406 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



otrtTi, i83£r 



S?2SW 23S?-©J2>^sa':S' S-^JESffilgSaa 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 1, 1835. 



FARMERS' WORK FOR JULY. 



Hav Making. — It is best to cut the h.'aviest grass 

 first, and if it be so thick and luxuriant as to lodge, or 

 thi lower leaves, and bottom of the stallis begin to de- 

 cay, turn yellow, and lose their nutritive qualities, 

 tliough ihe grass be not more than two thirds grown it 

 it well to begin to mow it. But if you are stron;.' 

 handed as regards help, and can ' go ahead" like a 

 steam car, you may as well wait till the head is fully 

 formed, and the seed obtained its growth, though not 

 entirely ripened. The Farmer's .Issistunt asserts that 

 the best time for cutting herds grass [timothy] where 

 but one crop is cut in the season is when the seeds of 

 the grass are fully formed, but before they have become 

 ully ripe, but as farmers cannot cut their hay in a day 

 or two, it is necessary that they begin before this lime 

 that they may not end too long after it. The same 

 time is also proper for cutting clover, or rather when a 

 part of the heads turn brown. Foal meadow may be 

 cut much later without being hurt by long standing." 



It is affirmed by a writer in ihe Norwich Courier, " If 

 grass when mown is carefully turned every day it will 

 injure very little. The great cause of injury is its lying 

 on the ground through a long spell of rainy weather. 

 If it lie mote than one day, it becomes mouldy and 

 turns black. If carefully turned every day, " rain or 

 shine, ' it will not lose its color. This is the result 

 of many years' experience. 



With regard to making hay from clover, there are 

 various opinions and practices. The Farmer's Manual 

 directs, in order to preserve the most valuable parts of 

 clover, viz. the heads and leaves, to cut it in dry weath- 

 er ; and when the dew is dried otf from the first swaths, 

 turn them over gently without spreading, until you 

 come to the swaths which are Iree from dew, let ttiese 

 lie untouched until noon, unless showers or a storm 

 become threatening. In this case break oiT your mow- 

 ers and get your clover from the swath into small cocks. 

 Let the cocks be made with the fork, with only once or 

 twice rolling. But if the weather continues fair, let 

 your mowers keep on, and your haymakers follow willi 

 their forks, and put all the swaths into small cocks. 

 The next day let these cocks stand, and go on cutting 

 as before ; proceed thus until you have secured your 

 clover. In two, three or four days as the weather may be,' 

 the clover first cut will be fit to carl if the weather 

 proves fair, if not the rains will never penetrate f.irther 

 than the winds and sun can dry j tlie clover will be in- 

 jured only on the surface. Should a long cloudy or 

 moist turn succeed you may give your clover air by 

 taking off the tops of each cock and placing it for the 

 bottom, and thus with your fork change the order of 

 your cocks by bringing the bottoms to the tojis ; this 

 mode will cause your cocks to shed rain better than the 

 common mode of turning t'.ein over at once with the 

 fork. When you find your clover sufiicienlly cured for 

 bousing, take tlio first good hay day, turn over your 

 cocks in the morning when tiic dew is off, and as soon 

 as the moisture is dried from the bottom clear your 

 fields. Tlr:s you will secur*; tlie most valuable parts of 

 your clover, viz. the heads and leaves in full bloom and 

 as perfect a gieen as when growing. And your horses 

 will hold their flesh and do more service on this clover 

 without grain than on clover cured by the common 

 method with the usual quantity of grain. 



The Albany Cultivator in treating of making hay 

 from clover observes, " My practice has been to K'ave 



the clover to wilt in the swath, and when partially 

 dried, either to turn the swaths or to make grass cocks 

 the same day, so as to secure the dried portions from 

 the dew. That which is not put into cocks the first day 

 is thus secured the second day, or as soon as it becomes 

 partially dried. These grass cocks are permitted to 

 stand one, two or tlirec days, according as the weather 

 is, and as the curing process has progressed. When 

 they are opened at nine or ten o'clock on a fair day, 

 the hay is turned over between eleven and three and 

 soon after turning gathered again for the cart. Thus 

 cured, the hay is perfectly bright and sweet, and hardly 

 a blossom or a leaf wasted. Some care is required in 

 making the cocks. The grass is collected with forks 

 and placed on dry ground between the swaths, in as 

 small a compass as convenient at the base, say two or 

 three feet in diameter, and rising in a cone to the 

 height of four or five feet. 



" The advantages of this mode of curing clover are ; 



"I. The labor of spreading from the swath is saved. 



" 2. The labor of the hand rake is abridged, or wholly 

 dispensed with, if the horse rake is used to glean the 

 field when the hay is taken off, the forks sufficing to 

 collect it tolerably clean in the cocking process. 



" 3. It prevents in a great measure, injury from dew 

 and rain, for these cocks if rightly constructed, (not by 

 rolling) will sustain a rain of some days, that is, they 

 have done this with me, without heating, or becoming 

 more than superficially wet. 



4. " Clover hay made in this way may almost inva- 

 riably be housed in good condition ; and if rain falls 

 after the grass is mown, the quality of the hay is infi- 

 nitely superior to what it would be under the old pro- 

 cess of curing." 



A writer for the N. England Farmer, vol. xi. p. 2, 

 with the signature, W. B. who is a practical and judi- 

 cious farmer, objects to attempting to cure clover in the 

 swath or in cocks. He says, " clover, like other hay to 

 be good for anything must be dried in the sun," &c. Dr 

 Deane undf r the head clover directs, when half the 

 heads are turned from red to brown, and in the decay 

 it is the right time to mow it. But if the seed is to be 

 saved for use, it must stand until it is all dead ripe, both 

 heads and stalks. It requires more care to make clover 

 into hay than most other grasses. That which is mown 

 in a morning should be spread, turned and raked up be- 

 fore night. The next day if the weather be fair, it 

 must be opened, stirred once or twice, and cocked up 

 again. Then, after sweating a day or two, it may be 

 put in the b.irn." 



Lorain says, " Curing hay in swaths to save the 

 juices, seems to be not only practically wrong butalso 

 oppnsed to reason. The confined heat and moisture in 

 the interior of the swath promotes fermentation ; and 

 must be more or less injurious to the nutritive matters 

 contained in the grasses, A:c." Although tliere appears 

 to be a point blank variance in write s on the subject of 

 making hay from clover, they may be right on both 

 sides, by conforming to circumstances. If the crop be 

 large and luxuriant, and the weather fair and dry, 

 adopt what Lorain calls '* the good old way of shaking 

 out the swaths, and spreading them carefully over the 

 whole surface of the soil as fast as the grasses are mow- 

 ed" provided the dew is off. But if the weather be 

 lowering and variable let your gross remain as left by 

 the mower, and be cured in the swath and the cock as 

 heretofore directed. 



iNniAN Corn for Fodder. — The prospect is that 

 grass for hay will be short this season, and it may be 

 well to planter sow Indian coin for fodder. 



Corn intended for fodder, may be sowed either broad 



cast or in drills. The former is the least trouble, the 

 latter will give the greatest product, and leave the soil 

 in the best order. If the land on which you propose to 

 raise your corn is mowing or pasture fre.sh ploughed for 

 the purpose, broad cast sowing will, perhaps, be pref- 

 erable, as the sod after being turned over should not be 

 disturbed, and there will be but litile to apjirehend from 

 weeds. If you sow broad cast, from 3 to 3^ bushels to 

 an acre are recommended. 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETT. 



rl-OWEKS EXHIBITED. 



Saturday, June 27, 1835. 



The display this day was unrivalled by any former 

 exhibition at this season of the year, the great increase 

 of beautiful and new roses, herbaceous and bhrub flow- 

 ers excited general admiration. 



M. P. Wilder, from his gardens in Dorchester, va- 

 rieties of moss roses, viz. llo^ea plena, do. blanda, da. 

 alba, do. Blanch nouvelle, do. De la fleache, do. cocci- 

 nea, do. panache, do. prolific, do. single. Paeoniaa 

 — Whitleji, Humei, Fragrans. Dahlia — Brown's 

 Ophelia. 



Thomas Mason, Charlestown Vineyard. Roses — 

 York and Lancaster, Tuscany, White, do. Globe, Pro- 

 vence, Blush, Perfecta, Dianthus, Campanula pyrami- 

 dalis. Delphiniums, Potentilla, &,c. 



S. Walker, Roxbury. Campanula persicoefolia, Alba, 

 plena, do. do. purpurea, Cli'iuatis alpina, Dianthus var., 

 Ford's fine seedling, do. do. Bows, Clauding's hybri- 

 da, barbalus, Lysimachia qu:idr;folia, Lythrum salica- 

 ria, Monarda Russelina, (Enothera speciosa, do. Fra- 

 geri, do. macrocarpa, Penstemon digitalis, do. var. 

 Phlox paniculata, alba, setacea. Antirrhinum, linaria; 

 Ranunculus, var. Spirea filipendula, Tradescantia vir- 

 ginica, var. rubra, Veronicasiberica, Hespeiis purple pi., 

 Clematis integrifolia. Ruses — Provence, Gloria Mundi, 

 Walker's Roxbury Belle, Blush, &c. 



Joiin .\. Kenrick, Newton. Pceonia Whitleji, Fra- 

 grans ; Delphinium sinensis, Spirea levigata, Lonicera 

 pubescens ; about 75 kinds of Roses. 



Winships. Variety of various kinds. 

 E. P. Hartshorn, Esq. Fine specimens Moas 

 roses, &c. 



For the Committee, Jona. Winship. 



FRUITS EXHIBITED. 



The exhibition of Strawberries this day was finer 

 than probably was ever before exhibited on the So- 

 ciety's tables. 3 boxes Keen's seedlings, and one of 

 Southboro, from the garden of Mr Thomas Hastings, 

 East Camhridge, very large and handsome, took the 

 lead. 



3 Baskets Methven Castle, Do%vnton and Keen's 

 Seedlings, (one each), large and handsome from the 

 garden of Hon. I.. Vose, Dorchester. 



4 Boxes Methven Castle from Mr Arlemas Rogers, 

 Watertown. Methven Caslle from Mr J. L. L, F. Warren, 

 Brighton and Mr Richard Ward, Roxbury — Seedlings a 

 new kind, a promising specimen from Messrs Plovey^ 

 Cambridgeport. 



3 Bunches White Chasselas grapes from the grapery 

 of Jacob Tidd, Esq. Roxbury. 



A Milan Cucumber, from Mr A. D. Williams, Box- 

 bury. 



For the Committee, B. V. French. 



An adjourned meeting of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 riiltural Society, was held at their room on Saturday, 

 the 27th June. 



Mr J. P. Davis, from the committee appointed to se- 



