i88i.j Weather- Wisdom and the Harvest. 571 
and a gentle wind blowing — the grass is speedily converted 
into hay, either by hand-labour, or, as is now often done on 
large farms, by dint of a hay-making machine. The third 
day, sometimes even the second, sees the grass thoroughly 
dried and ready for stacking. Under such favourable cir- 
cumstances no improvement is needful. But such model 
weather is the rare exception ; generally there are drawbacks. 
There may have been a downpour of rain before mowing, so 
that the grass and the ground are alike soaked ; or the sky 
may be overcast and the air saturated with moisture, the 
dew-point being nearly up to temperature. In such cases 
the grass dries slowly, even in the absence of rain. Day 
after day it has to be turned over and tossed about, so as to 
expose fresh surfaces to the air and allow its moisture to 
escape. But too often rain falls before all this work is at an 
end. The grass becomes wetted afresh, and the process of 
drying has to be recommenced almost from the beginning, 
sometimes twice or thrice. We must endeavour to realise 
what all this means to the farmer. For hay-making he has 
generally to hire a number of extra men. Every additional 
day which passes over before the hay can be safely stacked 
is of course a direct addition to his outlay. Further, the 
value of the hay, whether for sale or for home consumption, 
rapidly declines. Hay, like most vegetable products, con- 
tains much matter soluble in water, and on this matter its 
nutritive value greatly depends. Every drenching, as it lies 
cut in the fields, dissolves out a portion of its soluble consti- 
tuents. Decomposition sets in ; its natural fragrance is 
destroyed, and is succeeded by a musty smell unpalatable to 
cattle. The final result not unfrequently is that it is not 
worth getting in at all, or can be used merely for litter. We 
can thus understand the anxiety of the farmer when he finds 
that a crop which should have been worth £4 to £5 per load 
turns out utterly valueless after having cost him perhaps 
upwards of 20s. per acre in attempts to save it. We think 
he may be excused for that grumbling in which he is com- 
monly supposed to indulge more heartily than the rest of his 
countrymen. 
Bad weather in harvest-time does not, of course, require 
extra labour for tossing the corn about ; but the sheaves 
may have to stand for weeks in the fields, the in-gathering 
being delayed, and the quality and market-price of the grain 
being seriously affected. 
It will surely require no further demonstration that a con- 
trivance which reduces the saving of the hay and corn crops 
in all seasons to a dead certainty, without the usual 
2 p 2 
