26 



the time of seeding. If only ii light coat of manure is applied, it 

 is always spread directl}- from the cart, as, if left in heaps, 

 the grass is apt to lodge where the heaps were dropped, especially 

 if left through a storm. 



Harvesting. 



I always consider it safe to commence haying as soon as grass 

 begins to lodge, whether it is in May, June or July. Cut all my 

 ha}' and rowen with a machine. If the weather is steady and good 

 for hay-making, cut in the afternoon after four o'clock. The next 

 morning, after the dew is off, turn it two or three times, then, after 

 dinner, rake up and put it in the barn as fast as possible, treading 

 it down solid and keeping it as much as I can away from the air. 

 Prefer to make it enough so it will not mould and turn brown, but 

 choose to run a little risk of under-drying, rather than a greater 

 one of oA'er-wetting, in bad weather. I do not object to putting in 

 hay that will slightly heat in the mow, if it is free from any mois- 

 ture except its own sap. I find that a great deal more hay can be 

 stored in the same barn, it cut early, than if allowed to get ripe. 

 To have it feed well to my cows, it must be cut and cured in such 

 a manner and at such a time, that it will come from the mow soft 

 and limber, instead of hard and wiry. If the ha}^ weather is not 

 good, of course it takes longer to make it. It must be cocked over 

 night and covered, if need be, till it can be dried, either by the 

 sun or the wind. I gather the hay with a horse wheel-rake the first 

 day, and after the second day, when it has been cocked. I also 

 highly prize the drag-rake, that enables a boy a dozen years old to 

 keep the scatterings up with the team when carting, and to clean 

 up after the horse-rake. I this year procured aBuUard's Improved 

 Tedder. I am perfectly satisfied with it, and should not think I 

 could get along without one through another hay season. It cost 

 absolutely nothing for repairs, and we made a number of lots of 

 hay one day sooner than we could have done without it, and thus 

 escaped a storm and a great amount of hard Avork at reopening and 

 drvins. Thee sometimes there would be a little dash of a shower, 

 just a sprinkle on our dry hay, that would have prevented its going 

 into the barn, had we not had a tedder with which in a half hour we 

 could make the hay as dry as before the shower. 



Hay vs. Roots. 



By the help of such haying machines as the larmers can now 

 command, I believe that on good grass lands a farmer had better 

 give his attention to raising grass and hay for his stock, instead of 

 the heavy root crops which require so much labor in planting, cul- 

 tivating, weeding, hoeing, harvesting, storing and feeding out. If 

 I could buy roots as I can grain at less prices than I could afibrd to 

 raise them for, I would like to feed a few every day through the 

 winter to my dairy and growing stock. But at the present prices 

 of labor, and with the present facihties for harvesting the hay crop, 

 I think I cannot afford to raise many roots. And with such hay 



