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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



HAY AND FODDER— CUTTING AND 

 CURING. 



It may be safely averred that there is not a sin- 

 gle operation on a farm that cannot be, and that 

 ought not to be, conducted upon scientific princi- 

 ples. Hence the utility, the necessity, of a sci- 

 entific education of farmers. If the remark be 

 true of farm operations generally, it is more espec- 

 ially so of the subject of hay-making. In this we 

 require a knowledge of vegetable physiology, of 

 chemistry, of pharmacy. Vegetable physiology 

 will teach us the nature and functions of the vari- 

 ous organs and parts and juices of the plants with 

 which we have to do ; chemistry will teach us the 

 theory, and pharmacy the art, of curing and sav- 

 ing the article in the best manner. There is no 

 doubt that a very large portion of the nutritive 

 matter of hay, and all kinds of fodder, is lost by 

 a want of knowledge of this kind. The writer of 

 tins has never seen a hay-field at haying-time, that 

 he was not forcibly impressed with this truth. To 

 illustrate this subject — suppose a pharmaceutist, 

 the Shakers, for example, were to gather their med- 

 ical herbs, and cure them, and house them in the 

 same way that hay and fodder are usually gath- 

 ered, cured, and saved — what, let us ask, would 

 they be worth? Gathered at very improper sea- 

 sons, cured in such a manner as to ferment and 

 evaporate all their intrinsic virtues, and at last 

 housed in a place, and in a condition, to make as 

 surance of its destruction "doubly sure," it may 

 well be conceived they would not be worth much 

 There are certain rules to be observed in this, as 

 in all things, to attain the highest degi*ee of per 

 fection before it is cut, and that degree is found to 

 be at the time of flowering or blooming, just before 

 the seed begins to form. It being a herbaceous 

 plant, the whole natural object of it is to make 

 seed, and all its juices are, at the time of flowering, 

 in their richest state. This is the time to cut it. 

 If cut before this time, the juices are imperfect, 

 and the fibrous matter immature ; and if delayed 

 beyond this time, more or less of the richness of 

 these juices is expended in making the seed. If 

 the seed is allowed to become ripe, the hay is 

 comparatively worthless. We never saw a load 

 of hay in the market for sale, that did not exhibit 

 unequivocal signs of having had a very large por- 

 tion of its rich qualities exhausted, either before it 

 was cut, or in curing. When it is understood, 

 that if allowed to ripen seed perfectly, the grass 

 loses all its rich juices, and becomes mere dry 

 straw — woody fibre, a little silicate of potash, and 

 a very trifling quantity of vegetable extractive mat- 

 "ter, the importance of cutting it at the right time 

 will be apparent. 



And here it is proper to mention another error 

 of almost, if not quite, equal importance. It is 

 that of mixing different kinds of grass together. 

 There are scarcely any two grasses that flower at 

 the same time, exactly, and if two be mixed, that 

 flower at different times, one or the other will be 

 greatly deteriorated by being cut too soon (a- too 

 late. All grasses, should, therefore, be kept in 

 distinct meadows. 



The curing process is, however, of much the 

 most importance. No matter at what times the 

 grass be cut, if it be not properly cured, the hay 

 will be worth less, in proportion to this imperfec 

 tit m. Two tons of hay shall be taken from the 

 same field, the one cured properly, the other care 



lessly — and the one shall be worth twenty dollars, 

 while the other will be dear at any price, except 

 for mere straw. Let us descend to particulars, for 

 the subject is sufficiently important to authorize it. 

 Nearly the whole nutritious properties of the hay 

 arc in a fluid, or semi-fluid state, highly suscepti- 

 ble of fermentation ; and if fermentation takes 

 place, they will be immediately dissipated in va- 

 por. The object to be attained is to cure the hay, 

 by evaporating the water only, of these juices, leav- 

 ing the saccharine and other principles in a solid 

 state in the body of the grass. But if the juices 

 of the grass be allowed to ferment, then all these 

 principles are rapidly changed, and pass off with 

 the water in vapor. The usual method of curing 

 hay, especially in the middle States, permits the 

 green cut hay to lay in masses till it gets more or 

 less heated, especially the under portion of it. This 

 heat is produced by fermentation. We usually 

 Bee the hay in the swath till the next day, and 

 then it is merely turned over, and even that very 

 carefully. The underside will then be found to be 

 very warm. Now, all this is wrong. The hay 

 should be shaken up lightly, and loosely, 80 that 

 none of it will lay in compact masses, and that the 

 air may pass freely through it. It should be gath- 

 ered into winrows as late as possible in the even- 

 ing, and these should be well opened and turned, 

 and loosened, early in the morning, so as to avoid 

 spontaneous fe lamentation. If the weather be fair, 

 the hay cut yestei-day will be fit for cocking this 

 afternoon, but it is not ready for housing or stack- 

 ing. A great error is often committed in cocking 

 hay, in allowing it to remain in these small stacks 

 too long. When cocked, the hay is merely wilted, 

 not cured, and if allowed to remain in cocks, will 

 ferment there. They should be opened and spread 

 about, and re-cocked several times before being 

 permanently stacked or housed. Shaking hay 

 about has a great effect in curing it, much more 

 than is generally supposed. It exposes it to fresh 

 air, which carries off the water, and the oftener it 

 is shaken up, the sooner and better it will be cured. 

 Many object to shaking up the hay while the dew 

 is on it in the morning. This is an error. A good 

 shaking at that time, will effectually dry it. 



Many an old farmer will undoubtedly laugh at 

 my simplicity, in thinking it necessary to give such 

 plain, common-place notions, publicity. But if 

 they will take a look at the hay that is daily 

 brought to all our markets for sale, they will find 

 abundant excuse for me. Nine-tenths of the hay 

 thus exposed for sale, is a mere mass of dry straw ; 

 much of it made so by curing, and the rest by un- 

 seasonable cutting. Ilay , in a perfect state , should 

 be of a bright greenish color, and as odoriferous as 

 green tea ; but the mass of that brought to our 

 markets, is of such a dull straw color, that it re- 

 quires some close inspection to ascertain whether 

 it be hay or mere chess straw, and you may run 

 your nose into the middle of a load of it, (if it be 

 long enough !) without detecting any odor at all — 

 unless it be a musty one. 



I must give the New York farmers the credit of 

 producing the best hay we have seen in our city 

 markets- I have frequently used that sent by 

 them to the Baltimore market, pressed in bales, 

 and found it to be worth, intrinsically, twent}'-five 

 to thirty per cent, more than that usually brought 

 here from the surrounding country. And the rea- 

 son of this difference in quality evidently grew out 





