'mi PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pau III. 



mke rh Ingle wlnd-ro* ; then the doiil I and clouds, no part of IturobaMy wilt bent to carry. In 



i Brst thing set llnner, Is (o raw thai 



• lit Into grati-eockft. This completes the mik wl cocks last nUhl Into doable wind-rows; 

 ' iy. rh.-n the gnus wb mine spread from the swaths 



. _l |- rltir.l tl.iii 'I'll.- ■ ■ ■ — in.. . ., K...1 . ..r.. ..I .... O... t .In vi ii. 'i. .1 i till, rill, ... A ft If I 1 1 1 - . 1 I' ll.lV M'llil'll WJU List Ilil'M 



(•lit 



illy. 



[tie g-aas mown and not spread on the I d-rows. After this, tliehay which was last night 



second da - wn ntheearly part of this day, Is i" bastard-cocks, t- made up Into fuU-«ixed cocks, and care 



Am t.i Ik- t.-iM .1 mi the mi., nine, and then tin- ' - ' dtc th ■ n ij ";• d> an, and ata to put the raklogs 



i .i tin- !..]. ..i N'ext, tin- t! hi ile wind-rows are 



.11,1,1,-. ■ i , i-ii- mm, • bastnrd cocks, and tin- tingle wind-rows Into 



l turn d, th*n inn ■ beprect ding il ivs. 



orone 57118. Fourth day. On this day tin- great cocks, Just men- 



., isusual. Ifthcwenthei I - carried hi or dinner The other opcr- 



. the li.i which wa ' '■'■■ an men, and in the same ore 



bastard describrd, and an continued dally until Hie hay harvest Is 



t Mltcr should, ,ut tlu- conn n < pleted. 



I neral rule*, the grass should, as much as possible, !»• protected both day and night, against 



rain and dew, by cockin I n hould also be taken to proportion the number of hay-makers to that ol 



tin- mow TS, so lit it there may n >t lie more grass in hand at any one time than can he managed according 



to the ■ ocess. This proportion is about twenty hay-makers (of which number twelve may lie 



nowersj the latter are sometimes taken half a day to assist the former. But in hot, windy, 



- ither, a greater proportion of hay makers will be required than when the weather is 



Ii i particularly necessary to guard against spreading more hay than the number of 



,m gel into cocks the same day, or before rain. In showery and uncertain weather, the grass may 



u tiered to lie three, lour, or even five days in swath. But before it Ii is lain long enough lor the 



under side ol the swath to bt come yellow which, if suffered to lie long, would be the case , particular care 



be taken to turn the swaths with the heads of the rakes. In this state, it will cure so much in about 



... a- onlj to require being tedded a few hours when the weather is tine, previously to its being 



put together and carried. In this manner hay may be made and put into the stack at a small expense, 



and of a moderately good colour; but the tops and bottoms of the grass are insufficiently separated 



by it 



5800. Tlw hay-tedding machine has been invented since Middleton described the hand process as above. 

 This machine [Jig. ■'■'-. is found to be a most important saving of manual labour. It is computed that a 

 DO) and horse with the machine will ted as much in an hour as twelve or fifteen women. The hay-rake, 

 which may he added to the same axle when the tedder is removed, is also an equal saving, and a requisite 

 accompaniment to it; as where few or no women are kept for tedding, there must necessarily be a defi- 

 ciency of r.tkers. These machines are coming into general use near London, where the price of manual 

 labour is high and hands sometimes scarce. They are also finding their way among the proprietors 

 of extensive parks in all parts of the country, as saving much labour in making hay from natural 

 pasture. 



5801. Thereare no hag-stacks more neatly formed, nor better secured, than those made in Middlesex. 

 At every vacant time, while the stack is carrying up, the men are employed in pulling it. with their hands, 

 into a proper shape; and, about a week after it is finished, the whole roof is properly thatched, and then 

 secured from receiving any damage from the wind, by means of a straw rope, extended along the eaves, 

 up the ends, and on each side of the ridge. The ends of the thatch are afterwards cut evenly below the 

 eaves of the stack, just of sufficient length for the rain-water to drip quite clear of the hay. When the 

 stack happens to be placed in a situation which may be suspected of being too damp in the winter, a trench, 

 of about six or eight inches deep, is dug round and nearly close to it, which serves to convey all the water 

 from the spot, and renders it perfectly dry and secure. 



5802. Dm inn the hay liar vest it is of great advantage to the farmer, to give constant personal attendance 

 on every party, directing each operation as it goes on. The man who would cure his hay in the best 

 manner, and at a moderate expense, must not only urge the persons who make the hay, the men who 

 load the waggons, and those who make the stack, hilt he should be on the alert, to contrive and point out 

 the manner in which every person may tlo his labour to the most advantage. Unless he does this, one 

 moiety of the people in his hay-field will he of no material use to him ; and if he should be absent for an 

 hour or more, during that time little or nothing will be done. The farmers of Middlesex engage many 

 h ty-makers . some of them have been known to employ two or three hundred ; such men find it neces- 

 sary to he on horseback, and the work-people find them sufficient employment. A man of energy will 

 make the most of every hour, and secure ilis hay while the sun shines ; one of an opposite description 

 lounges his time away, and suffers his hay to be caught in the rain, by which it is frequently half spoiled. 

 Or if the latter should have the good fortune of a continuance of dry weather, his hay will be a week longer 

 in the field than his neighbour's, and the sap of it dried up by the sun. 



The waste of grass, on being dried into liny, is supposed to be three parts in four by the time it is 

 laid on the stack; it is then further reduced, by heat and evaporation; in about a month, perhaps one 

 twentieth more; or 6001b, of grass are reduced to 95 lb. of hay, and between that and 90 it continues 

 through the winter. From the middle of March till September, the operations of trussing and markenng 

 expose it so much to the sun and wind, as to render it considerably lighter, prohab'y 80 ; that is, hay which 

 would weigh 90 tin- instant it is separated from the stack, would waste to So (in trussing, exposure on the 

 road, anil at market for about '24 hours), by the time it is usually delivered to a purchaser. During the 

 following winter, the waste will be little or nothing. It is nearly' obvious, that the same hay will weigh 

 on delivery mi in summer, and 90 in winter. From this circumstance, and others which relate to price, a 

 I. inner may determine what season of the year is the most advisable for him to sell his hay. 



58 I. In innl, ing Hi,- hay of hog meadows, considerable care is requisite both from the inferiority of the 

 climates where such hugs abound, ami from the nature of the grasses they produce. In some cases, the 

 |l i- - i- of SO -nit a quality, that it is difficult to convert it into hay. To prevent its being consolidated in 

 ks, it must he frequently opened up, and when the weather permits, completely exposed to the sun 

 wind -. this -nrt of grass being only capable of sustaining a very moderate degree of fermentation. 

 i, When the natural herbage is ol a coarser description, it may he put into small cocks, in rather a 

 I ur damp state, miii, to go through the progress of " a sweating." or slight fermentation. The woody 

 fibres in coarse hay are thus rendered more palatable antl nutritious, while its condition for becoming 

 fodder is considerably improved : but when any warmth becomes perceptible, if the weather will permit, 

 hay should In- spread nut, and put into large cocks, the moment it is in a dried state. 

 - In tin- moister pastoral districts, in the north-west parts of Scotland, hay-barns, it is thought by 

 would he advantageous; the construction should be as open as possible, for the purpose of drying, 

 as well as of preserving tie- hay. In some of these districts, a curious device has been fallen upon, of 

 making the dried hay into ropes of two fathoms in length, and then twisted twofold. Being thus com- 

 pressed, less room i- required in the barn ; and in this shape it is carried, with greater facility, to distant 

 for the use el cattle during stormy -leather. 

 In making florin Inn/ (if hay it may be called, which is never dried) it is merely cut and put into 

 small cocks, from winch it is commonly taken as wanted. When it is to he put into larger cocks, it must 

 be proportionally better dried. I lie Btolones of this grass being remarkably vivacious, cannot easily he so 

 died a- In admit ol -lacking in large bodies. 



The sailing q/ hay, at the tune ol stacking, has been practised in Derbyshire and in the North 

 Riiiing of Yorkshire. The salt, particularly when applied to the crop of rouen, or when the first crop has 

 received much run, checks the fermentation, and prevents moulding. If straw is mixed with the hay ; 

 the heating of the stack is still further prevented, by the straw imbibing the moisture. Cattle will eat 

 not only such salttd hav hut even the itxaw mixed with it, more eagerly than better hay not salted, and 



