The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1865-06-24
Curing Hay.

Last wear we puDhShed tne pracVce vi
Daniel Kelly Esq, Of Dupage county in put
ting his grass, when quite green, in a close
barn to cure, and spok. OF the fine col dition
in which. The hay came out and of It's super
Tor nu;ritive qualities. We find i'll a late
number of the Boston Cultivator an account
of the method pursued py Gen. Thompson,
given in the New Bedford Mass Nj rcury,
which in principle is the same. he article
in question says: 1T
ION a hay-dav he cuts his grass, leaving
off about 9! o'clock A. VI His me b then
devote themselves TO spreading, turning and
stirring up the hay, that the air may pass
, through it. and all erieraat moisture be
/ ;hroughly drieo. After dinner this Is done
again and continued till about3 o'clock,
| when the hay is ralicd into w!n'lrows, pitched
! on TO n cart. and stored ina barn. Ofcoursc
If the day is NOT a good one, the hay Il cock
1 ed and left till the next good day. Nothing
! is done to prevent heating. though salt
about 4 quarts TO the tOn,i sometmesIth brown
( over II. from the ilea that cattle will better
relish the hay often no salt Is used bad the
! General does not consider It's Use at IAN es-
/ sental. This is the simple process. he re-
. suit is that in the spring Of the year i G have
I seen clover in his barn, .cut the revious
summer. the heads blushing as if just mowH,
aud breathing as delicious an aroma as when
! taken from the field. OF course the rass is
/ not cut till it is fully developed-we do not
mean dried up We have full faith Cen.
! Thomrsons method, because its excellence
/ has cen Thoroughly tested"
/ I, note to the Boston Ctlt,r4tor. attach
! ed :, the above extract. Gen. Tn pmpson
/ says
AS to the time Of cutting my grass / con
s.d.r it "J.veloped'- when in fail bloc II, and
/ not till then AT that time lie Juice ma.
I cbauged its character FROM a wa,crr 81 lJs,ance
/ tn a nutritious oualIty. and that | II de-
/ iron, of retaining IN the hay, u large portion
/ of which :, lost by the usual process Of our
,lr,iud Frequently cut y t5us to h. acre,
/ and have 40 more trouble saving II Nth one
+ DAYS making, than with lighter grass, except
! in such cases ! frequently remove portion
ofthe grass Is soon IS cat to an adjoining
/ field, fer the purpose of driving the external
/ moisture and giviau more room Tor that
remaining in the fell" He also says:
Last year purchased hag telLieT, an
! fad It an inya.rahle assistant, ihroughiv
/ spreading and tcrung the hay, aud ing the
work Of l. men, and in 4 much more
through manuer than II can be done by
: hand
I The editor Of the Boston Cultiva'or, in al
! luding t. the same subiec', SAYS;
Gen. Thompson tell Us that he has fol
| lowed the system given above for iitteea years
and with perfect success, never having lost
/ a pound ~ this ength OF time.
I TO farther 4Tiuslrat. the advantages e his
system. in securin. lar gro s'eF amount e
+ nutritious properties in hay. be KS that be
+ has a pair uf carriage horses that "ave eaten
nothing bat hay 50 cured, not spoonful Of
/ grain having been fsi to ihem 70 two year,
;ud that they are in d good cIIa.:!oa AZ
though ied with grain.
( As another c.idcmce Of the increased ru-
+ triton. quality o! hay cured. he states an
instance in winch ucighjor oat Of hay,
and could not at the iime co"rIsn;lg procure
i, elsewhere aud was supplied from the Gen
erals iarI. The dairy woman soon he-nn
- encuir,. as to VIVA; had been done to the
COWS that caused them To produce 50 much
more milk than usual. and was I'ut of by her
lelpfn.et bv rcmark Nc that II vls Gully her
notion. OF mi-cnncci,tIAu, bit Ia a day or
twa o., lr,. mt oliy the = sautny unlicensed,
bu, the quality iia1 improved IL sIch de
gree that she l.rnsai.c.s ap,a Lsr Hn>5lHt T.
accompany heI ~ lao snIth rooI and see for
himself when the mystery was explained 10
The great admiration o: both. he having Le-
some fully co yirced Of what he bad before
considered aImos; unworthy Of belief
"Gen Thompson has. 10. some hvf years
past. cured small quantities OF hay ial cass>,
without any drying, cut when the dow EaS
entirely off and closely packet ia clean casks
replacing the heads again. making them
nearly If not quite air-iight. and allowing
them to stand IN the barn until the next
spring. lie has lately opened one and has
favored rs with Sample. aud when the box
containing it was opened. there gushed out
such 4 sweetness Of aroma man was per
hars never Jeto'e so delighted with. and
could no; be beloved. in the absence of the
evidence, so highly imprc@natcd feed could
be. the aroma from the contents OF So small
a box II NAV be observed that the scert
of the sample was somewhat sickenicg, like
that OF fresh May flowers VIXEN confined in a
close room, but when laid before our animals.
which had just filed themselves with fresh
green grass. it was eaten with avilify.
Mr. Thompson, in addition TO his usual
experiments the coming hay season. pr poses
to take hay press into the field, and put up
several bales from his best grass. cut after
the dew Is entirely off, but without any dry
ing, for the purpose of far her testing the
process on a burger scale, which has proved
81 satisfactory in res Get to the tinht ca ks.