214 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



in the centre of the mow for the purpose of ventilating the hay.' 

 We should as soon think of ventilating a tea-chest. We have 

 seen other barns with wide, gaping cracks on the sides of the 

 mows, apparently left for the purpose of admitting air to the 

 hay ; and we were advised not long since to put none but 

 thoroughly-dried hay at the bottom of the mow, as the air 

 could not reach this part to cure it more effectually. These 

 facts show that the true principle in keeping hay is not univer- 

 sally understood. Air may be essential in the curing of hay, 

 but not in its storage. After it is ready for the barn we would 

 not object to having the hay sealed up hermetically. Even 

 green grass thus sealed cannot ferment nor decay any more 

 than does a peach when canned. Decay is only a slow process 

 of combustion, and combustion cannot take place without air. 

 If we examine our mows after we have put upon them some 

 imperfectly cured hay, we shall find that it is only the top, 

 where the air can circulate, that ferments and heats. In the 

 olden times of New England it was customary for the country 

 clergyman to eke out his meagre salary by cultivating a small 

 farm, and in the haying season the farmers made what was 

 called a bee, and on an appointed day came together and cut 

 the minister's grass, and stored it in his barn, generally finish- 

 ing the whole job in one day. It was a joyous occasion, and 

 the farmers were early at their work, and we well remember 

 being waked up in the morning by tlie merry voices of the 

 mowers and the musical clang of the scythes as they were 

 whetted in concert. Almost necessarily much of the hay was 

 housed before it was thoroughly dry, but, being stored in one 

 day, there was little opportunity for the air to act upon it. We 

 have fed out much hay thus imperfectly cured and rapidly 

 stored, and though the top of the mow was sometimes mouldy, 

 the bulk of the hay came ovit in good condition. We very 

 much question whether green hay placed on a scaffold would 

 keep as well. Imperfectly cured hay, stored in a mow at inter- 

 vals of a few days, will be very likely to furnish layers of musty 

 fodder, for the surface section of each batch will thus be exposed 

 to the air, and will ferment and mould. 



In feeding hay, it is found economical to cut down the mow 

 in sections, and not to feed from the entire surface, as the 

 exposure to the air in this case is much less. It is often re- 



