Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1858-07-10

respscllng tho time Of roislhg and manner
of curing hay, especially timothy. now
intend giving my views AZ length. as i' has
been ny s:udy for half my life time, 70 cut
and cure al the time and 10 the manner
most palsiablc to aaimsls, and at the same
tine most nuiritlvc. believe nothing Of
food kind is nutritlve, unless il has good
faror or smell; therefore il Il important,
both rof our own interests and the comfort
Of the dumh animals uudef our care, that
we should have their winter food prepared
IN the best manner we can to retain good
. flavor. will state my reasons ior TINS
opinion was informed long ago, oy one
who supposed knen, that 70 make the To-
bacco plant narcotic. It bad to be gather
ed AZ q certain time, aud cured IN pecu-
Isr manner II not SO gathered and cured,
It would be insipid, or lose its narcotic
q iality. aud would not be used by man
and that beautiful flower, the fox-glove, re-
anires TO be gathered at certain stage OF It's
rrowth. and cured, 10 a very peculiar man
ner. being dried in the dark, and then call
I'd Diriials. o powerful medicine for both
.nan and beast. SO it is with other medi-
cinal flowers aud herbs; they need cer'
tain treatment, both IN the time OF gather
snQ and curing; otherwise they are worth
less. Such reading lrd me TO try, and It
possible find the best time for cutting aud
inanncr Of curing hay; and | doubt not,
had hav been made for man, that centuries
before the 10th, it would have been a set
tied point by man or good housewives, as
to which is the best time Of cutting aud
curing il, to answer our tastes.
will now give my time Of cutting, and
also manner Of curing when cut by scythes,
as also the manner which thiuk lids
pensable when cut by machines.
As to time Of cutting, / know that eve
ry farmer win agree with me, that nothing
they ever fed 10 cattle, (that are fairly fed
during the winter will put on as much fat
or increase their weight near as much in q
given time. (say two months, as rich pas
ture. Therefore ] argue that grass should
be cut for hay, and not let 1t stand until it
becomes dried hay before it is cut. If |
could cut all my hay in day or two OF a
litels longer, ! would let timothy stand un-
til the seed was formed, but still quite soft; !;
but as that cannot be accomplished in the
time mentioned, j begin when in full flower
When cut with the scythe, aud the grass
heavy, / did all the curing in the swath
Grass viii stand a good deal Of rain, with
out injury, If left in the swath, whtn cut
green. When intend to take it in, # i
thoroughly dry on the .lower side, If W t
from rain turn the sw tths over before
raking. if even someR at green on tle III
der side Of tie swath; bd. if u, rain hal
fallen, raked it up. and took It snto me
barns. La that way it took q sweat, II
heavy crop, 10 the swath, and another swe;t
in the now; and / hold it indispens, be
that hay, for either sheep or cattle, should
iInye sweat, aud it is equally requisite as
THAT tobacco or fox-gloye should have their
peculiar modes Of curing and time of cut
ting. If light crop cut with scythe, as
soon as little wilted, | raked up, put in
good sized or rather large cocks let it take
a good sweat iu the cocks, and let them
alone antil dry enough to take in. (Timo-
thy hay cut green aud cooked in green
state, win stand much rain without much
injury If let alone In this way always
made fine aaro-ed hay, aud my stock always
did we& upon IL.
But since we ali around here cut our grass
with machines drawn by horses, the mode
of curing must be somewhat different To
make fine Favored na ritive hly. The ma
chine cuts and spreads Il as erenly as 1t
groqcs on tie ground; therefore 1t dries
much more suddenly than if cut by scytheS,
and the horse-rake ought to be started a
few hours--more or fewer, according to the
temperature--after the machine is started,
and the grass put in cock, and not lett until
the machine has done days work, and un-
til the dew goes of next morning Ii a
high temperature, your hay will then oe so
drv that it will take no sweat; henee no
favor and less nutrimcnt The trouble with
taose men who make trial Of cutting green,
Is that they dry il so much in the hot sun
that il cannot sweat in either cock or nov.
I have seen stacks Of hay in many places,
the hay having been put up so dry, that II
my arm had been long enough could have
put my hand through them, and that after
they had stood for months. and the hay had
no more flavor, (exeept the little ripe seed
left on. than brush from dead tree.
want to see no stacks or hay mOws put
I'D iOF me cut VIII III hrch VI tOh Na3 .
become so solid that it IS with difficulty
yen can push your hand iato them one
foot.
Now have given yoa as iucidly as can
my views and reasons for deviating froa
tAs rules laid down by far more learned
men, as to the time for cutting and manner
of caring timothy hay, and indeed all othtr
kinds of hay have had experience with "a
this hot climate Yet have no deabt but
some Of those men, possessed of good tai
ents, viii eriticisc my mode not a little,
but all ask is, that my brother aoorking
farmers will prove me and try me, and seG
il l know anything Of the true principles o
making aud time of curing hay. Let then
follow my plan strictly, and then either ?
prove or condemn it, according a. they hn
it.--Jona JoHksoE, in CoHatry Gentleman
Tho abssFd notions that some people have I
the mere uaattes.oEform Of marriage, is illuslra
ted By the following. which the Cincinnati En-
gairsy describes as having taken place in tha
city few days ago:
A lady came to this city a day OF two
= - ....fln o.,r.Ifoaffo, a. lorvcor n,