280 MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS. 



in the ground at the four corners, pulling the cloth out as 

 far as necessary to tighten the cover, so that it will stand 

 over the hay like an umbrella. With these covers on, the 

 cocks can bid defiance to the heaviest storms, as, although 

 a little dampness would penetrate at first, they will soon 

 swell and tighten, so as to be water proof. 



In passing grass into hay and taking it into market, it is 

 necessary to handle it quite frequently. The slovenly plan 

 of some farmers to use forks made of a sapling, is to be 

 greatly reprehended. Like all other trades, the use of good 

 tools is essential to good farming, and no one should be with- 

 out good three-pronged steel forks. It expedites work 

 very much, and as a mere labor saving tool, is economical. 

 Besides, it enables the hand to take and pass the grass more 

 completely, leaving no gleanings behind. And then it 

 greatly relieves the strain on the laborer. So do not, in this 

 work, begin until good forks and hand rakes are provided. 

 Sometimes the rake is very necessary, especially if from ac- 

 cident the hay gets beaten into the stubble by an unexpect- 

 ed thunder shower. 



The farmers of the present day, enjoy an advantage un- 

 known and unthought of by our forefathers. Heretofore 

 we had weather prophets, men who would look wise, look 

 all around at the clouds, and generally guess wrong as to 

 continued fair weather. The moon was looked to as a har- 

 binger of rain, and great stress laid upon the way it hung in 

 the heavens when new moon began. There were, and are, 

 many signs, portent and valuable, both to the mariner and 

 farmer, and an observant person will often be able to see a 

 storm in the mystic future. But all these signs pale into 

 insignificance compared with the "probabilities" column of 

 our daily papers. The chief of the signal office, stationed 

 at Washington, receives from stations, all over the United 

 States, information of coming storms, rains and winds, and 

 by long experience, is able to tell almost with absolute accu- 

 racy the beginning of a wet spell, for at least twenty-four 



