24 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



method which we have found to succeed 

 in preserving grass perfectly entire is by 

 drying it by means of artificial heat. Rye 

 grass contains, at an early period of its 

 growth, as much as eighty-one per cent, 

 of water, the whole of which may be re- 

 moved by subjecting the grass to a tem- 

 perature considerably under that of boiling 

 water; but, even with a heat of 120, 

 the greater portion of the water is re- 

 moved, and the grass still retains its green 

 color, a character which appears to add 

 greatly to the relish with which cattle 

 consume this kind of provender. When 

 this dried grass (as it may be truly termed 

 by way of distinction from hay) is ex- 

 amined, it will be found to consist of a 

 series of tubes, which, if placed in water, 

 will be filled with the fluid, and assume, 

 in some measure, the aspect of its original 

 condition. In this form cattle will eat it 

 with relish, and prefer it to hay, which, 

 in comparison, is blanched, dry and sap- 

 less. The advantages obtained by this 

 method of making hay, or rather of pre- 

 serving grass in a dry state, are sufficiently 

 obvious. By this means all the consti- 

 tuents of the grass are retained in a state 

 of integrity ; the sugar, by the absence 

 of water, is protected from undergoing 

 decomposition, the coloring matter of the 

 grass is comparatively little affected, while 

 the soluble salts are not exposed to the 

 risk of being washed out by the rains, as 

 in the common process of haymaking. — 

 The amount of soluble matter capable of 

 being taken up by cold water is, according 

 to the preceding trials, as much as five 

 per cent., or a third of the whole soluble 

 matter in hay. We may, therefore, form 

 some notion of the injury liable to be pro- 

 duced by every shower of rain which 

 drenches the fields during hay harvest. — 

 It is not only, however, the loss which it 

 sustains, in regard to the sugar and solu- 

 ble salts, that renders hay so much less 

 acceptable than grass to the appetite of 

 cattle. The bleaching which it undergoes 

 in the sun deprives it of the only pecu- 

 liarity which distinguishes the one form 

 of fodder from the other ; grass deprived 

 of its green coloring matter presents ex- 



actly the appearance of straw, so that 

 hay ought to be termed grass straw. 



" Frequently the quantity of rain which 

 falls in May and June, the haymaking 

 season, is greater than in April and July. 

 In those localities where the fall of rain 

 is so considerable, the preparation of good 

 sound hay by the usual process will be 

 almost impracticable, and in such places 

 too frequently hay in a state of decompo- 

 sition is given to animals, at the risk of 

 their being seriously injured, since all food 

 whose particles are in a state of fermen- 

 tation or putrefaction, which are analogous 

 actions, must have a tendency to produce 

 similar decompositions in the fluids of the 

 animal system. In the neighborhood of 

 manufacturing towns there could be no 

 difficulty in preparing abundance of hay 

 by the process now recommended. The 

 waste heat of the chimneys might be sent 

 through apartments or sheds of almost 

 temporary construction, guided by a pro- 

 per draught, so as to carry off the vapor 

 as soon as it is volatilized ; and the same 

 arrangements might, with economy, be 

 adopted in conjunction with brick and tile 

 works. Haymaking would thus com- 

 mence at a much earlier period of the 

 season, the grass would be cut, carted to 

 the drying-room, and in the course of a 

 few hours be ready for stacking. When 

 hay prepared in this manner is to be given 

 to cattle and horses it may be steeped in 

 a tank for twenty-four hours, or any ade- 

 quate period, before being placed in the 

 racks and boxes ; and the steep water, 

 which will contain sugar and soluble salts, 

 should be given them to drink. 



" By this system of preserving grass 

 we should be continuing to our cattle in 

 winter our summer food, which all admit 

 to be superior to every other substitute ; 

 and while the animals themselves would 

 be benefited, much uneasiness and trouble 

 in winter would be saved to the farmer. 

 In a moist climate, especially like that 

 exhibited in Scotland during the last year, 

 it appears highly desirable that farmers 

 should possess on their premises a drying- 

 room, where hay, potatoes, and even corn, 

 might be dried. Had such a convenience 

 been attached to many of our farmers' 



