eed Tl is 

 in the timothy is probably too >1>"<='> 5 ^ ' '!^^* 

 the nutritive matter in timoihy im|.roved alter 

 ihefallol the Ijlossom he had no doubt. Kea- 

 u„ comes to maturity later, and he did not think 

 here was much difference whether cut in the 

 o s-om ...• soon after. He believed t""Othy cut 

 i„ i,lossom would, pound for pound, p oduce 

 more milk when fod lo cows or ^'h'^^r, tha" >t 

 would cnt afterwards; but f'>'-.l'"'-«'=%f "^, "'^^ 

 stock, he thought it more .>"'«'>'='°"^, '° ^ X " 

 litile longer. It certainly improved in weight. 



He preforred mowma his hay, as fai as he 



could when free from dews or water. He let 



he s tlis take the sun a few hours, t.ntil .he top 



got a little wilted or seared, before turning. If 



