142 SKETCHES QF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



machine is not wanted in operation, the driver is able, 

 by means of a crank, to raise the cylinder of prongs 

 a little way above the ground, so as to keep clear of 

 obstacles. In some cases the same axle and wheels are 

 afterwards made to carry a rake, the tedder being 

 removed to make room for it. 



HAT-TEDDING MACHINE. 



In our variable climate it is impossible to fix any 

 precise time for carrying on hay-making operations ; 

 but, weather permitting, they are formed especially 

 during the months of June and July. In the time of 

 our Saxon ancestors, the latter month was considered the 

 best for gathering in the hay-harvest, and they called it 

 Ifeu-monath, or Hay-month. At this time the greater 

 part of the grasses are in flower, and full of those sweet 

 juices which prove so nutritive to cattle. If suffered 

 fully to ripen their seeds, they immediately begin to 

 decay, and are far less valuable as fodder. Plants of all 

 sorts, if cut when in full vigour and carefully dried, 



