432 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 18 
are not in superior force, and there is where the trouble 
comes. Theoretically, we can work the corn until it 
is six inches or more in height, with the weeder alone, 
but practically we cannot on' account of the rains 
more or less hardening the ground, and rendering, 
to a degree, at least, useless the usefulness of the 
weeder. 
Short Journey with Weedkr. —To cultivate an 
acre of ground with a one-horse cultivator going on 
both sides of each row, one travels about 5% miles ; 
to cultivate the same acre with &, weeder, one travels 
about 1% mile; so it is readily seen that it is an essential 
point in the economy of weeding to use the weeder as 
much as possible. This is another reason why a field 
should be worked just previous to planting. The 
weeder does its best work on light ground, and ground 
that has lain several days with, possibly, a rain on it, 
is not in fit condition for a weeder. Then again, we 
can go over a field nearly four times with the weeder 
while going over it once with the cultivator, which 
fact we should generally bear in mind and go over the 
field twice with a weeder. It has been my experience 
that two workings with a weeder are far more than 
twice as efficacious as one. One working will leave 
some weeds, while two will generally make a thor¬ 
ough job. 
Narrow Cultivating. —Sometimes it happens, as is 
the case this year, that just after planting, there will 
be so much rain that, when the ground is dry enough 
to work, it is too hard for the weeder. In this case, 
we set the cultivator just wide enough so as not to 
throw soil on the small corn, and go only once in the 
row, following with the weeder. Then we cross the 
field with the tools arranged the same way, and a 
pretty clean field is the result. If we had followed 
the regular way of going up and down each row twice, 
we would have traveled just as far, and the spaces 
between the hills in the row would have had only the 
working of the weeder, which would have done but 
little good on account of the hardness of the ground ; 
but by going but once and crossing, we work nearly 
all the ground with the cultivator, and the weeder ha* 
a far better chance to work the ground that the culti¬ 
vator does not touch. p. h. crosby. 
MAKE HAY WHILE THE WIND BLOWS. 
TAKING THE MOISTURE FROM GRASS. 
How a Jersey man Makes Hay. 
My mower has been completely overhauled, every 
box tightened, the slack of the pitman taken up, 
guards ground, as well as the knives—a good job for 
the hired man on rainy days. If hay is to be made 
from clover alone, I begin as soon after full bloom as 
fair weather is promised. If the weather is “catching,” 
I always watch my chance and start my mower before 
the weather is fair, as I prefer a rain on hay just cut, 
to having it get half dry and then be soaked. It really 
hurts but very little to get hay wet that has not dried. 
Supposing the weather promises to be fair, and all in 
readiness, I start the mower after the clover has be¬ 
come dry, in the forenoon, if I am likely to be rushed ; 
if not, I do not start until afternoon, and cut until 
night. The next day, about 11 o’clock, I start the 
tedder, going over once before noon and again after 
1 o’clock, and follow the tedder with the rake, and 
cock up in not very large cocks ; I let these remain 
the next day, while I repeat the operation of prepar¬ 
ing more. The next day, I simply turn over the cocks 
so that the air may circulate and dry the bottom of 
the heap, and haul to the barn at once. 
Just here, many make a mistake. This hay I have 
so “ made,” does not seem dry, but sticky ; but never 
fear ; haul it into the mow, tramp solid, and it will 
come out ideal hay, not being discolored—purple blos¬ 
soms and green leaves, adhering to the stems. 
My choice of tools would be, for large haying, a six- 
foot-cut mower, a good tedder, and any good self-dump 
rake. For a haj' wagon, I prefer a rack that dishes 
considerably, and is pretty wide over the wheels, 
which should be wide-tired and low. On each end of 
the rack, is a ladder ; that on the rear end is provided 
with hooks on which to hang my slings, four of which 
will unload the heaviest load, and place it in the back 
of the mow, or the farthest end of the loft in the barn, 
in the quickest time and with the least exertion of 
man, of any device I know. They are equally good in 
stacking. I have stacked barley alone, with a 13- 
year-old assistant to drive the team on the slings, for 
two teams to draw, stacking in the field, and every 
one doing his utmost. My work was easy, and the 
apparatus works equally well in handling bundles of 
grain. 
If Timothy is mixed with the clover, or if the hay is 
clear Timothy, I let it mature to the point of the 
dropping of the bloom of the Timothy, regardless of 
the clover, and then proceed as with clover, except 
that I am a little longer after opening the cocks before 
hauling to the barn. 
This is how I do it, not how it might be done on a 
very large scale where the tedder follows the mower, 
after three hours, and the side-delivery rake follows 
the tedder, and the hay wagon with loader follows the 
rake, all in one day, the load being lifted bodily from 
the wagon and dumped into the barn. 
New Jersey. h. t. adams. 
A Vermont Farmer’s Methods. 
We cut about 125 acres each year. We follow 
the mowing machine with a tedder, if the grass is 
very stout or gets a bit of rain on it. We have come 
to the conclusion that a side-delivery rake is essential, 
and have bought one for use this season. As soon as 
the hay is right, we rake into windrows, and start the 
hay loader, attached to the hind end of the rack, which 
is fiat. In the bottom of each rack, we put a Louden 
hay sling, which trips in the center. It takes from 7 
to 12 minutes to load, one man driving and one load¬ 
ing. This loader requires a pretty good team to carry 
it along steadily and slowly. This team pulls the 
load from the windrow up into the road ; while this 
is being done, the light team backs an extra wagon up 
to the loader, unhooks and takes the load just left by 
the heavy team in the road, to the barn, when it is 
unloaded with a double harpoon fork which runs on a 
carrier. We run up from four to five forkfuls, and 
then hook to the sling, which cleans up the rack, 
when the team starts for the field and the operation 
is repeated. 
We do not like to leave much hay out over night, 
except what we cut about night. The time to cure 
cannot be definitely stated ; it is entirely a matter of 
judgment, and sun, wind, and conditions of grass, 
moisture in the ground, etc., all govern, so that no 
rule can be laid down that will cover all conditions. 
I have had grass ready for the barn in two hours or 
less after cutting. We do not cure as much as 
many of our neighbors, and men who work for us 
for the first season are nearly always sure that our 
hay will spoil, but we have never had any trouble, 
and I am confident that we are still drying it too 
much. 
We use a Buckeye mower with seven-foot cut. 1 
have bought a Keystone side-delivery rake. I have 
used a Thomas tedder and Keystone loader for years, 
feel satisfied with our tools, and do not see how we 
could dispense with any one of them. Our men do not 
get tired through haying as those who handle the hay 
by hand, and we do not tumble any hay, but take it 
from the windrow, and save a lot of time and help. 
Some of our neighbors use sweeps, and like them very 
much. I have never used them, being satisfied that 
we are handling our hay as simply and cheaply as pos¬ 
sible as we are situated. The above refers to mixed 
hay and Timothy. We like to cock up heavy clover, 
and let it cure in the cock. c. A. chapman. 
Vermont. 
No Ironclad Rules in Ohio. 
I have no ironclad rules for haying. I have a well- 
tried general system, but it must necessarily be a flex¬ 
ible one, so as to conform to the controlling factor— 
weather. If we could only control the weather at 
that critical time, haying would be a simple problem. 
When I contrast haying here with haying in Cali¬ 
fornia, it does not seem like the same business. There 
it never rains in harvest, and here, I sometimes think 
it always rains. When I see specific directions, such 
as I often see, but not in The R. N.-Y., to start the 
mower at 6:15, mow until 11:20 A. m., then run the 
tedder from 1:16 to 3:05 p. m., etc., I have to wink the 
other eye. 
I handle about 60 acres of hay yearly. My general 
plan, when the weather looks fair, is to do my mow¬ 
ing in the evenings or the forenoons. If clover, I wait 
until the dew is off, as it will dry quicker standing 
than cut down. If the weather is favorable, clean 
Timothy, when not very heavy, may be put in the 
barn the same day ; but if it is heavy and green, or 
the weather is not the best, it cannot be handled so 
fast; then I cock it in the afternoon and generally get 
it in the next day. As I have not barn room for all 
my hay, I have to stack a part of it. This I generally 
put in cock if I am going to stack in that field, be¬ 
cause hay stacks better after standing in the cock, and 
I find that is the quickest and easiest way to handle 
it. I draw the cocks to the stack with horse and rope. 
The main thing in securing good hay is to handle it 
fast, and that requires a tedder ; while I prefer to 
have bright, green hay, I would rather have it bleached 
than moldy, for it then is unfit for anything, even for 
bedding. I find it better to rake into small windrows, 
or put into small cocks to finish curing, rather than 
let it lie in the swath; but with a tedder, this can 
often be avoided. I use a six-foot-cut mower, because 
it saves valuable time, and does not run hard on the 
team, if it is properly kept up. At the present price 
ot mowers, it does not pay any one who has much 
mowing to do to waste time and team on an old worn- 
out machine. 
I like the principle of the side-delivery rake, if it 
could be used for bunching, but have not had an op¬ 
portunity to try one yet. In a rake, as in a mower, 
every foot in width is hurrying the haying and saving 
time ; but in practice, one must sometimes fit his tools 
to his team. The loader is not used much in this 
vicinity, as the ground is rough near the Ohio River. 
Any low-down wagon is suitable for hauling on. These 
new broad-tired, low-down wagons would be just the 
thing. There are many different styles of racks used 
here, and I can see no special advantage in one over 
another except in weight. I would use the best clear 
white pine, and make it as light as possible. There 
are more backs broken with heavy racks, than there 
are racks broken with heavy loads. Use a bolster 
the usual length, but set the bed-pieces in well towards 
the center ; this allows one to turn short, and lessens 
the strain on the bolster. Nearly all the barns where 
much hay is stored in this vicinity have hay forks or 
slings. J. H. H. 
Steubenville, O. 
How They Do It in Nebraska. 
The grass is cut with a mower, and left in the 
swaths until dry enough to stack, which takes about 
four hours for light, upland hay, to two or three days 
for the low bottom lands. It is then raked with a two- 
horse sulky rake, into windrows. One horse is then 
hitched to each end of the hay sweep, with a small 
boy on the back of each horse to guide him. After 
deciding where to build the stack, the horses are 
driven out from eight to ten rods, are turned around 
and driven one on each side of the windrow, until the 
sweep is loaded, which would be from 500 to 800 
pounds. It is then hauled to the stack, the horses are 
turned around, and pull the sweep back, leaving the 
hay where it is wanted. This is the way hay is put 
up by those making a business of it. The farmers put 
it up the same, only they do not use the sweep, but 
load it on wagons, and haul to the barns. 
Nebraska. t* w. fountain. 
CULTIVATING POTATOES BEFORE PLANTS 
ARE UP. 
On Saturday, May 28, the ridges were leveled in 
Brof. Roberts’s tillage experiments with potatoes, 
which have awakened such general attention. This 
is an interesting operation, but difficult to describe. 
An ordinary spike-toothed harrow is used, with a 2 x 4 
scantling set between the teeth in an angling fashion, 
and secured by a wire or two. An angle is desirable, 
but a very acute one makes the leveler too difficult to 
manage. The driver stands on this plain, homemade 
contrivance, and proceeds with the rows, sweeping 
three or four at once. Sometimes one row will be 
gouged too much, and the driver then quickly shifts 
his position or brings his horses around so that they 
tread on the tops or sides of the ridges, which does no 
harm. After the whole patch is gone over once, the 
leveler is driven ac ross at right angles to the former 
rows. This time the man does not stand on the leveler, 
and the whole area is beautifully smoothed. From 
this time on, it is all level tillage with no hoeing. I 
could see little damage. I doubt whether more than 
one or two per cent of the young potato sprouts were 
cut off by the leveler. A few days later, the leveler 
would have made great havoc. It is an operation that 
must be done at the right time or not at all. One must 
dig into a ridge or two every day, and keep a close 
watch. As soon as the sprouts have grown half an 
inch above the seed potato, the time has come. 
The cultivation of potato land before the plants are 
up is a capital idea for the practical, progressive 
farmer. After a shower, the tops and sides of the 
ridges soon become dry on the surface, while the hol¬ 
lows remain wet throughout such an abnormal Spring 
as the present one. In the early Spring, the rains are 
usually excessive, and the idea is to get rid of the sur¬ 
plus water rather than to save all the moisture pos¬ 
sible, which is the object later in the season. In early 
Spring, therefore, ridges make the soil warm and com¬ 
fortable for the sprouting potatoes, and the excess of 
moisture is carried off along the hollows. The ridging 
and leveling are thought to be equal to two plowings 
and half-a-dozen light cultivations. 
Any one who is used to cultivating potatoes when 
the weeds are ankle-high, might smile the smile of 
unbelief when told that this method is the best kind 
of a weed-killer. “Where are your weeds?” he 
would ask. They are very small, to be sure, but there 
are millions of them. This year, when the leveling 
was to be done, they were one-half inch high, or less. 
Usually, they are a little more developed, as the early 
ridging furnishes the very conditions that are best 
for the germination of weed seeds. Most of these 
little seedlings were so small that they showed only 
their cotyledons, or seed leaves, and few of the true 
leaves were developed when the fatal day arrived. 
When weeds are so tiny as this, the wholesale process 
of burying them alive is just as effective as pulling up 
each one by the roots. Under they go, and they 
