CHAP. VI. MODERN HAY-MAKING. 885 



no locks may be left strewn about, and before leaving the field at night 

 everything should be tight and snug. On the third day the hay should 

 not be thrown out until the dew is off the ground, and the first 

 operation should be to roll over the cocks so that the ground on which 

 they have stood gets a fair opportunity of drying. With this object in 

 view they should be so turned that it may get the full benefit of the sun 

 and wind, and not in the contrary direction, which would make the 

 turned-over heap act as a shelter to the area which was to be dried. 

 When as much hay has been turned over in this way as may be 

 considered sufficient for the day's working, it should be thrown out 

 roughly by hand, and the haymaker should be set to work to toss it 

 into broad rows as on the previous day. It is a very grave error to 

 throw out more than can be guarded in case rain comes on suddenly : 

 it is safe when in the cock, and should remain there until a favourable 

 opportunity arrives. During the morning it should be tedded up, and 

 then, if the weather has been very fine and drying throughout the 

 process, it may be got into wind-rows and carted. It is not necessary 

 to cock it, as it picks up more easily from the rows if it has been "put 

 in " well. A very efficient machine, which will be seen in the imple- 

 ment section (page 748), has for some time been used for picking up 

 and putting the hay on to the carts, thereby making the process of 

 haymaking less dependent on manual labour. 



The process we have described is that which would be applicable in 

 a period of fine weather. If the weather is not reliable, small quanti- 

 ties only should be exposed to risk at one and the same time. If the 

 weather is dull but fine, and the grass does not dry fast enough to be 

 fit to stack in three days, the only difference in the management is to 

 extend the period during which the workings, after the grass has been 

 got into broad beds, are carried out. It may even be necessary to put 

 it in these broad hacks, and to cock it up, for several days and nights 

 The chief rule to observe, and it is one of great importance now that 

 so much grass can be cut in a day, is to get no more on the ground 

 than the staff at command can work. Grass may be injured by getting 

 too old before cutting, but not nearly to so great an extent as when 

 cut and left to the mercy of the rain for days together. 



The foregoing details represent the best system of haymaking; but 

 cocking is now uncommon in many districts. The grass is often allowed 

 to lie as it was cut until made nearly through the swaths, and then, on 

 a sunny day, it is turned by the swath-turner, or spread and aired by 

 the haymaking machine, or treated first by the former, and a few hours 

 later by the latter. After this, if well dried, it is loaded and stacked, 

 or, if the weather seems settled, it is left to be dealt with on the next 

 day. The hay-sweep depicted on page 749 supersedes carting where it 

 is used, while the horse pitch-fork or the elevator saves much of the 

 labour of stacking. Where there are plenty of waggons, hay may often be 

 loaded when it cannot be stacked safely, remaining on the vehicles to 

 sweat for a few days before it is stacked. 



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