HAY MAKING IN RAINY COUNTEIES. 311 



the man whO' worked so late extra pay for his over- 

 time. In raking such hay, which is of course very 

 dry, it is best to make the windrows large. 



Usually small windrows are best. We follow 

 about this practice: The mowers are run when 

 there is leisure to run them, paying little attention 

 to time of day. Usually several of them are started 

 at one time, when teams can be spared from other 

 work. It is well if the dew is off the alfalfa before 

 it is mown, but convenience sometimes makes us 

 disregard this practice. 



Cocking the Hay. — As soon as the hay is tough 

 and the leaves as dry as it is safe to allow them, 

 the rakes are started and small windrows made. 

 At once men follow with forks and cock the hay up 

 in the old fashioned way. Care is taken to make 

 the cocks small in diameter, and as high as they can 

 be safely piled. The workmen are shown how to 

 take the hay in small forkfuls and lay it up, one 

 forkful squarely above another, till the cock is made. 

 This with a little practice is rapidly done. It seems 

 a costly thing to one not accustomed to this sort of 

 handling of hay, yet a skillful and energetic man will 

 easily cock up ten tons or more in a working day. 

 So the added labor cost is hardly more than 20 cents 

 per ton from cocking up. And when the hay is later 

 taken up it is handled so rapidly that some credit 

 must be allowed for that. 



Hay cocked thus green is tough so that the stems 

 naturally droop from their own weight. The result 



