June 23. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
225 
end; in, therefore, preparing a bed for the Melon, it 
ought to be in reality “ a hotbed,” or, at least, “ a warm 
one,” for the roots ought to have the benefit of suffi¬ 
cient scope amongst earth warmed to the degree men¬ 
tioned, and not simply for the plant to be treated to 
that amount of atmospheric air floating over a compost 
considerably under the temperate point. We must 
return to this subject. W. Robson. 
HAY-MAKING. 
The converting of grass into hay has always been 
attended with great risks, and considerable expense, in 
the climate of England (particularly that of the northern 
and western counties); it is, therefore, a matter of great 
consequence, in agricultural management, to consider 
how far the risk may be avoided and the expense di¬ 
minished. I propose to confine my observations, upon 
the present occasion, to the making of hay from grass 
the produce of arable land, as I intend, at a future time> 
to make the management of pasture and meadow hay 
the subject for a separate paper. 
The mowing of field-grass for hay should be regu¬ 
lated by the season and the sorts of grass or clover 
which are intended to be cut for hay. No particular 
time can be named, because, in some seasons, the grass 
will be a week or ten days earlier than in others. 
The best stage of growth to commence cutting is 
when the grasses are in full bloom, or flower, as, at 
that period, there is the greatest deposit of saccharine 
and nutritious matters in the stem ; it is, therefore, 
desirable that those sorts of grass and clover only should 
be grown together which will bloom and flower at the 
same time. For this reason, the Italian rye grass does 
well to grow.with Red Clover, for, although it is earlier 
to blade than the ordinary sorts of rye grass, such 
as the Devon Bents, yet it is, at least, ten days later 
in blooming, which, in general, happens about the 
period the Red Clover comes into flower. From the 
same cause, the early sorts of rye grass do best mixed 
with Trefoil or Hop Clover, which is the earliest kind 
of clover usually grown for making into hay. I do 
! not propose to enlarge upon this point, as I have com¬ 
mented upon it in a former article, under the head of 
sowing of Grass Seeds. 
The usual method of making field hay, and one 
which has been in use for a great number of years, is 
to cut the grass, and let it remain in swartli until the 
top portion is well dried by the sun and wind, then 
to turn it over, and allow it to remain until sufficiently 
made, and dry to be forked, and put into heap, or pook, 
as it is commonly termed, in readiness for carting to 
the stack. This plan answers very well when the clovers 
are mixed with rye grass, where the crop is not very 
abundant, and in fine seasons, when a succession of 
dry weather occurs, and it entails but little expense ; 
but, in ordinary seasons, it is so long before the hay is 
in order to put into stack, that it is always attended 
with great risk. 
When hay is intended for the use of sheep stock, 
more particularly for early lambs and ewes, it is most 
advisable to grow the clovers without any mixture of 
rye grass. The following wheat crop is also much better 
upon soils in general when sown after clover grown 
alone. I, therefore, propose to treat of the management 
of hay made from the clovers separately, having for many 
years, in my own practice, found that the method usually 
adopted in making hay of the mixed grasses is attended | 
with too much risk, if applied to the clovers alone. If 
I have a crop of clover, of either variety, grown separate, j 
I prefer to have it tedded, or scattered, over the ground, j 
as fast as it is cut, by women or boys; otherwise, by 
the haymaking machine, which is certainly best, par¬ 
ticularly upon large farms, where there is much work to 
be done. The following day it is raked into small 
windrows with the hand-rake ; the third day, the wind¬ 
rows are turned over with the rake, and the fourth, if 
the weather has been dry, the hay will be in a forward 
state, but, perhaps, not fit to put into stack, which will, 
in some measure, depend upon the sort of clover. The 
Red Clover, being composed of strong, succulent stalks, 
usually requires a day or two longer exposure to the 
sun and wind than the finer clovers, such as the White 
Dutch, and Trefoil. When the hay is nearly fit for 
carting to the stack, instead of putting it into heaps or 
pooks, I prefer drawing with the handrake five or six of 
the windrows into one large row, and, after a few hours, 
take it to the stack in a hot and dry state. 
I dislike the plan of pooking hay the day previous to 
carting to the stack; it is never in so good order as it is 
when run together into rows just before carting to stack. 
Hay, made according to the last method I have de¬ 
scribed, will contain the greatest amount of nutriment, 
will be subject to the least possible loss in the field, by 
falling off the leaf and fine particles of the grass, and 
will be made in the shortest time possible, thereby 
diminishing the risk, or liability to damage by rain. It 
will require at least two days less time to make the hay 
in the latter than in the former method, which, in our 
changeable climate, is a matter of immense importance. 
The non-pooking is, however, the most expensive plan, 
which I Consider amply compensated by the less loss in¬ 
curred, owing to the hay being dried more regularly, and 
not being so long exposed to the action of the sun; the 
leaf, moreover, does not become so brittle and likely to 
fall off in carting. 
The above remarks all apply to a favourable sea¬ 
son; but I w'ould observe, that upon the approach of 
rain, in the old method, if the hay is not made 
enough to cart to the stack, it is better to allow it 
to remain in the swartli, as it is much sooner dried in 
case of a return of fine weather. But in my own 
method, the grass having been more separated, upon 
the appearance of rain it should be put into pook as 
quickly as possible, and it will remain in this way a con¬ 
siderable time without serious damage, if the hay be 
half-made when put together into pook. When hay has 
been damaged in the field by rain, let it get quite dry 
before carting, and add one gallon of salt to a ton of 
hay strewed over the rick whilst the stacking is going 
on ; this will very much improve the value of damaged 
