lOO CLOVERS 



cured, when thus twisted it will break asunder. A 

 skilled workmen can also judge fairly well of the 

 degree of the curing by the weight when lifted with 

 the fork. 



Under some conditions, it may be advisable to 

 "open out" the cocks two or three hours before 

 drawing them, that the hot sunshine may remove 

 undue moisture. When this is done, if the cocks are 

 taken down in distinct forkfuls, as it were, each 

 being given a place distinct from the others, the lift- 

 ing of these will be much easier than if the clover 

 in each cock had been strewn carelessly over the 

 ground. The lowest forkful in the cock should 

 be turned over, since the hay in it will have imbibed 

 more or less of dampness from the ground. But in 

 some instances the weather for harvesting is so fa- 

 vorable that the precaution is unnecessary of thus 

 opening out the cocks or even of making them at all. 

 Storing. — Storing clover under cover is far 

 preferable to putting it up in stacks, except in rain- 

 less climates. With the aid of the hay-loader in 

 lifting it from winrows in the field, and of the hay 

 fork in unloading, the hand labor in storing is 

 greatly reduced, but when it is unloaded with the 

 horse fork, the aim should be to dump the hay from 

 the fork on different parts of the mow or stack, lest 

 it should become too solidly pressed together under 

 the dump, and heat and mold in consequence. 



When the hay is stacked, especially in climates of 

 considerable rainfall, a bottom should be prepared 

 on which to stack it. This may be made of poles or 

 rails. A few of these should first be laid one way 



