HAY 



HA Y 



187 



HAY. It has been found that 

 the greatest quantity of nutriment 

 is found in the leaves and stalks of 

 plants, just at the moment when 

 the seed is forming; and that the 

 grass loses rapidly its value, as the 

 seed advances to maturity. It is 

 the better opinion also that the 

 plant itself is the more exhausted 

 by sufTering it to mature its seed, 

 and in crops that are to last sever- 

 alyears this consideration deserves 

 weight. The rule applied to clo- 

 ver is applicable to all plants, that 

 they should be cut for hay, when 

 one half the plants of a tield are in 

 flower. 



HAY HOOK, an instrument to 

 pull hay out of a mow, or stack. — 

 This instrument is often made of 

 wood ; but an iron one is far pre- 

 ferable. It should be sharp point- 

 ed, armed with a fluke, and have 

 a socket to receive the wooden 

 handle. The handle should have 

 a turn at the end for the ease of 

 pulling. There can be no better 

 handle than the half of an old ox 

 bow : Or a little more than half. 

 But this instrument will waste the 

 hay, and divest it of much of the 

 seed. A better way is, to cut off' 

 slices of two or three feet in thick- 

 ness, from a mow or stack, as it is 

 wanted for use. 



HAY-iMAKING, the curing, or 

 drying of grass for fodder. The 

 first thing to be considered about 

 hay-making, is the time of cutting 

 the grass. It should not be cut 

 too early, or before it has got its 

 growth : For this will cause it to 

 shrink too much in drying. On the 

 contrary, it should not stand too 

 late, or till the seed be quite ripe. 



Tt is not only harder to cut, but the 

 ripeness of the seed will cause it to 

 shatter out while drying,which will 

 be a considerable loss,as the seed is 

 the most rich and nourishing part ; 

 and the soil will be the more ex- 

 hausted by nourishing the seed till 

 it come to maturity, and the next 

 succeeding crop will bf the poor- 

 er. There never can be any ad- 

 vantage in mowing late, unless it 

 be thickening the grass roots, by 

 scattering some of the seed, where 

 they were before too thin. He 

 that mows early has the advantage 

 of longer days for drying his hay ; 

 and of shorter nights, when the 

 dews are less detrimental to hay- 

 making. 



But the farmer who has many 

 acres of the same kind of grass, 

 cannot always expect to cut the 

 whole of it in exactly the right sea- 

 son. That he may approach as 

 near to right as possible, he should 

 cut the thickest grass first of all ; 

 especially if it be in danger of 

 lodging, or so thick that the lowest 

 leaves perish, or the bottoms of 

 the stalks turn yellow. The thin- 

 nest of his grass should be cut next, 

 which is apt to be ripe soonest : 

 And last of all, the middling sized 

 grass, or that which is on a medi- 

 um between thick and thin. 



Where a second crop is expect- 

 ed the same year,thick grass should 

 be cut a little the earlier, that the 

 roots may not be injured so much 

 as to prevent their speedy recov- 

 ery, by being closely covered too 

 long by the first crop. 



Some regard should be had to 

 the weather, when the time of cut- 

 ting is in contemplation. Those, 



