CULTURE OF GRASSES 35 



it is stored in stacks, sheds, or hay mows. This sounds 

 very simple, and under favorable conditions the process 

 is as simple as it sounds. The difficulties arise in the 

 process of curing when the conditions are not favorable. 

 If the grass is wet with rain when partly cured, or if the 

 atmosphere is so humid that the moisture from the grass 

 cannot be removed, it deteriorates rapidly in quality and 

 may mould or decay. If the shower or wet spell is 

 followed by favorable weather, the hay may be recovered 

 without much loss. If it had been raked into windrows 

 or put into bunches or cocks, it usually becomes necessary 

 to spread the hay for drying. Tedders which pick up 

 and scatter the hay are useful in handling a heavy crop 

 in the swath or scattering it when put in the windrow. 

 A small amount of moisture may detract from the appear- 

 ance of hay without injuring its nutritive value. But 

 thorough wetting, especially after the hay is partly 

 cured, causes a rapid deterioration in the feeding value. 

 If hay is put up when damp or before being thoroughly 

 cured it may ferment or mould. Sometimes the heat 

 produced by fermentation is sufficient actually to burn 

 or carbonize the hay. 



In wet climates, various devices are used to aid in 

 curing hay. The simplest is to throw the partly cured 

 hay into cocks at the approach of a shower and cover 

 with some kind of an impervious cover such as canvas or 

 specially prepared paper or pasteboard hay caps. On 

 the return of favorable weather the cocks are opened to 

 dry. In some cases the freshly cut grass is put up in 

 drying sheds. These consist of a series of open frame- 

 work floors upon which the grass is placed in layers thin 

 4 



