114 FOOD. 



land hay." The softness is more conspicuous; flowering heads are only 

 occasionally met with ; the stems are few in number, are small in point 

 of size, and forra no prominent feature of the whole. This species of 

 fodder lacks perfume altogether ; but, as regards color, it may have a 

 slight greenish tint clinging faintly to it. Still, by its want of the brisk 

 or the healthy aspect, and by its darker hue, it is at once recognized for 

 the thing it is, — an unseasonable produce, reaped late in the year, and 



A VERT FAIR SAMPLE OF KOWEN OR OF AFTEB-MEATH. 



got up long after the freshness of spring had departed. To the mouth 

 it imparts a strong and slightly bitter taste. The odor is not objectiona- 

 ble, although it does not approach to a perfume. Horses which have 

 been accustomed to the better sort, refuse Rowen, or only accept it after 

 actual hunger ha^ been experienced. 



Clover Hay is universally mixed with grass and weeds. A good 

 sample of this produce, a novice might easily reject as being too foul a 

 specimen for his approval, and the hay of the second crop (which is not 

 generally remarkable in that particular) be selected in preference. The 

 stems also appear to bear a large proportion to the whole, when compared 



A SPECIMEN OF TUE FIRST CROP OF CLOVER HAY 



with the flowers and the leaves. The fact of the stalks being rarely 

 viewed in the clover field may render this feature the more conspicuous. 

 But the stems are hollow, and consequently lose little bulk when dried. 

 The flowers and leaves, on the contrary, are juicy ; and no insignificant 

 portion of their substance is, apparently, lost during evaporation. In 

 the first cut of clover, however, the stems, though numerous, are compara- 

 tively fine, and the leaves, though dark, have no tinge of blackness. The 



