52] A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



the country. The seasoning or making of clover and ray-grass into 

 hay, is as follows : After mowing, the swathes are suffered to re- 

 main till they are well dried on the, upper side ; they are then 

 turned over, and the other side dried in like manner, and afterwards 

 turned a second time, if necessary ; they are then put in larger 

 rows, the ground raked, the rows put in cocks, and carried to the 

 stack: the stalks of clover take a good deal of time to dry through- 

 out. Fair weather and .sunshine are very desirable in this business. 

 In making hay from meadow-grass, the first operation after mowing, 

 is spreading it all over the meadow, which is called tedding ; in the 

 evening it should be raked into win-rows, and afterwards divided 

 into grass cocks ; next morning (if fair weather), the grass cocks 

 are cast about into square beds, and the vacant spaces between the 

 beds (if any) raked clean ; the beds, after turning, are put in the 

 evening into middle-sized cocks. Next morning (if fair), these cocks 

 are again spread open and turned over, and being sufficiently made, 

 are put into large cocks and carried to the stack. The time for these 

 operations, and their effect, is much facilitated by sunshine and 

 fair weather. 



In showery weather, the following is a better process. After 

 mowing, and the swathes being seasoned, rake them clean over ; 

 when the other side is seasoned, make them into small cocks ; when 

 the cocks are dry on the upper side, turn them over, and when dried 

 on the other side, half a dozen of them may be put together into 

 quarter cocks, and so by degrees into large cocks : this process 

 will require more time than the former, but will keep the hay 

 better protected from the weather. Hay, when spread over all the 

 ground, catches all the rain, but when in cock only a part of it : 

 it will lose its juices and its colour in proportion to this greater or 

 less saturation. 



Sir John Sinclair has detailed a Lancashire and a Scottish method 

 of making hay in tipples, adapted to a humid season or climate, 

 thus : The swathes are rolled up in bunches, and set on end like 

 flax, two bunches meeting of ten or twelve pounds weight each ; a 

 rope is twisted of the grass, and tied round near the top ; the strag- 

 ling stems are twisted round the top to give it a conical shape ; 

 after standing a few hours they become smooth on the outside, so 

 that no rain can penetrate, and they are soon dry after rain : they 

 are never opened or tedded, but carried from the tipple. Not a 

 leaf is lost, and the hay is as green as a leaf dried in a book. 



Hay for saintfoin or vetches must be made by the same process as 



