34 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



of grasses, and by the pleasant aroma. It is 

 greener, because it is usually more quickly 

 saved, for it is composed of finer grasses which 

 take less time to dry. Seed hay is harder 

 and contains a small variety of grasses, which 

 are larger ; it often contains much clover and 

 other herbage. 



Good hay, whatever kind it may be, is of a 

 greenish-brown colour, not yellow or dark 

 brown. If cut when wet it looks bleached and 

 becomes mow-burnt. It should be moderately 

 hard, well saved, and about one year old. The 

 odour should be sweet, flowering heads should 

 be abundant, and the grasses should lie fiat and 

 not confused. 



Horses doing hard work do not require much 

 herbage, but a little is a good thing. Good hay 

 is crisp to the feel and sweet to the taste ; each 

 specimen of grass should be good. The quality 

 of the hay for feeding purposes greatly depends 

 on the kinds of grass which yield it. 



132. Hay should be composed of mostly good 

 grasses, few indifferent, and no bad or useless 

 grasses. Old hay is from six to eighteen months 

 old ; before and after this hay is not good. New 

 hay, which, in the trade, is that sold before 

 September 29 (Michaelmas Day), strictly speak- 

 ing, is that which is sold within six months of 

 its being cut. It is softer, less crisp, has more 

 colour, tastes sweeter and smells stronger. It is 

 more bulky and heavier, because it contains 

 more moisture. The flower-heads of new hay 

 are not faded, and the herbage and weeds are not 

 blackened as in old hay. New hay does not cut 

 up so solidly into trusses as does old hay. The 

 hand plunged deeply into new hay detects a 

 warm feeling. One-year-old hay should preserve 

 most of its colour. 



One truss new (young) hay = 60 pounds 

 One truss old hay = 56 pounds. 



The hay should be cut when it is flowering : if 

 cut before, nutriment is in the stalk ; if cut after- 

 wards, nutriment is in the seed. If the farmer, 

 however, wishes to help his land he may allow 

 some of the seed to fall before cutting, but, of 

 course, the hay will be of less value. This is 

 distinguishable by the absence of flower-heads 

 and seed. As soon as the seed has fallen the 

 stems become woody. 



133. Great care should be taken in saving the 

 hay, by which is meant the manner in which it 

 is dried, carried and stacked. The usual way is 

 to rake it into windrows by horserakes, and then 

 to put it into cocks. In Alberta the hay is stacked 

 on the same day that it is cut, but in England 

 it generally lies untouched for a day, in rows 

 for another day, and then if there is no rain 

 may be cocked and carted the third day. This 

 greatly depends on the dryness of the season 

 and on the amount of sun and wind. The 

 quicker it can be got in the better it will be. 



Rain destroys hay by washing out much of its 

 nutriment, which is shown by the colour being 

 washed out. A large number of trees in a field 

 decreases the value of hay on account of the in- 

 creased amount of leaves that will be in the hay, 

 and also by the amount of nourishment that will 

 be taken up by the trees from the soil. Cleaned 

 ground will contain less weeds. 



Dust is always plentiful in old hay ; but it 

 will be much increased if the hay is of great age, 

 if the hay was weathered while being made, or if 

 the soil on which it was grown was very dusty. 

 Over-exposure to sun will increase the amount of 

 dust. If hay is stacked too soon, i.e. before the 

 juicy stems of the grasses are sufficiently dried, 

 fermentation (heating) sets in and the stack may 

 become mow-burnt or even fired. If it is only 

 slightly mow-burnt it can be fed to horses with- 

 out danger — in fact, they like it ; if, however, it is 

 much mow-burnt it will tend to cause diabetes 

 mellitus, while some horses will refuse it. On 

 the other hand, hay that is internally dry, but 

 that has become wet through rain or dew, if 

 stacked when damp may become musty or even 

 mouldy. Musty hay is an inferior food ; some 

 horses, however, will eat it. It may be dark 

 brown or a bright yellow, with a bitter taste and 

 an unpleasant odour. If mouldy, white patches 

 will be visible ; such is unfit for fodder. A good 

 truss may become mouldy if exposed to damp. 



134. The sweet smell which lasts for several 

 months in hay, and which is known as its 

 "nose," is chiefly due to the odour of sweet 

 vernal, which is the chief aromatic grass in hay. 

 To examine hay it should be carefully looked at 

 to ensure uniformity of colour. It should be 

 noted whether it is free from dust and weeds, 

 and whether it is much mow-burnt. Several 

 trusses should be opened right through. Cana- 

 dian baled hay is sold a great deal on English 

 and other markets. It generally contains a great 

 deal of timothy, but is always very dusty. Ex- 

 posure to air will destroy the musty odour. It 

 should be well shaken and sprinkled with water, 

 or, better still, with brine or lime-water, before 

 being fed. 



135. Hay Grasses. — The chief grasses and 

 plants are divided into useful and useless 

 grasses. The useful grasses are rye grass, 

 meadow and tall fescue, foxtail, timothy (cats- 

 tail), crested dogstail, cocksfoot, sweet vernal, 

 rough- and smooth-stalk meadow grass and 

 yellow-oat grass. Meadow soft grass is as good 

 as a tonic. 



The useless grasses are barren fescue, the 

 bents, false oat, wavy mountain hair-grass, field 

 brome, sheep's fescue, slender foxtail, darnel, 

 tufted hair-grass, ribbon grass, quaking grass, 

 rib plantain, reed sweet-grass, couch grass, 

 barren brome, rattle and wall barley (squirrel- 

 tail). 



Some common weeds are blackhead, coltsfoot, 



