364 



Dialogue helween a Father and Son. 



Vol. III. 



sort tliat it was only necessary to enter their 

 points, and they were Poon ont of si^ht. You 

 must suppose it was a curious sight to see a 

 field stuck all over with sheep's horns! By 

 the spfing they had nearly all disappeared, 

 and a heavy roller passing over, did the busi- 

 ness on those parts which were sufficiently 

 firm to bear the operation. The result was 

 truly astonishing ! a ten fold crop of most 

 excellent quality ; white clover abounding. 

 This was many years ago, but I understand 

 the effects are still great as ever; no manure 

 has since been applied, nor does it appear 

 that it will ever again be required. 



Frank. — If this had been my field I should 

 have named it horn meadow. But I have 

 always observed that the grass of our mea- 

 dow is of a different .sort to that of farmer 

 Ticey's, and when both are fed by cattle, it 

 is plain that they find a difl^erence in the 

 quality too, for while there are large patches 

 of his which the cattle will not touch, and 

 where ihe gra.ss grows long and rank, the 

 surface of ours is eaten close, and no long fog 

 is remaining on any part of the field at the 

 time of removing the cattle in the autumn : 

 how is this accounted for ] 



Father. — The thick covering of lime which 

 I gave it soon after draining is the principal 

 cause ; but since that, I have often gone over 

 it, adding more to those parts where the 

 grass was rank; and where the herbage was 

 very short and fine, I have encouraged a 

 stronger growth by spreading compost, by 

 which means I have obtained that uniformity 

 of crop which has attracted the notice of 

 strangers, while our neighbors pay but little 

 regard to it, although the quality of our hay, 

 when compared wilh theirs, has often been 

 acknowledged. 



Frank. — I have often observed how much 

 finer and sweeter our hay is than farmer 

 Ticey's, and when Robert Ticey has some- 

 times assisted me to fodder the cattle, he has 

 remarked it too; and neither he nor I can 

 account for the difference in cutting our hay 

 out of the stack, and that of his father's; our's 

 is so hard and close as almost to defy the 

 knife, while to cut his, is a pleasure, and re- 

 quires but little exertion. Is that difference 

 occasioned by the lime? 



Father. — In a measure it is, as the herbage 

 is so much finer, and the juices so much 

 richer. But the great difference is in the 

 mode of making the hay. Suppose now, we 

 try our hand at a theory of hay-making. 

 When the grass is cut and partially dried, 

 and put into the stack, it very soon shows 

 that the juices are beginning to ferment; in- 

 ternal heat is engendered, by which the air 

 is rarified and expanded, and escapes by the 

 outer surface of the stack ; this causes a va- 

 cuum in the centre, when, the external at- 



'mosphere being now heavier than the in- 

 terior, the hay is pressed forcibly downwards 

 .«o as to supply the space before occupied by 

 the air, and this process goes on so long as 

 fermentation continues; thus the external air 

 is prevented from re-entering, and the greater 

 the degree of fermentation, the closer the hay 

 is pressed together, and its fragrant particles 

 prevented from flying off'and being dissipated. 



Now, from an examination of this theory, 

 how improper must be that mode of making 

 hay practised in many places, where, after 

 the grass is cut, it is left exposed to the ac- 

 tion of the sun and v;ind until its most nutri- 

 tious particles are dissipated, and then it is 

 put into temporary stacks, to be pulled to 

 pieces and removed to the hay barn, just as 

 the reiriaining juices are in a state of fer- 

 mentation, where no farther pressure can 

 take place, and in consequence, the damp air 

 having free ingress, the hay soon becomes 

 dusty, and comparatively almost worthless. 

 Where a large quantity of hay is to be 

 stacked together, it should be dried rather 

 more than is requisite for a smaller quantity, 

 but on no account ought it to be put together 

 while in a damp state. Remember, that hay 

 put together damp, always becomes mouldy ; 

 when too green, but dry, it might heat too 

 violently, but never grows mouldy. Hay, 

 when properly made, and not too long ex- 

 posed, will be found of a superior quality ; it 

 will retain moreof its juices, rendered vinous 

 by fermentation, and will be worth more than 

 double the value of that which is kept abroad 

 in the field until it has more the appearance 

 of straw than of hay. 



Frank. — I have heard that when hay has 

 been entirely spoiled by exposure to wet wea- 

 ther during the time of making, it has been 

 completely restored by sprinkling it with salt 

 while stacking. 



Father. — I have no idea that hay in such a 

 state can be completely restored by any 

 means ; this is too much to expect, for where 

 a great portion of the juices have been de- 

 stroyed (having run into what is called the 

 acetous fermentation) how are they to be re- 

 newed ] It is quite sufficient if the portion 

 which still remains can be called into activity 

 by the sceptic properties of the salt, (you 

 know that a small quantity of salt will pro- 

 duce and accelerate fermentation, while a 

 larger quantity will prevent it altogether, 

 acting then as an anti-sceptic,) and it might 

 thus be the means of renovating the liay to a 

 certain extent, but not entirely. 



Frank. — I have also heard that hay is ex- 

 ceedingly enriched in its fattening proper- 

 ties, by bein.'! sprinkled with linseed oil at 

 the time of stacking. 



Father. — Lord Egremont made a trial of 

 the value of linseed oil for this purpose, and 



