FARMERS' REGISTER— CLOVER HAY. 



169 



upon which the bank is to be raised, and placed 

 stakes at a width of twelve feet from each other, 

 around the whole space which had been cleared ol 

 marsh, rush, &c. the earth within the range of 

 these sticks, including marsh and rush roots, logs, 

 stumps, &c. to the depth of a foot, was carefully 

 taken out and removed to a distance, leaving me 

 an excavation composed of mud remarkable lor its 

 adhesiveness and tenacity. This excavation is a 

 substitute for the "centre ditch," which our pre- 

 decessors thought so essential to a good bank, and 

 it is found to answer quite as well, and is accom- 

 plished with comparatively little labor. IMud from 

 below the margin free from all roots, was now 

 brought, and the excavation made as the bottom of 

 the bank was filled up to a level with the surface 

 of the field. So soon as this was accomplished 

 around the whole track, the process was repeated 

 and the bank was raised about a foot, which is 

 higher than common tides will rise on new land ; 

 a third course of a foot more Avill put the bank in 

 a safe condition for a time. But new banks settle 

 very much, and it will be necessary to raise them 

 frequently ; this was soon evident in my own, and 

 I put down a small temporary trunk to enable the 

 water to drain and the river ditch to be cut, for from 

 this source the dirt to complete the bank is derived. 

 From the foot of the bank at the distance of thirty 

 feet, I laid out my river ditch five feet wide and 

 four deep, and proceeded to cut it, each man throw- 

 ing out with ease six hundred square feet of earth, 

 or thirty feet in length of this ditch. The addition 

 of this earth to my bank put it, (to use a homely 

 expression) out of harm's way, and left me quite 

 at ease on the subject, under all circumstances, and 

 times, and tides. 



I omitted to state that in the raising of my bank, 

 two women with a hand-barrow will raise thirty 

 feet of bank in length, one foot high in the tide ; at 

 least, this was the task allotted, and it seldom failed 

 to be accomplished. 



The field was now laid out in half acres, begin- 

 ning at one end and proceeding to the other length- 

 ways, and at each half acre a ditch, three feet wide 

 and thr^e deep was cut; the ditch was not included 

 in the half acre, but was purposely excluded from 

 it. This is a convenient mode of laying out the 

 land, as it enables you to apportion the task to the 

 laborer with facility and exactness. The ditches 

 Avere cut running with the width and not with the 

 length of the field, as land always drains better, 

 the shorter the distance the water has to travel. 

 The earth from these ditches was used to fill up 

 creeks, low places, &c. and the land was now rea- 

 dy for cultivation so far as banks and ditches could 

 prepare it. 



But I have occupied so much more of your time 

 and patience, Mr. Editor, on one part of my sub- 

 ject than I had anticipated, that it will be best to 

 postpone what I have to say of trunks, and the pre- 

 paration of land, for another paper. 



I remain your well wisher, 



Q. E. D. 



Clover Hay. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



As the season for making clover hay has arrived, 

 we would respectfully recommend, to those who 

 follow the old method of spreading the swath, a 

 fair trial, though it be on a small scale, of the me- 

 thod of curmg this grass altogether in swath and 



Vol. 1—22 



cock. We can assure those who distrust this prac- 

 tice, that they will not only find in it a manifest 

 saving of lal:or, but a great improvement in their 

 fodder. And in speaking of clover, we include all 

 grass in which red clover constitutes a third or 

 more of the crop. Wc will briefly state our pro- 

 cess, and then the reasons, which we think, nay, 

 which we know, entitle it to a preference over the 

 old method. 



The mowers commence cutting, if convenient, 

 when the dew is off the grass, in the morning, of 

 a fair day, and may continue till sundown. At two 

 or three P. M. one or more laborers proceed to 

 cock the grass from the swatli. For this purpose 

 tliree swaths are assigned for a row of grass cocks. 

 The grass is collected with the forks, and placed 

 on dry ground, in as small a compass as convenient 

 at the base, say two to three feet in diameter, and 

 to the height of four or five fiset, terminating in a 

 cone or point. In good weatlier all that is cut be- 

 fore twelve, or two o'clock, is fit to put into grass 

 cocks the same day. That which is cut later in 

 the day, may lay in the swath till eleven or two 

 the next day, when it may also be cocked. The 

 grass may stmd in these cocks till the third day, 

 when, if the weather is fair, the cocks may be 

 opened at nine or ten, and, when necessary, the 

 hay turned over about mid-day, and at three or 

 four thrown into piles for the cart. The hay is 

 then made J and there is scarcely a leaf or blossom 

 wasted. 



The advantages of this over the old method, are, 



1. The labor of spreading from the swath, is 

 saved. 



2. The use of the hand rake may be dispensed 

 with, if the horse rake is used to glean the field 

 when the hay is taken off — tlie forks sufficing to 

 collect it tolerably clean in the cocking process. 



3. It is not liable to be seriously injured by rains 

 — for these cocks, if rightly constructed, — (not by 

 rolling) will sustain a rain of several days, that is, 

 they have done this repeatedly, without material 

 injury from heating or becoming wet. And if the 

 grass is in swath, it is too green to sustain damage. 

 Though in the latter case, it is our practice, when 

 wet in the swath, to shake and spread the grass, 

 to free it from the water, and to put it in grass 

 cocks as soon as it will do. 



4. The hay made in this way may be almost in- 

 variably housed in good condition; and if rains in- 

 tervene after the grass is cut, its quality is infinite- 

 ly superior to what it would be under the old pro- 

 cess of curing. 



The rationale is simply this ; to convert grass in- 

 to hay, it is only necessary to get rid of the surplus 

 moisture, which can only be effected by evapora- 

 tion. Exposed to a fervid sun the leaves and blos- 

 soms of clover dry and crumble to powder ere the 

 stem is sufBciently cured; hence, to preserve the 

 first, which are the finer parts of the hay, all the 

 parts must dry alike. This is effected in the cock ; 

 where an equalization of moisture takes place, as 

 in a pile of wetted paper, for the printing press, 

 and where evaporation progresses. The exterior 

 of the stem and the leaves, are partially dried in 

 the swath; and what is called sweating, is merely 

 the passage of the excess of moisture in the sucu- 

 lent stems, to restore the equilibrium to the sur- 

 face. When this has taken place, evaporation is 

 greatly facilitated on exposure to the sun and winds. 



Too long an exposure, when the cocks are 



