432 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



generally made use of as a slovenly expedient for 

 getting the iiayout of hand in a tedious season; 

 and that he has seen these pikes when opened out 

 to be carried to the stack, white with mould, black 

 with rottenness, and of every intermediate color, 

 e.xcepting that which is alone desirable.* 



In the making of roiocti hay move attention is 

 necessary than in taking the first crop, irom the 

 greater dilliculty of mowing occasioned by the 

 lightness of the grass ; so that, unless the mowers 

 are very expert in the management of the scythe, 

 it is apt to pass over the herbage without cutting 

 it. This operation should therefore be performed 

 very early in tlie morning, while the dew is upon 

 the ground ; but the subsequent management 

 varies in no respect from that pursued with regard 

 to the first crop. It is, liowever, fraught with con- 

 siderable risk, for the erass is more soft and succu- 

 lent at this period of tiie year, consisting almost 

 fiolely of leaves without stem or stalk, and con- 

 sequently requiring more time to dry up the juices: 

 whilst at this season the dews are generally 

 heavy, and lie long upon the ground; so that, 

 even if the weather be fiivorable, but a short time 

 occurs during which it can be ireely exposed to 

 the sun and the air, and a very small quantity of 

 rain will have the effect of rendering it mildewed 

 or mouldy. It is, notwithstanding, frequently cut 

 from water- meadows for the use of cows ; but it is 

 inferior to the hay of upland meadow, for the grass 

 not having had sufficient time or sun to give it 

 firmness and consistence, has no proof in it, and 

 though relished by all cattle, yet fatting stock do 

 3iot thrive on it. 



Clover and other artificial grasses are usually 

 mown when the heads appear in full blossom ; 

 but rather sooner than later, as the error of cutting 

 the first crop too early is fully compensated by I lie 

 increase of the second. The proper time may be 

 ascertained by observing the bottom of the plants; 

 and care should be taken to mow it when tiie low- 

 est leaves begin to show symptoms of decay; for 

 if the crop be suffered to stand longer, it will lose 

 more at the bottom than it would gain at the top. 

 The period of this state of ripeness, depends both 

 on the season and on the condition of the land ; 

 but in common years, and on ground in good 

 heart, it generally occurs, for clover, about the 

 first or second week of June, an<l if not then cut 

 down, it has been found to suflTer more injury 

 than if it had been cut in an early state. Sainfoin 

 is ready for the scythe rather earlier. The soon- 

 er it is cut after the blosson)s make their appear- 

 ance, the better will be the quality of the hay, al- 

 though the quantity may not be so great ; for, if 

 allowed to stvuid until they all come out, the stems 

 which first Hower grow lough, and the hay thus 

 becomes coarse and unpalatable. One load and 

 a halt; when cut out of the stack, may be consi- 

 dered a fair average crop of either. 



An expert mower will, in the north, cut full two 

 acres of sainfoin per day; of clover rather less: 

 but in the southern counties, the average does not 

 exceed an acre and a hall of either, and the work 

 must of course depend upon the richness of the 

 crop, for sometimes the one, and sometimes the 

 other, may be the heaviest. As the weather is at 

 that season usually fine, and the painft)in is natu- 

 rally dry and open, the making of it into liay is 



* Rural Economy of Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 135. 



attended with butfittle difficulty: clover lieing more 

 succulent, requires greater care, and more time to 

 dissipate its juices, as it is otherwise very subject to 

 heat in the stack, and, il not, to become mouldy, 

 at least to be discolored. When mown, the 

 swaths should not be spread out, as is the practice 

 with meadow ha}^, (as the plants are delicate, and 

 easily lose their leaves, either by being shaken 

 about, or by being much exposed to moisture,) 

 but suffered to lie as the scythe leaves them, until 

 Ihey are nearly dried, which will generally be in 

 two or three days. Then they should be gently 

 turned over with the rake itnmediately after the 

 dew is ofl^'; and, if no rain falls, the hay will be fit 

 to cock on the following morning, and may be car- 

 ried in on the fourth day. 



When the clover is cocked as soon as the dew 

 is ofi, the leaves will be just sufficiently tough to 

 preserve them ; but if this be omitted in the morn- 

 ing, and perlbrmed in the heat of the day, the 

 leaves will have become so dry as to be partly re- 

 duced to dust, and lost in the operations of load- 

 inij and slacking ; although, if it has been mown 

 sufficiently early, this is not so apt to occur, and 

 the loading and stacking may then be continued 

 all day without interruption. If, however, it should 

 become too dry to be carried without some risk of 

 loss, this may in some measure be prevented by 

 lightly rolling the swaths over with rather larger 

 forks than usual, keeping the load closely togeth- 

 er, and being careful, when la3ing it into the cock, 

 to avoid breaking and tossing it about, or beating 

 it down.* 



The above is considered the most advisable 

 mode of making clover hay, though many per- 

 sons, after turning it in the swaths until nearly 

 dry, put it up into small cocks, in which it is al- 

 lowed to stantl for three days ; afier which, advan- 

 tage is taken of a brisk drying day to spread it out, 

 and in the morning to lay it in cocks of" about half 

 a ton each, in which state they remain until re- 

 moved to the stack. t The making of the other 

 artificial grasses into hay so nearly resembles this 

 practice, that any particular statement of the 

 modes employed with regard to tares, rye-grass. 

 or lucerne, is unnecessary : they are indeed, mon 

 iienerally used, in a green state, for soiling; but 

 as they are all subject to material injury from rain, 

 the state of the weather should be watched before 



* Middlesex Report, second edition, p. 297. 



t Report of the East Ridin<j of Yorkshire, p. 171. 

 A mode has been also sometimes adoptpd in Lanca- 

 shire, and attended with success. It consists in col- 

 lecting; the clover to;jether info small portions, imme- 

 diate!}' after it is mown, in a manner somewhat simi- 

 lar to sheaves of g-rain, and kept straight ; then twist- 

 ed together in the top, so as to admit of their standing 

 on their bottom, when a little spread out; something 

 in the same way as horse-beans are placed. In this 

 state they are loft; and if not thrown down by the 

 winds, they will resist more rain than when lying 

 upon the ground: or, if the weather be fine, the clo- 

 ver, havinu: more extent of surface exposed, is said to 

 become fully made in a vtry short time. Dickson's 

 Lancashire, p. 504. This method, however though it 

 may partially secure the hay from damage by rain, 

 would in fine weather have tlie effect of drying it un- 

 equally; the outsides of those sheaves being too much, 

 and the interior part insufficiently exposed to the sun; 

 whereas the true principle of hay-making is to dry 

 every particle aUke. 



