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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
free from dirt in Louisiana. The seeds ripen 
in Eastern Virginia in September, but the 
grass does not grow high enough to admit of 
cutting it for seed,unless sown with oats, and 
then frost comes too soon for the seed to ma¬ 
ture. The season being longer in Louisiana, 
seeds mature easily there. They are sold at 
from $5 to 86 per bushel of 26 pounds. This 
so-called clover has not been tried here, and 
it is doubtful whether it would be of any par¬ 
ticular value even if it succeeded. It seems 
to be growing in favor in the Piedmont sec¬ 
tion of the State, where in some counties it is 
rapidly spreading. Mr. Rowe, of Fredericks¬ 
burg, speaks highly of it as a nutritious graz¬ 
ing plant, and says it is also valuable for hay 
on rich soils. 
Our great stand-by for pasture in this sec¬ 
tion is Wire or Flat-stalked Blue grass (Poa 
eon.pressa), which in general estimation has no 
equal for fattening cattle. Unlike Kentucky 
Blue, it is almost indifferent as to soil, grow¬ 
ing equally thrifty in sand, clay, or grave], 
on rich or poor land, while for the latter, the 
soil must be in good heart and composed of 
heavy clay or limestone. The Poa compressa 
is now offered for sale by seedsmen under the 
name of Canadian Blue grass; but it can be 
had, I believe, only in small quantities. It 
has never received that attention from the 
agricultural press to which its merits entitle 
it, thriving under neglect and mistreatment 
which would mean death to any other tame 
or cultivated grass. 
Pulaski County, Va. 
CURING CLOVER. 
T. B. TERRY. 
Fifteen or 20 years ago it cost me 
much more to cure clover hay nicely than it 
has of late years. I got a lot ot bay-caps, 
about six feet square, and wilted the clover a 
little, and then put it up in nice, high cocks 
and covered them. After standing three or 
four days, these were opened slightly, and the 
clover was aired; then it was put in the barn. 
This made the choicest of hay; but as we sel¬ 
dom get more than $10 a ton for it from feed¬ 
ing it out, the cost was too great. After 
much experimenting I have settled on about 
the following plan of curing: I watch the 
barometer (I have had 25 years’ experience at 
this) and the weather. When, after a storm, 
the weather seems to be clearing, and the 
prospect is good for some days to come, I go 
out about 2 p.m., with my Eureka mower, 
and cut one of my strips—about six acres (I 
say “strips ’ because that is what they are— 
the best possible shape for fast work). I get 
through easily by six o’clock. The weather 
is then so cool, or partly cloudy, that the 
clover cut after two o’clock will not cure 
enough to incur any injury in the dew that 
night. While I am mowing, my man will be 
at work on another “strip’' of potatoes. The 
six acres will usually make about 20 large 
loads of hay. This may seem a good deal for 
a small farmer to cut at once. It would be 
three or four days later, when there was dan¬ 
ger of another storm soon. The point is to 
cut a lot at just the right time. 
The next day, if my weather eye served me 
rightly, it will beclear and moderately warm. 
I do not touch the hay until nearly three 
o’clock; then I rake it as fast as possible in¬ 
to large windrows. By going the right way 
I can throw the buts of the clover up and 
leave few heads or leaves exposed. This after 
the Eureka mower. I take pains to rake a 
snug windrow. Notice no hand labor is put 
on the hay. My man still works in the pota¬ 
to field or among the berries. The next day 
should be bright and quite warm. As soon 
as the clover in the windrows Is dry ahd 
warm on top and part way down, we go 
through the field with forks and roll the wind¬ 
rows right over on to dry, warm ground. As 
soon as the other side (then the top side) of 
the clover is warm, thus being clear through, 
we begin to draw into the barn with all the 
spee 1 possible. I generally have extra help, 
so that we get in 12 or 15 loads that day. 
The rest lies over until next day; but we do 
not turn any more windrows than we thiuk 
we can get up. All the hand work, beyond 
pitching, you will notice, is the simple turn¬ 
ing over of the windrows with a fork, which 
is a short job. In this way it takes scarcely 
any more work to cure clover than Timothy. 
We aim always to have the hay hot when it 
is drawn in. We do not draw in later than 
six o’clock, and would prefer not to load any 
after five, as the hay usually begins to gather 
dampness by that time. Just the moment it 
begins to grow cooler, that moment the air 
begins to deposit the moisture that it cannot 
longer hold. As long as it is growing warmer 
the air is taking the moisture from the hay, 
or any thiug else it comes in contact with; 
but when it is becoming cooler your hay is 
taking the water back from the air. One 
cannot make good clover hay and ignore this 
fact, and still very many try to. The time to 
draw in is during the hottest part of the day. 
Now the above is my general plan. It 
makes choice hay at slight expense for hand 
labor. I should say that in the afternoon, 
when my men are getting in the hay, if the 
weather is still favorable, I mow some more; 
but not as much this time. If it is very hot 
and dry the next day, one can draw his hay 
in in the afternoon, usually. The Idea is that 
for several days after a storm the ground is 
drier and the air hotter, and hay will cure 
quicker. Now, if at any time during the 
above operations, the weather failed to fol¬ 
low the predictions of the barometer, and rain 
was likely to come, of course, the hay was 
cocked up, or secured in the best shape pos¬ 
sible under the circumstances. But I think I 
may safely say that, three years out of four, 
we are able to avoid almost all hand work. 
One point: We do not have more clover 
than we can take care ot in due time, in any 
or Unary season—not over about 40 leads at the 
first cutting. In the worst season I ever knew 
I had six acres in cock during two weeks of 
rainy weather. Every one said it would be 
ruined; but between showers we built the 
cocks over, thus airing them and bringing 
the green clover at the bottom on to the top. 
They were built about six feet high and nicely 
fixed on the top. I did not try to get this hay 
in between showers, as then it would have 
been ruined, as there was not time enough to 
get it entirely dry. When the weather fin¬ 
ally became settled and warm and dry, we 
aired the hay thoroughly, and it was good 
enough so that our work horses did well on it 
without any grain. 
Many of my neighbors, I notice, are now 
using a tedder to hasten the drying of their 
clover. This answers them well. With aside- 
cut machine and tedder they manage to cure 
their clover about as quickly as it will cure 
after my mower without any tedding. Secre¬ 
tary Bonham and other good farmers in 
Southern Ohio cut heavy clover in full bloom 
and put it in the barn the same day. In this 
latitude I cannot do this. In a very dry 
time, and with the clover a little past full 
bloom, or with a small crop, I have done it 
and came out all right. In Wisconsin they 
put up clover with less curing than will an¬ 
swer with me. Their climate is drier. 
My barn is tight and we shut all doors as 
soon as the hay is in, to keep out cool night 
air. In this way one can put in clover green 
and have it keep. In some years there is much 
more sap in the clover than in others. Take 
a few stalks and twist them very tightly. If 
no juice comes out,the clover will require less 
curing than when you can squeeze out drops 
of sap. It requires more experience and good 
judgment to cure clover cheaply and nicely 
than to cure Timothy; but it is better hay 
when you get it, for most purposes, and it 
leaves the land in far better condition for the 
following crops. 
Summit County, Ohio. 
HAY IN THE PIEDMONT BELT OF 
SOUTH CAROLINA; HAY GRASSES AND 
THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 
J. C. STRIBLING. 
once in piles or cocks, or cut with a table-rake 
reaper throwing as much as possible in a 
place, and never stir or move the hay until it 
is thoroughly cured; then load directly into 
wagons. Handling or raking pea-vine hay 
after it is partially cured, causes the leaves 
and small stems (the most valuable part) to 
fall off which accounts, no doubt, for the poor 
quality of this hay when made in the same 
way as grass hay. Pea-vines thus cocked up 
green will stand rain for several days and 
cure out green and fair hay that my stock 
actually prefer to Western hay, and I have 
sold fat cattle in March that had nothing to 
eat from the barn all winter except this hay, 
which may be classed as both grain and hay. 
Native grass hay is not a success in general, 
as this kind of grass does not grow tall enough 
to mow except in rainy seasons or favorable 
localities or in rich soil; but it makes finer 
hay when cut early, and as there is always 
abundant seed in the soil, it is cheaper than 
other hay by the cost of seeding. 
Bermuda hay is made like hay from other 
grasses, only I think it can be put up with less 
curing or risk of molding. One seeding or 
setting does for all time and to renew the 
growth one only has to plow and smooth off 
again. Unless the land is very smooth much 
of our Bermuda is too short to mow and a 
good stand of Bermuda averaging only 12 
inches tall will yield over one ton of hay per 
acre. I have, this spring, run a sharp-toothed 
angle steel-frame harrow over about ten acres 
of Bermuda meadow and look for good results 
from this cultivation which no other grass 
could stand, and I think that if I had sown 
about 200 pounds of ammoniated dissolved 
bone to the acre before harrowing, it would 
have paid. 
The latest thing in haying tools with me is 
a new steel wheel combination one or two- 
horse rake. My experience is that the wheels 
are the first part of the rake to give way, 
hence the advantage of steel wheels and when 
it comes to bunching hay, it is disagreeably 
hard work for both man and horse unless two 
horses—one on either side of windro«v—are 
used. One horse can be worked to this rake 
or with little trouble a change can be made 
to two horses. 
Anderson County, S. C. 
straw produced on his farm, and that the 
best use he can make of these is to convert 
them into butter, pork and mutton. 
Schuyler County, N. Y. 
CAN THE FARMER AFFORD 10 SELL 
HIS HAY AND STRAW. 
None of the tame or cultivated exotic 
grasses are sown here to any considerable ex¬ 
tent for hay except Bermuda. Our indigenous 
or native grasses, such as Crab grass, Cherokee 
and some other lowland grasses, make fine hay 
when cat early and propsrly cured, but when 
cut late they make inferior hay of no more 
value than good oat straw. Clover is sown to 
some extent as a kind of pet-patch for both 
hay and soiliug purposes, and I have seen 
some fine yields of the Mammoth Red variety 
—from two to nearly tour tons per acre and 
it has made three fair crops in one year. 
This was, of course, under favorable circum¬ 
stances. 
Of all the substitutes the cow-pea is most 
used and German millet and Hungarian grass 
next. The latter is a failure except on the 
richest land well prepared, while the cow-pea 
grows well on all kinds of land and with the 
rudest cultivation imaginable, and invariably 
improves the land, whether the crop is re¬ 
moved or not. Peas are drilled in or sown 
broad-cast after small grains have come off, 
in June. For drilling we mark off rows 30 
inches apart with a small plow; drop in the 
seeds and cover them with two more furrows, 
aud the after cultivation consists in plowing 
out between the .rows aud one plowing with 
the cultivator. 
For pea-vine hay sow two bushels of seed to 
the acre after small grain. Either plow in 
with a small turn plow or use a Cutaway or 
Disk harrow. When the earliest pea pods are 
nearly grown, cut with a mower and rake at 
ALSIKE CLOVER, AND HAY LOADERS 
PROFESSOR A. J. COOK. 
I have only two points to argue, both of 
which I believe worthy of attention by our 
farmers. 
First, I believe it pays well to mix Alsike 
clover with the Red in our spring seeding. 
The Alsike often catches when the Red does 
not. It is fertilized by the honey bees 
and so the first crop yields seed and re-seeds 
the ground; and so the Alsike becomes per¬ 
ennial, or at least continues longer than 
does the Red clover. I have practiced this 
somewhat, and shall do so more. The Alsike 
clover has the further advantage of being 
a valuable honey plant. 
The other point is of more importance. I 
refer to the hay-loader. I purchased the Key¬ 
stone two years ago, and I rank it with the 
mower. I would hardly know how to dis¬ 
pense with it. It is easily and quickly at¬ 
tached to the wagon as we enter the field, and 
last year we took all our hay without raking, 
just as it was left by the tedder. The loader 
not only took it clean, but carried it on to the 
load so rapidly that two men were required 
to keep it out of the way. Farmers have 
only to know the loader to appreciate it. 
Ingham County, Mich. 
GROWING MILLET. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
CHAS. CHAPMAN. 
Perhaps the best argument against the 
selling of hay and straw can be found by 
looking at the land of the man who practices 
this method of farming. This is a convinc¬ 
ing object lesson. I think all will admit that 
the selling of hay and straw without the re¬ 
turn of an equivalent must in time reduce the 
soil to barrenness, just the same as the mer¬ 
chant's stock of goods is exhausted by sell¬ 
ing all from the shelves and making no re¬ 
turn. Every one knows that what is taken 
from the soil by the plant must be plant food, 
although the s)il is not the only source of this 
article. Now this plant food has a market 
value and it is on this value the worth of the 
ingredients found in hay and straw depends. 
The manurial value of one ton of Timothy 
hay, based on the present price of the fertil¬ 
izing ingredients here, would be about $5; of a 
ton of clover-hay, nearly $7; of oat-straw 
about $3.70, and wheat-straw, $3.70. 
Now, the question is, can we ever put this 
amount of plant food back on the farm if it 
has ever been taken off? It is doubtful if 
most of us could afford to. It is much easier 
to keep a field productive as we go along than 
to bring it back to fertility after the soil has 
been exhausted. It has been well said that 
“a man’s farm is his bank.” In it be can 
make deposits subject to his draft for future 
crops. But if he overdraws his account he 
has to depend on the charity of his land and 
on Providence to give him paying returns. 
Accepting all this as true, what is the 
remedy? Nature’s way is to return to the 
soil as much as is taken therefrom. Is it im¬ 
possible for us to do the same? I think not. 
The breeding and feeding of animals pay to 
a greater or less extent, the returns varying 
with the knowledge and experience of the 
farmer. Dairying, sheep-breeding and hog 
raising all pay a living profit if conducted in 
a business-like manner. All the above men¬ 
tioned branches of farming consume the pro¬ 
ducts of the farm, and return to it nearly all 
the plant food. This gives an increase of in¬ 
come, because the productive powers of the 
farm increase from this method, thus making 
the keeping of more stock practicable. The 
increase of income is the source of wealth, 
other things being equal. Although the sell¬ 
ing of hay and straw may increase the in¬ 
come the first year, yet each succeeding year 
will show a decrease. Thus we can see that 
no farmer can afford to sell the hay and 
ONE]great advantage in growing millet is 
that it may be sown as late as the beginning 
of June in our Northern latitude, and be sure 
to mature before frost. This remark applies 
to the common millet. The coarse or broad¬ 
leaved millet, called German millet, requires 
from 10 days to two weeks longer to ripen. 
The common millet will ripen its seed within 
100 days after being sown. In 90 days, or 
perhaps less, it will be sufficiently matured to 
be cut for hay. The ground should be well 
harrowed and made fine so that the seeds will 
germinate well and not be destroyed if lying 
under clods and lumps of earth. It is an ex¬ 
cellent plan, if the land is not fine, to roll it 
before the seed is sown and then to cover it 
with a brush or light harrow, and roll it 
again. The seed should not be put in, in this 
way, if the ground is wet, and liable to pack 
or become crusted. The seed sends up a tiny 
shoot and it must not be obstructed in its 
growth, or the crop will be reduced. The 
seed will grow well if sown on top of the 
ground and left to be covered by a rain, and 
when a rain falls on it soon after it has been 
sown this is an excellent plan. If the seed is 
covered too deep there will be a great loss. 4 
very little manure will give the crop a fine 
start, if it is put upon the surface. For 
these reasons commercial manures can be used 
to advantage. I sow this form of fertilizer 
broadcast, mixed with land plaster—equal 
bulks—at the rate of 100 to 300 pounds per 
acre, according to the quality of the land. A 
peck of seed is ample for an acre, if the land 
is well prepared; if not, more seed must be 
used. I have always sown the seed broadcast. 
I have allowed the millet to ripen its seed 
and used it for chicken feed and ground it 
with oats for food for animals. The seed 
makes rich food; but it is unwise to grow mil¬ 
let in the way best adapted for this purpose 
as the torage will not then be nearly so valu¬ 
able. I am sure that when the seed is allowed 
to ripen, the amount of digestible nutriment 
in tne forage is reduced one-half. It makes 
very poor hay. When cut while the plant is 
coming into bloom, millet makes excellent 
bay which is good food for any kind of stock. 
Cows do well on it. It is nutritious and cattle 
are fond of it. Millet is a good crop for the 
silo. 
I have cut it the last of September and 
cured it for the mow. It should be put into 
the cock as soon as it Is dried a little, aud if 
the weather is threatening, it may be cocked 
as soon as cut. It is better to have it wilted 
if possible before cocking. It is possible to 
gather a crop of clover and then put in millet 
on the same land and have it mature suffi¬ 
ciently for hay. A profitable change can be 
made with a run-out meadow, or pasture, by 
turning it over the first of June, or even up 
to the middle of that month, and growing a 
crop of millet. Millet may very properly, 
like fiat turnips, be termed an appendix 
crop. 
Saratoga County, N. Y, 
