103 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2. 



state, than could otherwise be done with safety. 

 Besides this advantage, the straw interposed be- 

 tween the layers of the hay, by absorbing its 

 juices, will be rendered much more valuable, as 

 provender, and if salt be sprinkled on the hay, will 

 be greedily consumed both by cattle and horses. 

 From the great quantity of this grass produced 

 on an acre, its highly nutritive quality, the ease 

 with which it is cut and cured, farmers will find, 

 that clover hay is the cheapest food on which they 

 can keep their stock in good order during the win- 

 ter. If put up in good order in the fall, sheltered 

 from bad weather, and salted, both horses and cat- 

 tle will keep fat on it alone throughout the winter, 

 without the aid of grain, unless when worked. 



The prevalent notion, of the difficulty of curing 

 clover hay, is entirely erroneous. In a climate 

 like ours, there will seldom be found any, in a wet 

 and cool climate, like that of England, the difficul- 

 ty may exist to some extent, as clover when put 

 in cocks will not resist rain as well as timothy and 

 some other grasses; but in the course of fifteen 

 years' experience, we have seldom lostuny, or 

 had it much injured by the weather, Indeed we 

 have found it incomparably easier to save clover 

 hay than corn blades, and as three or four tons of 

 the former, with the aid of plaster, can be made 

 at less expense than one ton of the latter, 

 the farmer must be blind indeed to his own interest, 

 who does not take care to provide himself with at 

 least as much clover, as will furnish an abundant 

 supply of provender for his stock. 



Clover should be cut for hay when about one 

 half the heads have become of a brown color. It' 

 cut earlier, it is believed the hay will not be so nu- 

 tritious; if later, the stems will have become harder, 

 and the grass be on the decline. For hogs ■how- 

 ever, and young stock, it will be advisable to cut 

 some so soon as it is in full bloom: when cut in this 

 state and salted, hogs are very fond of it, and it is 

 believed might be chiefly wintered on it, if other- 

 wise carefully protected from inclement weather. 

 At all events, by the use of it as a food for 

 hogs in part, a great saving of corn may be ef- 

 fected. 



When the farmer can do it, he will find a great 

 advantage in providing himself with long, narrow, 

 and high sheds, open at least on the south side for 

 the preservation of his clover hay, and when haul- 

 ing it in, to begin at one end, and spread a layer of 

 hay along the whole length of the shed, and then 

 repeat the same process; by this means, he wdl 

 be able to put up his hay, in a much greener state 

 than could safely be done, if put either in a stack 

 or mow, and as yet there are but tew persons in 

 this country sufficiently expert in the art, to stack it 

 so as to ensure its preservation. In narrow sheds, 

 one load is considerably dried before another is 

 thrown on it, and when the sheds are filled, the 

 narrowness of the bulk being so much greater, 

 there is far less danger of injury to the hay by 

 heating. We again solicit as a favor, from our 

 readers, that they will make full and fair experi- 

 ments of the mode recommended in the following 

 article, and that they will furnish us with an accu- 

 rate account of the result; by so doing, they will 

 not only confer a favor on us, but discharge a duty 

 which they owe to the public, for whose benefit it 

 is desired. 



From the Cultivator. 

 MAKING CLOVER HAY,' IN COCKS. 



Nothing is so hard to combat as the prejudice 

 of farmers, who think they can learn nothing ilk 

 their business. We have often recommended car- 

 ing clover hay in cocks, as a means of doubling ihe 

 value of this kind of hay, besides lessening the 

 expense of curingit: Many good fanners and in- 

 telligent men, have ridiculed the process, because 

 it run counter to their practice, and was what they 

 could not reconcile to their idea of good manage- 

 ment. But they would never make the trial; if 

 they had done so, they would have seen that they 

 were wrong, and w r e right. We beg leave here 

 to say, that in many districts of Great Britain, 

 spreading hay from the swath, or tedding it, is 

 going wholly out of practice, as causing unne- 

 cessary labor, and as diminishing the value of the 

 hay. But there they are not blessed with our or- 

 dinary sunshine and heat in the haying season. 

 The hay curing process, with them is a business 

 of some days, on account of" their comparatively 

 cool climate and humid atmosphere. But with 

 us, when the grass is matured, and thin, and the 

 weather good, it is often the business of a day. 

 But this cannot be the case with us with early- 

 mown hay. particularly where clover abounds. 

 The grass is then full of juices, and the succulent 

 stalks of the clover require time, as well as sun- 

 shine to part with their moisture. Spread and ex- 

 posed to a hot sun, the leaves, blossoms, and exte- 

 riors of the stems soon dry, but in drying, the ex- 

 teriors of the stems become indurated, and refuse, 

 like wood painted when green, to [cut with the in- 

 terior moisture. The consequence is, the grass 

 must either be housed in tins half-cured condition, 

 and spoil in the mow, or, if the curing process is 

 completed, so as to prevent damage, the leaves 

 and blossoms, which constitute the best parts of 

 the hay, are over dried, crumble and are lost. Cured 

 in cock, every part of the grass whether the leaves 

 or the thick stalks, dries alike, and is alike pre- 

 served, and the evaporation of moisture goes on, I 

 believe, even in wet weather; for a partial, though 

 in no wise a prejudicial termentation takes place, 

 and the ratified air which it generates, being spe- 

 cifically lighter than the atmosphere, is constantly 

 passing off. 



We have been induced to these remarks, at this 

 untimely season, in consequence of finding in the 

 Farmer and Gardener, an agricultural paper pub- 

 lished at Baltimore, a communication from John 

 Smith, fully confirming the utility of our recom- 

 mendation and long practice. It would seem that 

 Mr. Smith was led to make the experiment rather 

 from necessity than from choice. But we will let 

 him tell his own story. 



"It will perhaps be recollected," he says, "by all 

 attentive agricultural readers of that paper [the 

 American Farmer] that it was recommended to 

 farmers to put their hay, in its green state, or as 

 soon as cut, into small cocks, and cure it by sweat- 

 ing. 



"When I commenced cutting my clover hay the 

 present season, the prospect for favorable weather 

 was flattering, but in a short time it changed, and 

 it became evident we should have a wet spell. I 

 then dropped the scythes and put all hands to put- 

 ting up the grass (then perfectly green, but ex- 

 empt from external wet) into cocks of about 200 



