82 THE GRASSES OF TENNESSEE. 



away. I have some hands to run along the windrow and 

 pick out the white blossoms, and make hay of the white 

 blossoms alone ; it pays very well for the labor of separat- 

 ing it. I would rather not have to do it, for all the labor 

 is needed at that season of the year ; but I will not throw 

 the white blossoms away, for it is valuable. I stack it in 

 my pastures, and let the cattle go to it at will during the 

 winter. I also stack my straw, and that helps the cattle." 



" Sometimes there is also a fine growth of crab grass, and 

 gome fox-tail and rag weed. I rake this^up ; you cannot 

 sell it in the market, but it largely pays for the labor of 

 saving it. I have this winter kept a large number of steers 

 that I expect to bring into the market next spring, and they 

 have had nothing else but straw, and this kind of weed. I 

 sprinkle a little salt on the stack, and the stock eat it and 

 do well on it. I have no doubt but they would do better 

 on the better hay, but I cannot afford to feed beef-cattle on 

 first-class hay, worth one dollar per hundred pounds in the 

 market, while I can save that which is not worth one cent 

 in the market and feed it to them." 



"It is valuable in another respect. It comes on at the con- 

 clusion of your harvest, and after corn is laid by. The 

 clover comes on at the busiest season of the year, and hence 

 I prefer the timothy." 



"Now, what is the proper time to cut timothy ? Some 

 would say as soon as it blooms ; others would say, after it 

 has bloomed and the bloom has fallen. If I could cut it 

 all on the day I thought it would make the best hay, I 

 would cut it just about the time it has lost the largest por- 

 tion of its bloom. If you cut it too green like green fod- 

 der the stalk will shrivel, and after being cured, the stalk 

 will break short, but if allowed to get a little riper the stalk 

 will bend." 



"How much sun should it have ? That is a question that 

 can only be determined by experience. The proper time to 

 put it up is when it has had as little sun as possible, so you 



