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SAVING CLOVER HAY. 



The precise period of mowing clover for hay is a question 

 about which there has been much discussion. All will agree 

 that it should be mowed at the time when the nutritive ele- 

 ments those elements which give strength and produce 

 flesh are at their maximum. Those who are in the habit 

 of feeding stock find that clover cut about the time of full 

 bloom, when a few of the seeds begin to dry up, and just as 

 the reproductive functions are being brought into play for 

 the maturing of seed, will, pound for pound, produce more 

 fat and muscle than that cut at any other time. The only 

 art in curing hay is to retain as many of the life-giving con- 

 stituents in it as possible, or to preserve it as near as practi- 

 cable in the same condition in which it is cut, with the water 

 only abstracted. 



The plan generally adopted is to mow the clover in the 

 morning and let it lie in the sun several hours until a wisp 

 taken up and twisted will show no exudation of moisture. 

 It is then thrown up into small cocks, say four feet in diam- 

 eter and four feet high. In these, unless there is appear- 

 ance of rain, it is allowed to remain for a day or two, when 

 it may be hauled to the barn and stored away without danger 

 of damage. Care should be taken not to let the dew fall 

 upon it as it lies scattered by the mower. The dew of one 

 single night will blacken the leaves and destroy the aroma 

 for which good clover hay is so much prized. 



Another plan practiced is to mow it and let it lie just long 

 enough in the sun to wilt, and then wagon it to an open 

 house and lay it upon beams or tier-poles, where it can re- 

 ceive the free action of the air. After a few days it may be 

 packed down without any danger of fermenting. Cured in 

 this way, in the shade, it retains its green color, is fragrant, 

 and makes a most excellent feed. The only objection to 

 this plan is the great amount of room under cover required 

 for curing, and the additional burthen of hauling while 

 green. 



