DEVOTED TO AGKICUXTUEE, HORTICULTUKE, AUD KTWDKED ARTS. 



NEW SERIES. 



Boston, June, 1868. VOL. IL— NO. 6. 



U. p. EAT0;N^ & CO., Publishers, 

 Office, 34 Meuchants' P.,ow. 



MONTHLY. 



8. FLETCHER, ' ( Editors. 



HAYING IN JUNE. 



LAKGE part of the haying in 

 southern and eastern Massa- 

 chusetts will be completed 

 before the close of this 

 month, and the farmers all 

 over New England will be 

 busily engaged in it, and we 

 wish to call the attention of 

 our brother farmers to the 

 importance of cutting grass 

 before the seed is ripe. 

 Farmers differ in their opin- 

 ion and practice upon this 

 subject. The opinion is be- 

 coming very general among milk raisers, that 

 grass cut while it Is green and succulent, and 

 before the stalk has been changed into woody 

 fibre, will yield much more of that nourish- 

 ment upon which the flow of milk depends, 

 than the same grass after the seed has ripened. 

 All admit that ripe hay is not itself so nutri- 

 tious, but many claim that the ripened seed 

 makes up for the depreciation in the hay, and 

 say that for working horses and oxen ripe hay 

 is the best. 



This is a question of great importance, and 

 should be well examined. Not only is the 

 value of the present crop involved, but the 

 effect upon the roots of the grass, and the 

 future (Tops also. When grass is cut while 

 green, and properly cured, it retains the es- 

 sential character of grass. The water is evap- 



orated, but the dried and condensed juices 

 remain in the tender fibre, and when received 

 into the stomach of the animal, are easily 

 softened and digested. But it is questionable, 

 whatever may be said to the contrary, if woody 

 fibre is ever digested ; and in our method of 

 cutting and making and feeding hay, most of 

 the seed is' shaken out and lost before it 

 reaches the cattle. If hay were all cut and 

 moistened before feeding, the cattle would get 

 more of the seed than they do now. 



Large, over-ripe herdsgrass is very unpala- 

 table to cattle, and really contains very little 

 nutriment. A few years since we had occasion 

 to purchase a load of hay- for" horse feed. 

 The farmer of whom we purchased it sent us 

 a load of pure, clean, bright' herdsgrass, of 

 lai-ge growth, which he called number one hay. 

 But the horse, which was the party most inter- 

 ested in the matter, differed with him in opin- 

 ion. He was very reluctant to eat it, and in 

 spite of his usual amount of grain, grew poor 

 upon it, and we were glad when it was gone. 

 This is a very common experience among 

 horse-keepers. It is frequently remarked that 

 redtop and herdsgrass make better hay than 

 clear herdsgrass ; and this is true, because the 

 redtop, even when ripe, does not become so 

 completely changed into woodj' fibre. 



Now if herdsgrass is cut before the heads 

 form, it makes good hay, and is worth nearly 

 double for any stock. It is soft and succu- 

 lent, and easily digested, and retains its aroma, 



