1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FABJVIER. 



379 



not open tlie hay so as to admit sun and air. 

 A gentle shaking is the only process that will 

 answer the purpose desired. Many a load of 

 hay is essentially injured by neglecting this 

 particular, which might have been housed in 

 perfection had it been properly attended to. 

 By this neglect, damp bunches are left, when 

 a large proportion is sufficiently cured, which 

 makes it neceesaiy to keep the whole out a 

 day longer. 



When the hay is got into cock while it is 

 warm, it being also still somewhat moist, it 

 passes into what is called "the sweating pro- 

 cess." This cures, fixes the color, preserves 

 the fragrance, and dissipates so much of the 

 moisture that the hay may be preserved in 

 perfect condition. 



"As the hay goes into cock, so it will come 

 out — as green ahnost as the grass itself. The 

 hay will feel hea^y ; and it is heavier than 

 when dried to death ; but it will not spoil ; it 

 is cured. You have the same grass here which 

 so recently was in full bloom, and so tender 

 with juices. And when you come to feed it 

 out in the winter, you will see the benefit of 

 curing grass in this manner, instead of bleach- 

 ing it and drying it into straw. In market, its 

 superior weight is an advantage — its color 

 also, and its fragrance, — for the fragrance of 

 the early harvest field is still there." 



If the hay is not covered with caps, perhaps 

 it would be better to shake it out the second 

 day, tui'n it about noon, and get it in soon 

 after one o'clock. This course would be bet- 

 ter than to run the risk of rain. 



Rain on the hay, or even a heavy dew, in- 

 jures it materially, by washing away the gum 

 and oil which it contains, and which are im- 

 portant qualities. Hay that was wet in cur- 

 ing has little or no fragrance left. Other por- 

 tions of the grass, besides the gum and oil, 

 such as the sugar and starch, may be so easily 

 made soluble as to be washed away by rain. 

 Every precaution, therefore, should be used 

 to prevent its being wet. 



The curing of clover hay should be some- 

 what dilFerent. It should be cut in the early 

 part of the blossom and allowed to remain in 

 the swath through the first day. If the crop 

 is a light one, it had better be collected into 

 windrows and left in that condition over night. 

 If a heavy crop, turn it upside down and leave 

 it so until the next day. In either case col- 



lect it carefully and cock it on the second day. 

 If covered with caps it may remain so for two 

 nights more, then open to sun and air for three 

 or four hours and get it in. If the weather is 

 cool, it may be better to remain even longer 

 than two nights in cock. If not covered with 

 caps, there will be more risk, and the time of 

 leaving it out must be governed by the pros- 

 pects of the Aveather and the force at hand to 

 take care of it. 



ENGLISH SPARROWS. 



The New York Farmer's Club recently had a 

 talk about these birds, which were brought over 

 from England to New York a few j-ears since, and 

 which appear to be spreading rapidly in all direc- 

 tions ; having already been seen twenty miles from 

 the city. Mr. Audrey Fuller said that two pair 

 put on his place had driven all other birds away. 

 He did not think the spaiTows were entitled to the 

 credit they generally received of causing the dis- 

 appearance of the span worms from the trees in 

 the city, but said, "in truth, they had nothing at 

 all to do with the disappearance of the worm, that 

 Ijeing effected liy the ichneumon fly." Several 

 gentlemen having stated that the sparrows did 

 devour worms, to their certain knowledge, Mr. 

 P. T. Quinn said : — 



There is no doubt in my mind l)ut that they will 

 feed upon insects when "they can get nothing else 

 to eat, iHit they will also become very destructive 

 and injurious to the fruit grower in the country. 

 There is a great deal of sentiment about liirds. I 

 know that some of them are the allies of the fruit 

 grower, );ut I was born where the sparro^^'s were 

 pests in the worse sense of the term ; where they 

 not only eat the fruit, which we would lie willing 

 to forgive, but they feed also on the blossoms, and 

 so the suliject eonies up whether that varietv of 

 bird will greatly lienetit the fruit-grower. I have a 

 neighbor, and he called me into his fruit garden 

 and showed me the blossoms of his trees all picked 

 otf ; he said that he had not seen any sparrows 

 around, Init his place is only a stone's throw from 

 mine, and we had had quantities of them, and 

 there was no doubt l)ut that the sparrow was the 

 depredator. If he would only eat the ripe fruit, I 

 would say let him have it, as much as he can eat, 

 but when he eats the buds, then he is an injury, 

 and I fear that we shall regret that they have ever 

 passed out of the city. 



Difference in Eggs.— The Germantoivn Tele- 

 graph well says, tliere is a vast ditference in the 

 flavor of eggs. Hens fed on clean, sound grain 

 and kept on a clean grass run, give much finer 

 flavoi'ed eggs than hens that have access to stables 

 and manure heaps and eat all kinds of filthy food. 

 Hens feeding on fish or onions flavor their eggs 

 accordingly — the same as cows eating onions or 

 cabbages, or drinking offensive water, impart a 

 bad taste to the milk and butter. The richer the 

 food the higher the color of the egg. Wheat and 

 corn give the best color, while feeding on buck- 

 wheat makes the eggs colorless, rendering them 

 unfit for some confectionery purposes. 



