CUTTING AND CURING HAY. 341 



applying a dressing of finely composted manure to the surface ; 

 or in many other ways, some of which may be suggested as we 

 pass along. The best time of cutthig, and proper mode of cur- 

 ing and storing* our hay crop, have not as yet been settled in the 

 minds of our farmers. It is a law in nature, that cropping a 

 plant at a certain time before it has arrived to a state of ma- 

 turity, it more readily throws up a second growth and is more 

 vigorous than if left until it has matured. The truth of this 

 law every farmer has noticed. This is one reason urged for 

 cutting grass early, for when cut early we secure at once a 

 covering or hiding place for the young and tender grass roots ; 

 protecting them from the hot and scorching rays of an August 

 and September sun. Also this covering, or if this second crop 

 is cut and put into the barn, a third crop will soon start and 

 form for these same roots a sufficient clothing to protect them 

 from the frosts of winter. Experience has taught us how 

 much more readily the grass will start in the spring, after its 

 roots have been protected from heavy frosts by a good and suf- 

 ficient covering, whether of top-dressing or even by its own 

 aftermath, and that it will cut one fourth more hay at least 

 than where no protection has been furnished. 



Grass roots need protection from the rays of the sun, and frosts 

 of winter, as much as man or beast. God made the beast of 

 the field and covered him with sufficient clothing, according 

 to his nature. A late-cut field will, of necessity, wear a brown 

 coat the rest of the season, unless it is very rich, or quite wet. 

 It will not produce, under any circumstances, as much or as 

 good a quantity of grass as will the early-cut fields, and will 

 not arrive to a state suitable to be cut the coming season as 

 early. Hence by continuing to cut late, we reduce our fields 

 rapidly, and get no return, and a less valuable crop of grass or 

 hay. Again, it is very questionable whether the manure made 

 from late-cut hay is as valuable as that made from the early 

 cut, and if the object be to protect the roots, then the soil gets 

 the advantage of the second crop much longer than if the grass 

 had been cut late. It not only answers as a protection, 'but as 

 a fertilising stimulant and manure. Where a good second crop 

 is secured and allowed to remain on the ground, once in three 

 or four years scatter some clover seed in March, and it will 

 catch and grow and make a very good quality of hay, especially 



