298 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



Juke 



CURING CLOVEB HAY, 



Takini; everything into consideration, and 

 after fxiviiig considerable lliouglit and study to 

 the subject, I have concluded that, all things 

 considered, the best plan is to cure clover hay 

 as rapidly as possible. If you chew a blossom 

 von will find it quite sweet. It contains con- 

 siderable sugar. And this sugar is soluble in 

 water. And yet the heaviest rain falling con- 

 tinuously on a field of growing clover in full 

 blossom will not wash out a particle of the 

 sugar. The sugar is soluble, but the water 

 cannot get at it. But cut down the clover and 

 let it wilt and become partly dry, and the 

 water will then wash out the sugar. 



Experienced hay-makers know very well 

 that a heavy rain or dew, falling on clover 

 only just cut (iown, will not injure it. But 

 rain or dew, falling on a field of partially- 

 cured clover, does considerable damage. And 

 the more the clover has been bruised in shak- 

 ing it about, the greater will be the damage 

 done by the rain. Bearing these facts in mind, 

 when there is considerable clover to cut, I 

 would start the machine about five o'clock in 

 the afternoon, and cut as long as I could see ; 

 and unless tliere was a very heavy dew, I 

 would start the machine soon after daylight in 

 the morning, and keep on cutting until nine or 

 ten o'clock. By this time the hay cut the 

 night before will need moving. How best to 

 do this is, with me, an open question. Some 

 good farmers do it with a tedding machine. 

 My own plan has been to take a self-acting 

 steel rake, that can be easily raised and lowered 

 rapidly, and pull the clover into small wind- 

 rows, five or six feet apart. In an hour or 

 so afterward, turn these Avindrows by hand, 

 and if any of the clover is green and matted 

 together, shake it out. 



Treat the morning-cut clover in the same 

 way. And if you have time, turn the night- 

 clover again before dinner ; but if not, turn 

 it immediately after dinner. If it has been 

 spread out much in turning, the horse steel 

 rake can be used again to considerable advan- 

 tage. I have a twelve-year-old boy that does 

 this work with the rake to perfection. The 

 rake is lifted by the wheel, and it is thrown in 

 and out of gear by a lever. lie moves this 

 lever back and forth, and keeps the rake 

 going up and down about every second. The 

 object is not to rake the grass together, but to 

 turn it. The oftener the green hay can be 

 stirred the more radidly it cures, and this is 

 the main object of the first day's operations. 

 About three o'clock, pull the hay together in- 

 to windrows with a wooden revolving-rake, 

 and put it into moderate-sized cocks. At the 

 same time, let the boy with the steel-rake run 

 it between the rows of cocks, and make every 

 thing clean and snug. The next morning, if 

 necessary, turn over the cocks, and spread out 

 any43art of the hay that is still green. And 

 it may be necessary to turn the hay again in 



an hour or so. By one o'clock the hay should 

 be fit to draw in. 



The objections to this method are (1), that 

 it takes more labor, and (2) that opening the 

 cocks, if done carelessly, may shake off the 

 leaves of the clover, which, except the blos- 

 soms, are the best part of the hay. The ad- 

 vantage is simply a gain of time, and less risk 

 from bad weather. — J. Harris, in Am. Agri- 

 culturist. 



MANURES AND THEIR APPLICATION. 



My experience is that manures containing 

 straw, hay and the like should be ploughed 

 under, but those containing little or no straw 

 should be spread on. Coarse manures will 

 rot much sooner if ploughed imder, and they 

 also serve to lighten the soil, and this is the 

 one great want of those old farms which have 

 been cultivated many years. Other manures 

 should be applied on or near the surface, first, 

 because if applied in any other way they lose 

 much of their fertilizing properties by evapo- 

 ration and by wash, while if applied on the 

 surface in small quantities each year, the crops 

 receive all or nearly all the benefit, and second, 

 because the labor of application is much less. 

 Viewing a fine farm burdened with a splendid 

 crop of grass, I remarked to a friend on its 

 fine appearance, that ten years before it was 

 one of the poorest farms in the town, and that 

 two things had made it what it now is. One 

 was, the present owner had built a barn, and 

 with it a large, fine cellar in which he kept his 

 farm manures until he was read}- to use thera, 

 thereby saving all the solid and liquids, and 

 the other cause was, he applied the greater 

 part of his manures on his grass as top dress- 

 ing. 



I once had a field of grass nearly run out 

 and not able to plough it, sjiread on about 

 three cords of manure to the acre for three 

 years and now it is as fine a field of grass as 

 one would wish to see. 



I have found plaster one of the best fertil- 

 izers for grass land on clay loam, but not on 

 sandy soil ; and should like to hear the expe- 

 rience of those who have used it on such land. 

 —W. S. N., in Me. Farmer. 



SPRING CARE OF SHEEP AND LAMBS. 

 Though our sheep are wintered, tlie worst 

 time is yet to follow ; this is the changeable 

 weather of the spring, the cold storms and the 

 slushy, bad condition of the yard and the 

 places the sheep inhabit. Unless the shed is 

 well drained, or otherwise secured, there will 

 be more or less water soaking the straw and 

 manure. And once made wet in this way, it 

 will be apt to be more or less damp till the end 

 of the spring. We need not say that such is not 

 the place for sheep. Keep the water out on the 

 start by all means, and let there be elevation 

 enough to keep a dry bottom. 



