HINTS ON HAYMAKING. 113 



and in quality. The clearing of stones from the field is therefore 

 worth scrupulous attention, and it should be done before the 

 grass makes a start in early spring. The turf must also be well 

 bush-harrowed and firmly rolled down. 



The time for mowing varies in different locahties and in 

 different seasons. But there are sound reasons for urging the 

 importance of cutting the grass young, before even the earliest 

 varieties have formed seeds in their fiower-heads. In most 

 grasses, and in all clovers, the secretion of saccharine matter 

 occurs in their stems during the early stage of growth, and 

 the best hay is usually made from grass before the flowering 

 heads have begun to turn colour. Experiments made in the 

 chemical laboratory prove that, although there are exceptions, 

 the great majority of grasses contain nearly double the quantity 

 of nutritive matter before, than they do after, ripening seeds. 

 This applies with especial force to the clovers which form so large 

 a proportion of every good pasture. An objection to the early 

 cutting of grass deserves a passing remark. It is quite true that 

 young grass shrinks more than grass of older growth. In other 

 words a larger quantity of moisture is evaporated by the former, 

 but as the loss is pure water only it is of no importance what- 

 ever. The balance is in favour of early mowing, for the hay is 

 of higher quaUty and far more digestible, to say nothing of the 

 advantage of an increased aftermath and the benefit conferred 

 on the pasture by early cutting. 



Mowing machines have greatly altered the conditions of 

 haymaking, and the change is not always in favour of the hay. 

 The temptation is to cut more grass than can be dealt Avith, 

 and in wet seasons this may involve serious loss ; for in a scorch- 

 ing time grass becomes hay almost without any making, and it 

 may then be so burnt up before it can be ricked as to render 

 the fibres hard and woody. 



The stems of grass are protected by a covering of silica, 

 which has been termed ' Nature's waterproof mantle.' Tossing 

 the grass about breaks the stems. There is a rent in the mantle 



