PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 221 



It is thus that the God of nature rewards diligence 

 and skill ; thus that He verifies his own truth, that 

 " the hand of the diligent maketh rich;" 



423. Another item on which I will touch briefly, is 

 that of haying. It is important that grass be cut be- 

 fore the seed is ripe enough to shell out, while the 

 stalk is yet tender and juicy, and before it has 

 changed into a tough, dry, woody fibre. Neverthe- 

 less, there are other things on a farm quite as impor- 

 tant. The hilling of corn, before the roots fill the 

 whole ground, is at least as important. Indeed, it must 

 he done then, or never. The harvesting of wheat, rye, 

 and oats, five or six days before the seed is fully ripe, 

 is more important ; for the grain is far better, and the 

 straw is then valuable as a fodder, but is worth almost 

 nothing, except for manure, if these crops are left to 

 become fully ripe. Let the hay be cut earlier or later 

 in July, according to its forwardness, if this can be 

 done conveniently; but it is not so important that 

 men should kill themselves with over-work to accom- 

 plish it, nor that the more important matters of hoe- 

 ing and summer harvest should be deferred. Early 

 cutting gives better hay ; late cutting gives more ; the 

 medium time is on the whole the best ; but the dam- 

 age is not as great as many have estimated, if grass 

 stands till into August. 



424. I will now suppose that our farmer has done 

 his haying and harvesting of summer crops ; that be- 

 fore haying he made the necessary repairs on his barn 

 and sheds ; and that since haying he has made such 



