HAY 



HAY 



189 



soon as it is mowed, stir it often, 

 cock it the same day it is mowed, 

 open it the next fair day when the 

 dew is off, let it sweat a Httle in 

 cock, and house it as soon as it is 

 dry enough. It will bear to be laid 

 greener on a scaffold, than in a 

 ground mow ; and in a narrov/ mow 

 greener than in a broad one. And 

 that which is least of all made, 

 should be put upon a scaffold. 



When grass is very thin, and not 

 full of sap, having stood beyond the 

 right time of cutting ; it may be cut 

 in the forenoon, and raked in the 

 afternoon of the same day ; and 

 then dry sufificiently in cocks, in 

 two or three days. But if a heavy 

 rain fall, it will need to be opened, 

 and exposed to the sun for a (ew 

 hours. If there be only a small 

 quantity of rain, it may be sufHci- 

 ent to pull out some of the hay 

 round the bottoms of the cocks, or 

 only on that side which was wind- 

 ward when the rain fell, and lay it 

 on the tops. If the cocks are so 

 situated that the water has run much 

 under their bottoms, they should 

 he turned bottom upwards, and 

 trimmed at least ; but it will most 

 commonly be necessary to spread 

 them abroad. 



Sometimes hay will become too 

 dry, notwithstanding every precau- 

 tion to prevent it : For it will dry 

 twice as fast in some fair days as in 

 otherSjbecause of the different dry- 

 ness of the air. When this is the 

 case, it should be removed to the 

 barn only in the evening, or morn- 

 ing, when the air is damp. And it is 

 good to have some greener hay to 

 mix with it. 



Some think that mown grass 



should never be exposed to the full 

 mfluence of the sun, lest it be rob- 

 bed of too much of its sap, whde it 

 is in its most fluid state. A very in- 

 genious gentleman, of my acquain- 

 tance, does not permit his grass to 

 lie in swarth, but for an hour or 

 two after it is cut ; or no longer 

 than till its wetness be gone, and 

 it just begins to appear withered : 

 He then gathers it into very small 

 parcels, which he calls grass cocks, 

 not more than a good forkful in 

 each : Turns them over once in a 

 while, about sun set is the best 

 time : Doubles them as they grow 

 drier : And when the hay is al- 

 most dried enough, makes up the 

 whole into large cocks. Grass 

 that is thus dried, will not waste at 

 all by crumbling ; nor will much 

 of its juices evaporate. I have 

 seen his hay, the flavour of which 

 excelled almost any other that I 

 have met with. The colour of it, 

 indeed, was rather yellowish than 

 green : But that is a matter of no 

 consequence to the farmer who 

 does not send his hay to market. I 

 cannot but think that, in dry set- 

 tled weather, this is an excellent 

 method of hay-making. But in 

 catching weather, perhaps a meth- 

 od which takes less time is to be 

 preferred. From the above Mr, 

 Anderson's method is not much dif- 

 ferent. " Instead," says he, " of 

 allowing the hay to lie, as usual in 

 most places, for some days in the 

 swarth, after it is cut, and after- 

 wards putting it up into cocks, and 

 spreading it out, and tending it in 

 the sun, which tends greatly to 

 bleach the hay, exhales its natural 

 juices, and subjects it very much 



