Quasqueton guardian. (Quasqueton, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1856-1858, 1857-06-27
Gbr Youse ano farm.
Hay MAKING.

CWy your hoy dtMe right time. Philos-
ophy and practice seldom agree When
is the right time? is the question for solu-
ton. Our neighbor-onc of them-cut
his hay week in advance of most of his
brother farmers-cut it very soon after
the seed had commenced to form, fire.
quenay before the bloom had disappeared
cured it in the sun partially-not alto
gether. No one had better hay. His
crop was secured before any of it had be-
come wood. Dry sticks, and the fra
grant, we'll cured hay in his barns, were
not analogous. Another neighbor waited
until others were done, that he might OBJ
tain help at cheaper rates. Two weeks
after others had finished, his "last day of
haying" came. There was another gain,
he said, by this course. The grass was
ripper and made faster-more was accom-
plished in day,-hence, it did not cost
near the amount to do his haying that it
did others people.
Of course not, but his complaint was,
when winter came" My hay does not
spend well. My cattle eat heartily, but
do not thrive as they should. Neighbor
A does not feed his cattle as well as do
mine, yet they are in far better flesh."-
The hay, sir, the hay makes the differ
ence. Cma athhe right time-just before
the seed is matured-before woody mat
ter predominates in the stalk. Some sup
pose the woody matter is useless as an
article of nourishment, but it is not indi-
gestible, though insoluble in water. The
age of the grass alone does not govern
the amount of nutritive matter whenmade
into hay, but soil, climate, and season
modify its value greatly. We would pre-
fer to cut it in bloom, or portion of the
crop, rather than let it remain to shell its
seed. There are chemical considerations
which enter into these directions. There
is no doubt but there is more of the ele-
ment of nutrition in grass at the time of
Towering, but it is a question if such nu-
triton remains in greater quantity after
the process of curing, when such process
is commenced before, or soon after, the
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made and secured after it has reached the
proper state, the better. The cutting Of
the first hay crop ought not to exceed be-
yond three weeks.
We think the value of the grass crop
after it is made into hay, depends as much
on the manner ofcuring as ON the time of
cutting. The whole crop may be spoiled
in curing, no matter when cut. The fol-
lowing practical directions are given from
experience :
Cut in the morning. If the grass is
heavy, or green and damp, stir out. Il
it wilt Rake up and put in small cocks,
if good weather, larger if - catching
weather" Let it remain in the cock un-
til it has saceot thoroughly. Tip over,
shake apart. Give it one or two hours
good sun, and stack, or stow it in your
NOW.
Do not NOW more than you can secure
in cocks the same day. Night dews in
jure hay, if partially cured. Throw salt
on your hay, especially if it is clover, as
you put it in the mow-four quarts to
each ton. Ii you have no Moving Ma
chine get one. Ifyou cannot, use only
good sharp scythe, and never NOR, or
allow your men to NOW, with a dull
ythe--Proirie Farmer.