THE CULTIVATOR. 
Curing Hay. 
We find in the Middlebury Register of 12th inst,- 
a valuable article on this subject from S W. Jewett, 
Esq., from which we make the following extracts : 
In our opinion, there is a great mistake existing in 
this matter. It is an old adage, “ Make hay while the 
sun shines,” and many seem to think that the more 
sun they can get upon their hay the better. Here is 
the mistake to which we allude. 
By this process of over drying in the sun, a great 
many tons of hay are lost. The influence of the sun 
is partly that of disti lation, and has the power to ex¬ 
pel not only the watery elements contained in plants, 
but the real substance of the plant itself, which goes 
to form fat and muscular fibre of all ruminating ani¬ 
mals. It is asserted by distillers of plants, that to 
procure the most oil, they must not be dried in the sun, 
as it not only lessens the quantity of oil, but also di¬ 
minishes the flavor. Now, grass may be exposed to 
the influence of the sun’s rays, until there remains 
but the'woody fibre, until there is no more nourishment 
in it than there is in a pile of wood. 
Thus, fi;om one tenth to four fifths of the nutritive part 
of hay is lost by the maker in the process of drying, or 
what might be more properly called a process of dis¬ 
tillation. We have jeason to believe that in Vermont 
alone there is lost during one season, in this way, more 
than five hundred thousand dollars worth of nutriment 
in hay; which, if it had been wisely retained, might 
have nourished many hungry flocks and herds, as 
nature designed it—instead of being resolved again 
into its constituent elements, and wafted away by the 
winds. 
When the hay-maker is desirous of stacking or 
mowing his hay a little underdone, he may do so with 
impunity, by adding layers of dry straw or old hay, 
Occasionally, to absorb the gases which would pass off 
by over heating or in the field, under the influence of 
sun and air. Much value, in this way, may be saved, 
as stock will eat the straw and old hay with avidity, 
though it may have been second quality. 
Another good method of storing your hay, as green 
as possible, is by providing several places so that but one 
or two loads may be put together the same day. By 
this gradual process of storing the hay, it will be rich¬ 
er in quality, if not over ripe. 
When the hay is not made enough to save well by 
storing in large bodies,—-it may be cast on to an open 
scaffold or remain on the load, over night, to sweat. 
All hay, under done, should be pressed as lightly as 
possible in mow or stack, but when over cured or too 
ripe, the more solid it is pressed at unloading the bet¬ 
ter. 
To make a stack of hay properly, it should be seve¬ 
ral days in going up, that you may be able to retain 
its good virtues and give the stack time to settle by 
degrees. 
Grass should be wilted, then, without dew or wet, 
and put up into cocks, not by rolling, but. by placing 
one forkfull top of the other. When the grass gums 
the scythe in cutting, it requires little or no drying 
before it goes to the barn, if stored with proper .care. 
Hay may heat in the mow, to a certain extent, and not 
be rejected by stock, and is not apt to must or mold 
in small bodies, if the water is thoroughly dried off. 
When hay is liable to over heat, it should be turned 
up to air, or a square pit cut out of the centre to 
check it. 
A chimney is sometimes formed by setting bundles 
of straw on end one top of the other, commencing near 
the bottom of the stack, or mow ending near the top 
When over dried, as before stated, it never becomes 
solid in the mow. That fed from the solid mow, is of 
more value, and will go much further, pound for pound, 
than that fed out of the loose hay in bulk. 
Every stack or mow, divided by the hay knife, will 
keep more stock, fed in this fresh state, than from the 
larger surface, which is constantly exposed to the dis¬ 
tillation of the air. Eor the same reason, when moved 
in the winter, it does not spend as well. 
Protecting the Peach. 
The following communications, which appeared in a 
late number of the New England Farmer, confirm the 
opinion which we have repeatedly expressed, that in 
nearly every county in the Northern States, crops of 
peaches may be successfully raised, by selecting a pro¬ 
per site, and giving proper treatment. Shortening-in 
the trees, so as to keep the heads in a small, compact, 
but not crowded head, would greatly facilitate winter 
protection, besides improving the crop. We have al¬ 
ready mentioned the advantages of evergreen boughs, 
and these would doubtless prove very efficient, and 
would be easily applied in such districts as are largely 
supplied with pine, hemlock, or cedar forest trees. 
Messrs. Editors —In answer to an inquiry in your 
last week’s paper, whether trial bad been made by any 
one in protecting the peach, I am happy to say I have 
tried it with complete success. I have peach trees in 
their fafth year, which have never suffered in the least 
from the coldest weather. This place is situated one 
degree north of Portland in the White Mountain re¬ 
gion, about 700 feet above tide water. The prevalent 
idea that extreme cold alone will kill the peach, I be¬ 
lieve must be abandoned ; or rather, the idea that when 
the thermometer is 12° degrees below zero it is fatal; I 
have contended for several years, that it is not so much 
the extreme cold as the strong winds, pelting sleet and 
snow, and sudden changes of temperature that affect 
the peach. We had the thermometer once last winter 
at 34°, and at several times from 12° down to that ex¬ 
treme degree of cold, and yet our peach trees that 
were protected by matting or fir boughs were not in¬ 
jured at all. 
My practice is this. Late in the fall I draw the 
limbs of the tree together and put round some mat¬ 
ting, a single fold will answer, drive a •flake down by 
the side of the tree and fasten the tree to it. One man 
can protect from one to two hundred trees in a day; 
care should be taken not to unwrap too early in spring, 
so as to expose the fruit buds to tbe late frosts. 
I also protected a locust tree in the same way, sim¬ 
ply by lashing a.few fir boughs to the northwest side 
of the tree. It now looks as bright as though it were 
growing in the latitude of Philadelphia. 
I can see no reason why peaehes cannot be raised 
in any part of Maine simply by protecting them in 
this way. It may not be known to all of your readers 
that although we live so far to the North, the ground 
is rarely frozen to any extent, in winter. The early 
snows prevent this, so that it is only the tops of such 
trees that-need special protection. It is useless to at¬ 
tempt the cultivation of the peach in this State with¬ 
out some kind of protection; they may survive one, 
two, or even three winters should they be mild, but the 
fourth may kill them all down. 
I can see no reason why the tender varieties ’of 
dwarf pears and plums ihay not be protected in the 
same way, and thus largely increase our luxuries. A 
little pains must be taken even with the apple tree to 
make it flourish. I have known persons object to cul¬ 
tivate the Isabella grape, simply because they were 
told that the vine must be protected through the win¬ 
ter ; such a person ought not to possess many comforts. 
M. T. True. Bethel, Me., May 27, 1854 
To Black a Brick Hearth .—Mix some black lead 
with soft soap and a little water, and boil it—then lay 
it on with a brush. Or mix the lead with water only. 
