-332 
HUSBANDRY. 
under other circumftances, as in this way the danger of gain in the top. The'crops ufu'ally attain this ftate fome 
its lodging and'injuring the clover-plant may be,avoided, time about the middle of June, according to the nature 
In putting clover,in with' gram-'crops, the moft common 
practice is to perform the bufinefs either immediately, or 
as.foon as poffible, after the grain has been covered in, as 
all final! feeds vegetate in much the moft perfect manner 
■when put in foon after the foil has been moved. 
With whatever fort of drop’the clover-feed is fovvn, it 
fhouid be dil’perfed in as regular and even a manner as 
poffible over the furface of the ground, after it has been 
rendered perfectly fine by the harrowing in of the grain- 
crops. And in order that this ma)' be effected in the 
moft complete manner, it ffiould be performed, if poffible, 
when the mould is in fucli a ftate of drynefs as to work 
well under the harrow. But it ffiould on no account be 
executed when the foil is in fuch a ftate of moifture as to 
ftick much together, becaufe under fuch circumftances 
the feed will neither vegetate well, nor be covered in in a 
regular manner, being liable to be drawn into heaps by 
harrowing. In covering it in, a light Ihort-tined harrow 
is the belt adapted-to rise purpofe, which in the freer and 
more mellow forts of land ihould only be palled over 
once in a place, but in thofeof the ftiffer and more heavy 
kinds twice may be neceffary. The feed Ihould never be 
buried to much depth, as its vegetation would by that 
means be greatly retarded. The ufe of the tined harrow 
is much preferable for this purpofe to that of the bulh 
kind, as by the latter, the feed is not only lefs perfectly 
covered in, but liable to be drawn fo together as to rile 
in tufts. The merely rolling over the land, though fome- 
tim.es employed, is a praftice never to be depended upon. 
Where the clover is fown among the green-wheat, har¬ 
rowing it in with fuch light harrows once in a place is 
the bcft practice in all cafes, except where the wheat is 
very thin, and the foil too loofe about its ro.ots to permit 
it with fafety. In all the more light defcriptions of land, 
the ufe of the roller after the feed has been covered by 
the harrow mull be of great utility, as well in clofing the 
particles of the foil round the feeds as in leveling the 
furface, and rendering it lefs penetrable by drought. 
. With fome it is a praflice, when the land is intended 
for the purpofe of early pallurage, and in fotne cafes 
where the object is hay, to low rye, rib, and other limilar 
gralfes, with the clover. In the firft intention the prac¬ 
tice may be beneficial, as the rye-grafs rifes early, and 
piay. contribute to afford' a more full and better herbage 
for the ltock at fuch periods, efpecially on the later forts 
of foil; .but with the latter view it ffiould perhaps feldom 
be made ufe of, as the clover will in general produce a 
fufficiently abundant crop of itfelf; and from other forts 
of plants being mixed with it, on account of their dry¬ 
ing in an unequal manner, it may fuftain injury as hay. 
It is probably for fome reafon of this fort that luch clo¬ 
ver-hay as is mixed with other grades is lefs faleable, and 
of cor.fiderably Ids value in the London markets, than 
that which confifts folely of clover. Some cultivators, 
however, fuppofe, that by blending rye-grafs with clover, 
in a final 1 proportion, a ftrength and body is given to the 
crop. .. It has been fuggefted as an improvement where 
rye-grafs- is mixed with clover, to fow the latter a week 
or two before the other, as, from the clover-plants having 
a tender weak fern in their early growth, they may in 
that way be prevented from being injured by thole of the 
rye-grafs clalping round and ffiading them. 
' From red .clover* a large quantity of hay for the pur¬ 
pofe of feeding working-horfes may be procured with 
but little expence or trouble. In thefe cafes the crops 
ffiould be’mown as foon as moft of the heads are in full 
blow, before they begin to turn of a brown colour and 
die away. The moft proper time may be known by at¬ 
tending to the foliage on the. bottom parts of the plants, 
as, when the leaves on thefe begin to drop off and decay, 
the crop ffiould be cut as foon as poffible, as by Handing 
afterwards it will lofe more in the bottom than it can 
of the foil. Though it is fuppofed by fome ’that clover 
takes Jefs harm by Handing, after it is in a condition, for 
being mown, than many other forts of graft, it is always, 
the bell practice to cut it rather early, as by remainino¬ 
on the ground it not only lofes its heads and lower leaves, 
and becomes reduced in quantity, but the plants are ren¬ 
dered hard and fticky, and fo exhaufted as to remain a 
great length of time after mowing before they fend up 
new Ihoots and afford good herbage. After it has been 
cut, the fwaths Ihould not be thrown out, as is the com¬ 
mon practice with meadow-grafs, but fuffered to lie in 
the ftate the feythe leaves them, until they are dried 
about two-thirds through, which, if the feafon proves fa¬ 
vourable, will be in about three days ; and, if the weather 
ffiould then appear promifing, they may be, turned-with 
rakes immediately after the dew is off. If there be no 
rain, the clover thus fpread out will be ready to cock up 
the next morning, or on the fourth day, as . foon as the 
dew is fully gone, and may be carried in as foon after¬ 
wards as is convenient. And, if this be done as foon as 
the dew is well off, the leaves will be juft fufficiently 
tough to preferve them, whereas when this operation is 
omitted in the morning, and performed in the heat of the 
day, they will be too dry, being reduced to powder, and 
loft in heaping and loading. When, however, it is heap¬ 
ed fufficiently early in the morning, the loading and Hack¬ 
ing may continue through the day. Where a part of the 
produce is become rather over-dry, there is a method 
adopted by expert haymakers of putting the rows into 
heaps wdthout rubbing the leaves off. It is performed by 
rolling the fwaths over with rather larger forks than ufual 
in a very gentle manner, keeping them from being fepa- 
rated or broken, and then laying them lightly into the 
cock, being careful to avoid breaking'and tolling the hay 
about, putting it along the ground,'or beating it down 
flat. In this mode of coverting clover into hay, there 
will not only be much lefs lofs, but the hay be of a miic'h 
better colour and finer flavour; which are circumftances 
of great importance both in its dale and ufe as fodder. 
Where a fecond crop is to be taken for the fame pur¬ 
pofe, all cattle ffiould be kept out of the field,- in order 
that it may be in full bloffom and ready for the fpytlie 
about the laft week in Augufl. It mull be made into 
hay in the fame manner as- the firft, and Ihould not be 
delayed later, on account of its lofing in weight, and' the 
danger of not getting it into the Hack before the heavy 
dews and rains let in. Befides, by getting the; hay off as 
early as poffible, there will be more llieep-feed previous 
to ploughing the land up in the autumn for wheat. The 
quantity of produce in the fecond crop is in general con- 
fiderably lefs than in the firft, and not by any means fo 
good in quality; confequently, if hay be not; much 
wanted, it is a better practice to feed it, efpecially where 
the foil is fufficiently dry, than make it into hay. 
It is lbmetimes a profitable practice to -let the- crop 
ftand for feed. In this cafe, the method is either.to eat 
it well down in the early part of the fpring, till about 
the latter end of May, by ewes and lamb's, or other forts 
of ltock, or to let it Hand for a firft crop of hay, and de¬ 
pend upon the fecond crop for feed. The firft appears, 
however, by much the belt practice, as the land is lefs 
exhaufted, confequently in a better ftate for the fucceed- 
ing crop; and, at the fame time, the farmer has the great 
advantage of an early green-feed for his ltock in the 
fpring-months. And it feems not improbable but that 
feed of a better quality may thus be obtained in a greater 
abundance, as the plants by being mown mull be render¬ 
ed more weak and lefs proper for affording good' feed ; 
while, by feeding down, they will not only luffer lefs in 
this relpeft, but throw out more flowering-items, and, of 
courfe, afford a larger proportion of feed. Where the 
latter method is followed, the firft cut flaould be made as 
early 
