66 PASTURES AND PASTURE PLANTS CHAP. 



Brown Hay. — While greenness is justly regarded as an indication of 

 well-made hay, it is sometimes desirable to make clovers into brown hay to 

 obviate the necessity of frequent turning and consequent loss of leaf. The 

 plants, being turned only once during the period, are dried in the sun until 

 about f of the contained water is evaporated, and are then made into large 

 cocks, the heating of which completes the process of drying in 5 or 6 weeks. 



Drying by Air. — To prevent loss. Red clover and Lucerne are some- 

 times cut with the scythe ; and, after drying for 2 or 3 days in the swathe, 

 are made into small sheaves, the driest plants being placed in the centre. 

 These sheaves are bound with strong flower-culms at the top, and are formed 

 into stocks, the cut ends resting on the ground, so that free access of air 

 beneath is possible. A few days complete the process of drying ; but if the 

 stocks are overturned by wind, they must be set up again at once. 



Remaining Herbage. — Some proportion of the hay is always left 

 behind in the meadow ; and cattle should be run over the land for a few 

 days to clear up remnants and also the grass not touched by the mowing 

 machine. 



Inferior Hay. — Herbage cut too late, carelessly made into hay, or ex- 

 posed too long to the action of solar heat or rain, yields brittle, dry hay, of 

 little savour ; while hay imperfectly sheltered from rain and dew, or which has 

 been ricked before being properly dried, becomes discoloured and acquires a 

 disagreeable odour, owing to the internal fermentation set up by excess of 

 moisture. The herbage of river-side pastures exposed to spring floodings also 

 yields bad quality hay, dry, brittle and dusty, with a more or less pronounced 

 marshy smell. 



Generally speaking, low quality hay gives off, when shaken, an irritating 

 dust, that is injurious to stock. 



The thorough shaking of inferior hay with a pitchfork will detach much 

 objectionable dust, and most of the particles of lime or sand adhering to the 

 stems and leaves, but it is a better practice to put it through the threshing 

 machine, as the greatest possible amount of dust should be removed. After 

 thoroughly shaking it, soak it for an hour in a brine made from salt and 

 water, 15 lbs. of salt being used for every ton of hay. Of course this is not 

 necessary if salt has been sprinkled in the rick as advised in a subsequent 

 paragraph. Finally mix it in as small proportion as convenient with good, 

 well-made hay before feeding it to stock. 



The foetid smell of really bad hay unfits it for use even as litter, and it 

 should therefore be conveyed to the dung heap. 



Rick-Building. 



Staddles for Rick. — So far as possible, ricks should always be built on 

 stone or iron staddles, both on account of the excellent bottom ventilation 

 thus afforded, and to prevent injury to the hay from soil-moisture. 



If staddles cannot be provided, a layer of faggots will serve as a founda- 

 tion for the rick. 



Shape of Rick. — The least possible surface must be exposed to the air, 

 so that a square shape, with roof just sufficiently steep to shoot off snow and 

 rain, is most desirable. Of course the bottom of every rick should be smaller 

 than the top, so that drippings from the thatch may fall clear to the ground. 



Method of Building. — When building a rick, the centre is always kept 

 higher than the outside; and every layer must be firmly trodden down. 



