CULTIVATION OF GRASSES. 217 



fore the seeds are formed, and indeed before fully in blos- 

 som, that the full juice and nourishment of the plant may 

 be retained in the hay. A crop of clover, when cut in 

 the early part of the season, may be ten per cent, lighter 

 than when it is fully ripe ; but the loss is amply counter- 

 balanced, by obtaining an earlier, a more valuable, and 

 more nutritious article ; while the next crop will be pro- 

 portionably more heavy. The hay from old herbage 

 will carry on stock, but it is only hay from young herbage 

 that will fatten them. When the stems of clover become 

 hard and sapless, b}* being allowed to bring their seeds 

 towards maturity, they are of little more value as proven- 

 der than an equal quantity of the finer sort of straw. 



The mode of making clover hay, as practised by the 

 best farmers, is as follows : The clover is cut close to 

 the ground, in as uniform and perfect a manner as it is 

 possible to accomplish, by the scythe kept constantly 

 sharp. That part of the stem left by the scythe is not 

 only lost, but the after-growth is neither so vigorous nor 

 so weighty as when the first cutting is taken as low as 

 possible. 



As soon as the grass is partially wilted, let the swath 

 be gently turned over, but not spread or scattered. This 

 may be done with forks or rakes. If the weather is fair, 

 and the clover cut in the morning, the swaths may be 

 turned after dinner ; and if mown after noon they may 

 be turned before evening ; at which time those turned 

 after dinner may be put into grasscocks. This last op- 

 eration should be performed with care, and in this man- 

 ner : — Three swaths are appropriated to a row of cocks. 

 The laborer gathers a good forkfull, and deposits it on 

 the centre swath, if the ground is dry, if not, in one of 

 the intervals, putting it down gently, so that the cock may 

 present a small base ; he then continues to gather and 

 deposit in the same way until the cock is brought to a 

 point, at the height of four to five feet, according to the 

 dryness of the clover, — the dryer this is, the higher the 

 cock may be made. When cgmpleted, the grasscock 

 is two to three feet broad at the ground, tapering to the 

 apex, and the projecting ends of the herbage drooping, so 

 19 XV. 



