119 



Hints on Haymaking 



A GOOD deal has been written for and against the practice of 

 mowing and grazing alternately. Strictly speaking, meadow 

 land is always mown, and pasture land is always gi-azed. 

 Although the terms and the practice are sometimes regarded 

 as convertible, there is more in the distinction than appears at 

 first sight. Certain grasses are better adapted for the scythe 

 than for being eaten down by stock, and some fields contain a 

 preponderance of one or more of these varieties. A meadow 

 which answers to its strict definition should consist of those 

 grasses which flower almost simultaneously, so that the entire 

 crop may be ready for mowing at one time. Such a crop must, 

 of necessity, be most unsatisfactory for grazing. There will 

 be no early or late grasses for the cattle, but a heavy weight in 

 June and July, which cannot be fed off economically. On the 

 other hand, a good pasture, consisting of the grasses which 

 ensure a continued succession of food, yields but a poor hay 

 crop. However, the question now under consideration is not 

 the best means of creating either the one or the other, but 

 the turning into hay of grass set apart for that purpose. 



The presence of stones, crocks, and other hard rubbish 

 deposited by top di'essings not only diminishes the crop 

 while growing, but will by-and-by make it necessary to set the 

 machine high enough to avoid breakage. Now the mower 

 should always be set as low as possible, for the bottom herbage 

 is, weight for weight, more valuable than the top, and every 

 inch of the former counts both in weight and in quality. The 



