436 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the most valuable portion of the crop. Whatever the hour of cutting, 

 then, the fact should be kept in mind that this crop should be tedded 

 but little in curing. If cut late in the afternoon, the crop may be tedded 

 once the following forenoon. If the weather is particularly fine, it will 

 then be ready to rake and put into cocks late in the afternoon of the 

 same day. If the clover is curing more slowly, it may be best to leave 

 it in windrows over one night, and to turn these carefully with the fork 

 the next forenoon, and to cock on the afternoon of the second day after 

 cutting. The use of hay caps in curing clover hay should be more gen- 

 eral. It is desirable to leave the clover in the cock for a number of 

 days, sometimes as long as a week. The hay is coarse, and if exposed 

 to rain it is badly damaged unless the cocks are protected by caps. 

 When examination shows that the clover in the cock is apparently 

 cured, it should be slightly opened and turned up from the bottom 

 on the forenoon of a good day. It will then be ready to put in in the 

 afternoon. Clover hay cured in this manner should hold substantially 

 all its leaves and heads, and should cure of a bright green color. Such 

 clover is one of the most valuable forage crops, whether for cattle, 

 sheep or horses. Well-cured clover hay, popular opinion to the con- 

 trary notwithstanding, is a safe and valuable food for horses, which 

 will need much less grain when fed such hay than when timothy hay 

 is used. 



