Hi 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



" This process of irrigation is well understood in 

 Switzcrluini, not only by the larije fanners and small 

 peasantry, but every woman and child seems to un- 

 dei-stand the working ami advantagt^ of it. 



" AVhen at Berne, I ripent part of two days with 

 Mr. Fkllexijerc, tlie Prerfideut of the Swiss Agri- 

 cultural Society, and for who-ic kindness and hospi- 

 tality I shall ever foel grateful. Mr. Fkllen'hkk(j was 

 the son of the late celelirated Fkij^enherg, the founder 

 of Ilofwyle (tlie celebrated institution which partly 

 united with it^ studies agriculture); and while on 1,he 

 grounds at Ilofwyle I had pointed out, to me a very 

 complete system of drainage, and the three dit&rent 

 kinds of irrigation. This institution ceased on or 

 shortly after the death of its founder, and the whole 

 estate was for sale, it being the private property of 

 the Feu.en'berg family. 



"Mr. FEi,i.E.Ni!ERy offered, if I desired, to send me 

 a man to this country who was a scientific irrigator 

 and drainer; and I believe it would pay a few of us 

 well, as individuals, to import a man of that kind. 

 He could take a gang of hands, prepare one farm, 

 and then go to another, only moving himself, as the 

 work can be performed by the common Irish laborer, 

 if it is properly laid out and superintended 



" The waters considered to have the most beneficial 

 effects for irrigation, are such as the speckled trout 

 firequent, and the water cress grows in luxuriantly ; 

 and it is my belief that we have not a cultivated 

 county in our State, or a cultivated State in our 

 Union, but that the productiveness of which could be 

 increased one-fifth by iiTrigation, and that, too, at a 

 comparatively small cost." 



CUEING CLOVER HAY. 



Mr. Editor : — Inclosed I send you a sample of 

 linen yarn, spun liy machinery in the North of Ire- 

 land, twenty-two dozen to the pound. You will also 

 find a few grains of what the Irish call " whin seed." 

 It is evergreen, and makes a beautiful hedge. 



I will also take the liberty of asking for some in- 

 formation on curing clover hay, so that it will be free 

 from dust when we feed it in winter. T sowed one 

 bushed of clover seed and one of timothy to every 

 ten acres, which produced veiy fine crops; and as they 

 did not ripen at the same time, I was governed in 

 catting by the appearance of the clover. I com- 

 menced cutting when three-quarters of the clover 

 heads had turned brown. I made the hay the next 

 dsj,y after it was cut, and put it in the barn. In the 

 winter it was so dusty that it could not be fed to 

 horses. Last summer I commenced cutting when the 

 heads of clover were about one-third turned brown, 

 cured the hay as before stated, and put^ about six- 

 quarts of salt to every ton of hay. I found l)ut little 

 improvement in the quality of the hay when I com- 

 menced feeding it. If you will be so good as to 

 ^ive your opinion or some advice as to the time when 

 it should be cut, and the proper method of curing it, 

 you will confer a favor on 



Your humble servant^ IL McElrot. 



Sidney, Shelby Co., Ohio. 



Mr. McElroy has our thanks for the specimen of 

 exceedingly fine and beautiful linen thread, and seeds 



of a hedge plant ; and we will do what we can to aid 

 him in curing clover hay. We spent much of our 

 youth on a farm that annually produced from fifty to 

 one hundred bushels of clean clover seed, and have 

 since had considerable experience in tht3 curing of 

 clover cut in all stages of its growth. The dustiness 

 complained of accrues from putting clover hay into 

 a stack or mow before the large green stems are suf- 

 ficiently dried ; and the difficulty in drying these 

 arises mainly from the loss of the valuable leaves of 

 clover, if it be exposed to the sun long enough to 

 cure its large stems. To obviate the inconveniences 

 named, we cut clover for hay pretty early (when the 

 earliest heads begin to turn, and go out of l)lossom), 

 wilt the leaves and small stems, and finish the curing 

 process in small cocks, by turning them with a fork 

 In this way, raking, whether performed by hand or 

 horse power, does not shatter and waste the leaves 

 and heads of clover (both of which break off easily 

 when dry), while the thick juicy stems of the plant 

 are readily cured )iy turning and opening small stacks. 

 If from any cause we can not haul in hay as soon as 

 it is ready, we put three or four small stacks into one, 

 and take paias to put them up so as to shed rain. 

 Clover, however, is peculiarly bad for stacking, for 

 water runs through it very easily unless protected by 

 a covering of fine hay or staw, or what is better, a 

 painted cloth, like cotton sheeting. 



The science of curing any plants for hay is pre- 

 cisely like that of curing medicinal herbs — the less 

 sun and the more shade the better, l»ut both need to 

 be well cured. About three parts in four of clover, 

 when cut at the right time for hay, are water, four- 

 fifths of which ought to be expelled by drying. It is 

 a common mistake in fanners to put hay into barrs 

 and stacks for winter use with too much moisture in 

 the plants. This moisture induces fermentation, 

 heating, raow-burning, and involves a serious loss of 

 nutritive matter. We know scores of other\vise ex- 

 cellent husbandmen, and large stock-growers and 

 dairymen, who follow a bad tradition in curing, and 

 failing to cure, their annual crops of corn-fodder and 

 grass cut for hay. This defect gives them moldy 

 corn-stalks, dusty hay, and horses subject to the heaves 

 and sore eyes. A wise farmer will be cai-eful not to 

 leave too much of the natural juices of forage plants, 

 undricd, in their stems, heads, or foliage. Young 

 corn plants, when from twenty to thirty inches in 

 height, contain ninety per cent, of their weight of 

 pure water ; and up to the time of ripening their 

 seeds, the amount of water is not below seventy-five 

 per cent. Hence, in growing corn for soiling cow?, 

 we always evaporate a part of the water even in Au- 

 gust and September, before feeding it to stock. 



Cattle like forage plants of all kinds partly cured 

 better than when quite green, or quite dry; but such 

 plants heat and sour, and sometimes rot, if put up too 

 green, or too wet. We have often thought that 

 where labor is not very expensive, it will pay not only 

 to cure hay and corn-stalks well, and cut them before 

 feeding, but to moisten them thoroughly again, to fa- 

 cilitate the extraction of all nutritive elements in 

 such food, as it pa&ses through the digestive and ali- 

 mentary organs of domestic animals. Very dry forage 

 does not yield up to the blood all its nutritive proper- 

 ties ; much ia found in the dung. Some have seen 



