No. 12. 



TJie Theory of Hay Maldvg. 



373 



healthful growth. In their decay, they fur- 

 nish a natural aliment to sustain and invigo- 

 rate them. 



We cannot but suppose that the culture 

 of evergreens, when fully umlerstood, will 

 be per.se veringly entered into through every 

 section of our country. They will not only 

 be raised to please the eye and feast the 

 taste, but in northern and exposed regions, 

 the time will come when they will be plant- 

 ed in belts around buildings and fields, to 

 protect them from the rude blasts of winter 

 and scorching sunbeams of summer, to which 

 such regions are eminently exposed. 



Yours truly, W. Bacon. 



Richmond, Massachusetts, 1848. 



The Theory of Hay Slaking. 



When grass first springs above the surface 

 of the earth the principal constituent of its 

 early blades is water, the amount of solid 

 matter being comparatively trifling ; as it rises 

 higher into day the deposition of a more in- 

 durated form of carbon gradually becomes 

 more considerable; the sugar and soluble 

 matter at first increasing, then gradually di- 

 minishing, to give way to the deposition of 

 woody substance. 



The following table aflords a view of the 

 composition of rye grass before and after 

 ripening: 



leth June. 

 Water, 76.19 



Solid matter, 23 81 



23rd June. 13th July. 

 81.23 tiO.OO 



18.77 31.00 



These are important practical facts for the 

 agriculturist; for if, as we have endeavoured 

 to show, the sugar be an important element 

 of the food of animals, then it should be an 

 object with the farmer to cut grass for the 

 purpose of haymaking at that period when 

 the largest amount of matter soluble in wa- 

 ter is contained in it. This is assuredly at 

 an earlier period of its growth than when it 

 has shot into seed, for it is then that woody 

 matter predominates; a substance totally in- 

 soluble in water, and therefore less calcu- 

 lated to serve as food to animals, than 

 substances capable of assuming a soluble 

 condition. This is the first point for consi- 

 deration in the production of hay, since it 

 ought to be the object of the farmer to pre- 

 serve the hay for winter use in the condition 

 most resembling the grass in its highest 

 state of perfection. The second considera- 

 tion in haymaking is to dry the grass under 

 such circumstances as to retain the soluble 

 portions in perfect integrity. To ascertain 

 whether hay by the process and exposure 

 which it undergoes loses any of its soluble 

 constituents, the following experiments were 

 made: 



1st. 3,000 grains of rye grass in seed on 

 the 13th of July, gave up to hot water a 

 thick syrup fluid, which when dried till it 

 ceased to lose weight 212°, weighed 217.94 

 grains, equivalent to 7.26 per cent. 



2nd. 2 500 grains of rye grass digested in 

 cold water, yielded 53.23 grains of extract, 

 equal to 2.12 per cent. This rye grass con- 

 tained 31 per cent, of solid matter, and 69 

 per cent, of water. 



3rd. New hay made from rye grass, and 

 containing 20 per cent, of water for the sake 

 of comparison, was also subjected to similar 

 trials. 



Jst. Grains. Grains. 



13G9 gave to h. w., 220.77 of e.x. = 16.12 per ct. 

 3000 " " 150,34 " = 15.93 " 



1000 " " 140 " = 14 " 



2nd. 2,000 grains of new hay in seed, di- 

 gested in cold water, yielded 101.3 grains of 

 extract = 5.06 per cent, of soluble matter. 



From these numbers we leorn that 100 

 parts of hay are equivalent to 387^ of grass. 

 This amount of grass should contain of so- 

 luble matter in hot water 28.13 parts, and in 

 cold water 8.21 parts. But the equivalent 

 quantity of hay or 100 parts only contain 16 

 instead of 28 parts soluble in hot water, and 

 5.06 instead of 85 parts soluble in cold wa- 

 ter. A very large proportion of the soluble 

 matter of the grass has obviously disappeared 

 in the conversion of grass into hay. The 

 result of the hay making in this particular 

 instance has, therefore, been to approximate 

 the soft, juicy and tender grass to woody 

 matter, by washing out or decomposing its 

 sugar and other soluble constituents. These 

 facts enable us to explain the reason why 

 cattle consume a larger amount of hay than 

 is equivalent to the relative quantity of grass. 

 Thus, animals which can subsist upon 100 

 pounds of grass, should be able to retain the 

 same condition by the use of 25 pounds of 

 hay, if the latter suffered no deterioration in 

 drying. The present series of experiments 

 however, show that a cow thriving on 100 

 or 120 pounds of grass, required 25 pounds 

 of hay, and 9 pounds of barley or malt, af- 

 fording thus, collateral evidence of the view 

 which we have taken of the imperfection of 

 the process of hay making at present in use 

 in this country. The great cause of the de- 

 terioration of hay is the water which maybe 

 present, either from the incomplete removal 

 of the natural amount of water in the grass 

 by drying, or by the absorption of this fluid 

 from the atmosphere. Water w hen existing 

 in hay from either of these sources, will in- 

 duce fermentation, a process by which one 

 of the most important constituents of the 

 grass, viz: sugar, will be destroyed. Tlie 

 action necessary for decomposing the sugar 



