104 PEKMANENT AND TEMPORARY PASTURES. 



left 1)}' the scythe or mower, and it Avill then take the minimum 

 ( f harm. In fine weather the tedding machine should be used 

 nuieli more freely than is commonly the case, for every time the 

 machine goes over the ground a diflerent set of grass stalks are 

 exposed to tlie sun. Often, when the end of a field is reached, 

 the beginning is ready for a fresh start, and it is a mistake to 

 suppose that because scorched grass makes bad hay, therefore 

 quickly made hay resembles scorched grass. These remarks are 

 intended to apply exclusively to meadow hay. Clovers, Sainfoin, 

 (fcc, should be turned in the swath by hand, and with utmost 

 care, to avoid breaking off the leaves. 



When a particular field is ready, the whole strength of the 

 farm shoukl be concentrated on the labour of gathering and cart- 

 ing the liay to the rick. I have known a crop of grass cut 

 one morning and stacked at night ; but the crop was light, the 

 heat unusual, and the desiccation of the plant had considerably 

 advanced before the mower was used. Still I am persuaded 

 that in liot weather grass miglit often with advantage be put 

 into windrows or cocks on the day it is cut, although it is 

 seldom done. Dcav is well-nigh as injurious to half-made hay 

 as rain, and grass wdiich has parted with much of its water on 

 a liot summer day is in a condition to reabsorb moisture i'rom 

 the atmosphere at night. This process goes on much more 

 rapidly wlien tlie hay lies scattered on the ground than when it 

 is cocked. Tlie cocks sliould not be opened too early in tlie 

 morning, and if the sun prove liot it will spoil the colour to 

 scatter the grass very much. Greenness is one of the indications 

 of well-made hay, while a brown shade, whether resulting from 

 rain or sunburning, is a certain sign of deteriorated condition. 

 Three days ought to make good hay in fair weather from an 

 ordinary crop. Grass w^hich is cut one day, tedded repeatedly 

 the next, cocked that night, and opened out again on the 

 following morning, may be fit to carry in the afternoon of that — 

 the third — day. A very heavy crop, however, or a crop in which 

 there is an unusual proportion of clover, must not be ricked so 



