82 % 



Hon. L. N. Bonham, of Oxford, Ohio, uses a different method in 

 putting up clover hay. He says: 



"For several years I put up clover hay as did my father and other 

 Jersey farmers. I have long since abandoned their method and now put 

 my clover hay in the mow the same day it is cut. The hay is far better, 

 and the labor and risk in making it are far less. I select a bright day 

 and Start the mower as soon as the dew is off. By 11 o'clock I have cut 

 as much as can be hauled in between 1 and 5 o'clock. The clover is 

 then all turned and shaken up loose before we go to dinner. By one 

 o'clock it is dry enough to rake into windrows if the day is an average 

 hay day. No time is lost now in getting it into the mow. The hay is 

 warm and free from external moisture. The warmer it is the less mois- 

 ture is left on it. By five o'clock we have it all in the mow, if we can. 

 If not all in then, we prefer to leave it in the windrow until near 

 noon the next day. After we stop hauling, at 5 p. m., the mower is 

 started to cut what we can haul in the next day. The clover cut so late 

 in the day is not wet with dew, and will not wilt enough to be blackened 

 by the dew. It will be ready to shake up and spread out before ten 

 o'clock the next day, and by one o'clock we can begin to haul it into 

 the mow. 



"The clover hay thus made goes into the mow bright and with every 

 leaf and head left on it. The secret of the whole business is, it is free from 

 external moisture, while the warmth of the hay when it goes into the mow 

 hastens the approach of the temperature of the mass up to 122 degrees 

 when the germs which cause increased fermentation are destroyed, and 

 the hay keeps bright and sweet, and comes out fragrant clover, with all 

 the heads and leaves of good color. My mow is 28 by 28, and as tight 

 as good siding and strips painted can make it. There are no windows in 

 the sides to let in air. The clover is put in as compactly as we can get 

 it, to save room, and kept level, to have the heat uniform. Sometimes 

 we sprinkle a half gallon of salt to the load when putting into the mow, 

 but this is of doubtful value. 



"To exclude the air from the top of my clover mow, I often cover 

 with straw. But this does not pack closely. I find it better when haul- 

 ing in wheat to fill up over the clover with wheat. This excludes air, 

 and packs the clover so that it keeps bright to the very top. The old 

 theory that the mow must be open and the clover thrown in loose, and 

 treated to 'plenty of salt,' which may mean much or little, is exploded. 

 Green clover will keep green in the silo if well packed and the air is ex- 

 cluded. Clover hay, put into the mow warm and dry, the day it is cut, 

 will keep brighter and purer and sweeter than if cured longer in the 

 field. 



"The trouble, however, in farmers adopting the method I have suc- 

 cessfully used, is they do not attach enough importance to the fact that 

 the conditions named must be followed. It will not do to cut clover in 

 the morning and haul it in after sun-down. It will surely mould or 

 come out brown or fire fanged, simply because dew falls at five o'clock. 

 Nor can we cut clover and put in the mow the same day without favora- 



