AGraCULTURE. 23 



emit any sensible steam ; and I would not wish to have 

 liay made brown by mow-burning. It surely does not 

 appear to so good advantage at market. 



Were it not for the labor and cost, a good way of 

 hay-making would be, for the hay-makers to follow at 

 the heels of the mov/ers, at least, as soon as the dew is 

 olF, and spread the swarths evenly; turn the grass about 

 the middle of the same day; make it up into cocks be- 

 fore night; open the hay and turn it the next day; and 

 so on till it be sufficiently dried, doubling the cocks if 

 signs of rain appear. It will not commonly take more 

 than two or three days to dry it, unless it be very green, 

 or uncommonly thick and rank. A person who has but 

 little hay to meike, need not be much blamed, if he do 

 it in this way; especially if the weather do not appear 

 to be settled. 



The practice of the best English, Flemish, and 

 French farmers, is to expose the hay as little as possible 

 to the sun. It is carried in dry, but it preserves its 

 green color; and you see hay two or three }ears old in 

 their market, of so bright a green color, that we would 

 scarcely conceive it to be cured. Yet they are in the 

 practice of preserving it for years, and value it more 

 for its age. If such a course be best in climates so 

 cool and cloudy, how much more important would it be 

 under our scorching summer suns? 



But if the weather be unsettled, or if showers be 

 frequent, it may be better to spread grass well, as soon 

 as it is mowed, stir it often, cock it the same day it is 

 mowed, open it in the next fair day when the dew is off, 

 let it sweat a little in cock, and house it as soon as it is 

 dry enough. It will bear to be laid greener on a scaf- 

 fold, than in a ground mow; and in a narrow mow 

 greener than in a broad one. And that which is at 

 least of all made, should be put upon a scaffold. 



SIMPLE MEANS OF PURIFYING WATER. 



It is not so generally known as it ought to be, that 

 pounded alum possesses the property of purifying water. 

 A large spoonful of pulverized alum, sprinkled into a 



