1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



305 



HAY CKOP IN KETAT ENGLAND. 



ERY near at band is the 

 season when the farmer 



"©■femiKX J"^ must attend to the secur- 



ing of this important, crop. The 

 Ti^l^ questions as to Wte/t this sbull be 

 °^¥^ done — that is, at what particular 

 period in the growth of the gra^-s, 

 — and in what manner .-hdU it be 

 done, if properly decided and practiced upon, 

 will greatly enhance the value of ihe crop be 

 yond wh.it it would be if the grass is cut and 

 cured under some of the modes too often prac- 

 ticed. 



The amount of hay made in New England 

 this summer will probably amount to jioe mil- 

 lions of tons, and its cash value will undoubt- 

 edly be something more tha.n Jifty millions (>f 

 dollars. 



This value may be very essentially decreased 

 by the methods adopted in cutting and curing 

 the grass. The almost universal practice for 

 many years past has been to cut the grass 

 early in the morning, before the dew was cff 

 — if cut with a hand scythe — and sometimes it 

 is cut in that condition with the mowing ma- 

 chine. The grass was then spread, turned at 

 noon, exposed to the sun all day, and just at 

 night put into cocks. In many casss the grass 

 was not put into cocks, but merely thrown into 

 windrows. 



On the morning of the second day, as soon 

 as the dew was oiF, the hay was spread out 

 again, turned once or twice during the day, 

 and at about three or four o'clock in the af- 

 tei-noon. it was taken in. In some cases the 

 hay was cocked a second time, and again 

 opened and had, a third days' sunning ! 



The inquiries of every farmer ought to be — 

 What fcifect has this process upon the grass ? 

 Is my labor upon it, merely to dry it so that 

 it can be preserved for winter use, or is there 

 some other object to be gained at ihe same 

 time? 



We have often given our own opinions on 

 this matter, and have stated that they were 

 founded, not upon mere "hearsay," but upon 

 reading, observation and a careful experience 

 in cutting and curing the grass, and in feeding 

 it to domestic stock. 



Let us see now what others say about it. A 

 writer in an old numbej of the Ohio Farmer 

 gives the following excellent advice on the 



Philoacpliy of Curing Hay. 



"D'n't dry your hay too much. Hay may be 

 drit'd till it is as wonhle s as straw. As a good 

 cofT e m iker would sa}', 'Don't burn your coffee, 

 hut brown it;' so we ?ay, don't dry your hay, but 

 cure it. Our pood old moihtrs, who relied upon 

 herb tea instead of 'potecary medii ine,' gatiiered 

 th( ir herbs wtiile In Mo^soin and cured them in the 

 shade. This is the philosophy of making good ha}'. 

 Cut in the blossom, and cure in the shade. The 

 sufrar of the plant whin it is in bloom is in the 

 stalk, ready to form the seeds. If the plant is cut 

 ealier, the sugar is not there; if later, the sugar 

 has become converted to woudy matter. 



Hay should be well wilted in the sun, but cured 

 inthecotk. Bctttr to be a little too gre( n than 

 too diy. If, on putting it into the barn, there is 

 danger of 'heating in the mow,' put on some salt. 

 Cattle will like it none the less. 



Heat, light, and dry winds, will soon take the 

 starch and sugar, which constitute the goodness 

 of hffy, out of it ; and the addition of showers ren- 

 der it almost worthless. Grass cured with the 

 least exposure to the drying winds and searching 

 sunshme, is move nutiitious than if longer exposed, 

 however good the weather may be. If over cured, 

 it contains more woody fibre and less nutricive 

 matter. 



The true art of hay-making, then, consists in 

 cutting the grass when the sugar and starch are 

 most fully developed, and bi fore they are converted 

 into seed and woody fibre ; and curing it to the 

 point when it will answer to put into the barn 

 without heating, and no more." 



A writer in the Maine Farmer, says "hay 

 should always be cut with all its juices inta-t 

 and before its seed is ripe. To do this effec- 

 tually, sweating in cock is better than too 

 much exposure to the hot sun ; and if the 

 weather is showery, cloth caps for the cocks 

 will sometimes pay for themselves the first sea- 

 son, in the quality of the hay alone." 



The above statements are true in every par- 

 ticular. They have been verified in numerous 

 instances. Fifteen years ago, we purchased 

 fifty caps at a cost of forty cents each. They 

 protected a crop of grain the first year, during 

 a seven days' storm, and fully saved their cost 

 in that single instance. 



The following is from the Valley Farmer, 



good authority : — 



"The whole science of hay-making consists in 

 three things : First, cut the t'rass v\hen in blossom ; 

 second, dry it not much ; third, let it so through a 

 sweating process btfore it goes into the barn. On 

 these three things depend the quality of hay. Hay 

 should be grass preserved. The nearer to the 

 fresh, tender, succulent grass you get it, the better. 

 Could we Ijave grass growingin winter, how much 

 better than hay. Well, hay is an attempt to do 

 this as near as we can. We dry apples and ber- 

 ries so that we may have them in winter. . . 

 But we can't havethcm absolutely fresh, so with 

 grass; we preserve it, and hay is the resiiil. . . 

 Gra s, when in blossr)m, has its full growth, ex- 

 cepting the seed. It is yet tender in a measure, 

 and it has one advantage whi. h no other stage of 

 the grass possesses — it develops its sugar then. 

 Especially is this the case with clover, whose head, 

 when in blossom, is a globe of sweetness. . . . 



