DEVOTED TO AGBICULTITBE AND ITS KINDRED ABTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. X. 



BOSTON, JULY, 1858. 



NO. 7. 



JOEL NOUKSE, Proprietor. 

 Office.. .13 Commercial St. 



SIMON BROWN, EDITOR. 



FRED'K HOI,BROOK, ) Associate 

 HENRY F. FRENCH, j Editors. 



CALENDAR FOB JULT. 



"With tossing and raking, and setting on cocks. 

 Grass lately in swaths, is hay for an ox. 

 That done, go and cart it and have it away, 

 The battle is fought, 'Ye hare gotten the day.' " 



jULY is the hajinak- 

 er's month. Now 

 we must bestir 

 ourselves. The 

 timothy, the red- 

 top and the sweet 

 clover, are all 

 ready for the 

 scythe. If you 

 would have the 

 hay - mow retain 

 the true flavor of 

 the hay-field, you 

 must cut the grass 

 while it is in blos- 

 som, and before it 

 has lost its sweet 

 aroma. It will 

 then be tender 

 and nutritious, 

 and easy of diges- 

 tion, and your 

 milch cows in the winter will show you the dif- 

 ference between that, and hard over-ripe hay. 

 Some farmers consider well-ripened grass more 

 hearty, cattle will not eat so much of it, and 

 they will be longer digesting it. It will do very 

 well for oxen and horses. The ripened seed, if 

 kept in the heads, makes up in some measure 

 for the loss of juices in the stalk. But the dif- 

 ference in the milk -producing qualities will be 

 very apparent to every observing farmer. 



We must now be astir with the lark. The days 

 are long, it is true, — but when were bright days 

 ever too long ? The music of the rifle upon the 

 clear, ringing, keen-edged scythe, must wake 

 the echoes of the morning. Now all hands are 

 fresh and active, and the sweet breath of morn- 



ing diff'uses new life and vigor through all the 

 frame. 



Learn to swing the scjlhe with an easy, uni- 

 form motion, and keep yourself as much as pos- 

 sible in an erect position. Do not attempt to cut 

 too much at one stroke, or to drive the scythe 

 through the grass by main strength. Mowing 

 does not require so great an outlay of strength 

 as many seem to suppose. With the right stroke, 

 and a keen scythe, mowing is pleasant work, es- 

 pecially when the dew falls in pearly drops be- 

 fore every stroke. "Make hay while the sun 

 shines," — but you must get it cut early to make, 

 by the time the sun shines bright and clear, and 

 then it will be ready to "set on cocks," before the 

 dew of evening gathers upon it. Keep it stirring 

 and tossing in the bright sunshine, through the 

 middle hours of the day. Hay-making is busy 

 work. There is no time for idling. Hay should 

 be put into the barn warm from the field, and 

 well stowed in the mow, and it will come out 

 fresh and fragrant. But there's a cloud in the 

 west, and the hay is not dry ! What is to be 

 done now ? All hands afield with rakes and forks, 

 and John, take the horse and wagon, and get the 

 hay-caps from the harness-room, and bring them 

 to the field, and we will be ready for the shovi'er if 

 possible. The cloud slowly rises and gathers 

 blackness, but we keep steadily at our work, and 

 the cocks rapidly multiply under our hands. Ah ! 

 there's a bright gleam of lightning and a sharp 

 peal of thunder. It is time to put on the caps. 

 Come, John, now for the caps and help me 

 spread them on the cocks. That was a heavy 

 •clap — how majestically it rolls away and reverb- 

 erates through the skies. One cannot help be- 

 ing struck with awe, at such manifestations of 

 the Almighty Power. The rain will be here soon, 

 but the caps are on, and, now let it rain ! We 

 have put them on in twenty minutes, and itwwill 

 save us four hours' work tomorrow, besides the 

 injury to the hay. 



If instead of a shower there should be a storm 



