139 
Farming  of  Gloucestershire. 
usual  to  spread  soed  hay  or  sainfoin  about  like  the  meadow  grass. 
It  is  turned  once  a day  in  swath  for  a few  days,  and  then  put  up 
in  small  wads,  doubling  them  in  size  as  it  approaches  hay. 
When  sufficiently  made  or  won  it  is  stacked  at  once  in  the  rick, 
some  of  it  very  often  in  the  middle  of  the  turnip-field.  When 
seeds  are  a tolerably  heavy  crop,  some  farmers  are  so  particular 
as  not  to  turn  the  swath  with  rakes,  but  with  forks  only,  which 
keeps  it  more  open  and  hollow  (the  rakes,  getting  it  too  much 
like  a rope,  prevent  its  making  so  fast).  The  English  or  meadow 
grass  is  tedded  or  spread  immediately  after  the  mowers,  and  at 
night  put  up  in  a small  foot-cock.  It  is  afterwards  spread  about 
every  fine  day  and  taken  up  every  evening  until  made  into  hay, 
when  it  is  carried  to  the  stack-yard  and  ricked.  Hay  never  cuts 
out  so  well  as  when  it  has  been  stacked  from  the  field  as  fast  as 
made.  We  do  not  much  practise  putting  it  in  small  ricks  or 
large  cocks  in  the  field  for  a time  previously  to  being  made  into 
permanent  ricks. 
Whatever  branches  of  farming  Gloucestershire  may  be  con- 
sidered behind  in,  there  is  no  doubt  it  is  ahead  of  most 
counties  in  the  art  of  haymaking.  Certainly  the  farmers  beat 
their  northern  brethren.  Our  northern  friends  come  into  the 
south  and  condemn  our  efforts  at  growing  turnips  ; we  plead 
peculiarity  of  climate  and  soil.  We  occasionally  stray  into  the 
north,  and  instead  of  finding  hayricks  we  thrust  our  hands  into 
ricks  of  seed.  The  Gloucestershire  farmer  would  thrash  such 
hay  as  I have  seen  in  Northumberland  and  elsewhere.  I am 
puzzled  to  find  an  excuse  for  them,  unless  it  is  forgetfulness. 
Their  minds  must  be  so  intensely  absorbed  in  the  study  of  the 
means  of  producing  large  crops  of  roots,  as  to  forget  that  they 
have  any  grass  growing.  This  may,  in  some  measure,  explain  the 
outcry  raised  against  the  use  of  hay  that  has  lately  become  so 
fashionable.  Much  of  the  hay  they  make  is  little  letter  than 
strata.  Our  average  crop  of  seed  and  clover  hay  probably  does 
not  exceed  1 ton  per  acre.  The  quantity  varies  from  12  cwt.  to 
2 tons.  The  aftermath  is  fed  with  sheep  and  young  cattle 
together,  and  if  not  broken  up  for  wheat  at  one  year,  the  land  is 
stocked  as  before,  and  fed  the  next  year  until  July  or  August, 
which  is  the  usual  time  to  begin  ploughing  for  wheat. 
Sainfoin. — Sainfoin  is  grown  by  most  farmers  on  the  Cotswolds, 
and  on  the  elevated  calcareous  soils  is  a very  useful  plant.  It 
should  be  sown  early  in  the  spring,  after  turnips  when  the  land 
is  in  good  order,  amongst  barley  or  oats,  or  wheat  when  the  land 
is  in  good  heart.  The  usual  quantity  of  seed  sown  is  4 bushels, 
and  often  in  addition  about  4 lbs.  of  milled  hop  or  cow-grass,  or 
a mixture  of  both.  The  price  of  sainfoin  seed  is  generally  from 
4s.  to  6s.  per  bushel. 
