172 
HAY MAKING.-SALINE SOLUTION.-DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS. 
well mixed. Stir the compound once at least every 
day until it becomes foetid in the highest degree; 
for experience lias shown, that the older and more 
offensive the liquid, the more quick is its action. 
The barrel should be closely covered at all times, 
except when stirring the liquid or applying it to the 
trees. When it is required to use the mixture, it 
is only necessary to sprinkle it oyer the plants or 
trees, which may be done very effectually *by agar- 
den engine or syringe. 
HAY-MAKING. 
In the making or curing of hay, the first things 
to be considered are the proper periods for cutting 
the grass, and the length of time and modes adopt¬ 
ed to cause it to dry. On these points, practical 
men do not all agree; some preferring to cut when 
in full flower, by means of which, they say, they 
obtain more and better hay, and the crop is less ex¬ 
hausting to the land; while others consider it best 
to permit.the grass to stand until the seed has just 
ripened sufficiently to vegetate, which will be more 
or less scattered for the benefit of the succeeding 
crop, and the hay, it is thought, is more nutritious, 
and consequently will afford more flesh and strength. 
Lucerne and clover, undoubtedly, afford better 
and more hay when cut in the flower, and is better 
adapted for dairy stock than when cut late; but to 
avoid loss in weight and quality, by heat or fer¬ 
mentation, it is better to salt them down in the mow 
or stack the same day they are cut, after being ex¬ 
posed a few hours to a hot sun. Two bushels 
of salt, if uniformly scattered among the hay, are 
sufficient to cure three tons. 
Red-top, Timothy, and the more substantial grass¬ 
es, generally are not cut before they have arrived at 
their full growth, at about the time they begin to 
ripen their seeds If cut.when in a growing; state, 
the unripe juices of the plant are apt to bring on 
violent heat and fermentation ; and thus deprive the 
crop of much of its substance and nourishment. 
The truth of this has been confirmed by the observa¬ 
tion of Mr. Isaac Reeves, of Delaware, who is of 
opinion that, by mowing these grasses before they 
are ripe, the roots bleed and die out, and that this is 
the reason why a second crop does not spring up 
for a long time after. “ I once,” said he, “ pur¬ 
chased the fifth part of a crop of Timothy on one 
of the Islands in the Delaware, with the intention 
of cutting my lot at the time the other four pur¬ 
chasers did theirs, but I was called from home, and 
it was not done until the seeds would vegetate. I 
thought my hay was spoiled; but it was preferred 
to that of all others for horse-feed ; and behold, the 
next year, my lot of land yielded double the crop of 
the others, and at the end of three years, it had 
increased to two and a half tons to the acre, 
overgrowing all the other grasses, having a uni¬ 
form crop five feet in height, and preferred before 
all others at the market. Since that, I have never 
cut Timothy before the seeds will just vegetate; 
and I would take a poor field, that shows only a few 
spires of Timothy growing in it, and by these sim¬ 
ple means, engage, in five years, to cut two and a 
half tons per acre, of superior hay, provided the 
land be suitable to the growth of the crop.” 
With regard to the best mode of making hay, 
there also prevail various opinions. One class of 
farmers never move their hay out of the swath 
on the day it is cut, but on the second day, shake 
all that was cut on the day previous, by giving it 
two turnings. If shaken the day it is cut, they say 
the hay is reduced by the heat of the sun ; but by 
i leaving it in the swath, it “soaks its own sap,” 
' and will be reduced very little afterwards. The 
more of the natural juice or moisture that can safe¬ 
ly be left in the hay, the less, they say, will it suf¬ 
fer from that portion of the loss which arises fre.m 
the drying. Another class contend that the more 
quickly the drying is effected, the less extensive will be 
the change in the starch of the plants ; and conse¬ 
quently the hay will retain more of its substance 
in a soluble or digestible state. The last assertion 
would seem to be correct, from observations made 
in England some time since on the two modes of 
drying hay. In the dales of Yorkshire, where 
great attention is given to the frequent turning of 
the hay, and the consequent increased rapidity of 
drying it, the cattle can be fattened upon hay alone, 
which is said to be rarely the case in Scotland, on 
the Tweed, where the process is more slow, occu¬ 
pying three or four days. 
The plan generally adopted in the United States, 
and the one which long experience seems to jus¬ 
tify, is to mow during the early part of a fair day, 
while the dew is on the grass, say until nine, ten, 
or eleven o’clock; then spread and turn the hay; 
towards evening rake it up into cocks of about 100 
pounds each; and if the weather be very tuy and 
hot, draw it to the barn or stack the same day. But 
if the crop is very heavy and green, it is suffered to 
remain in the cock over night, and about eleven 
o’clock the next forenoon, it is opened or spread, 
and four or five hours after is conveyed to the 
stacks. 
Saline Solution—in which to preserve Spe¬ 
cimens in Natural History. —From Hooker’s 
Journal of Natural History. 
Common salt - one part. 
Alum - - - two parts. 
Boiling water - ten parts—filter when cold. 
This answers for some subjects better than spi¬ 
rit of wine (alcohol), and there are few situations 
where it cannot readily be procured in time to pre¬ 
serve a valuable specimen, which would otherwise 
be lost. 
DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS. 
All rank weeds or coarse vegetables that grow 
spontaneously to the detriment of other plants,, 
should be timely destroyed before they mature their 
seeds. Perennials, such as docks, thistles, dande¬ 
lion, &c., are the most difficult to exterminate, as 
they generally strike very deep root. The best and 
surest method of destroying these, is, to bring them 
to the surface with the plow or spade, or to pluck 
them out, root and branch, by hand, and burn, or 
give them to swine. Fields, or gardens, that are 
much overrun with perennial weeds may be ren¬ 
dered clean in a few years, by thickly cultivating 
them with horse-radish, lucerne, or other tap-root¬ 
ed plants, which will retard their growth, and 
finally root them out. 
Annual weeds, which can only be propagated by 
seeds, such as spurry, chickweed, charlock, stra- 
