Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-08-04
The Farm, Garden, Kitchen & Shop.

heed the teachings OF the old veterans.
The "Old Haymaker of 1868" says
near the close of his article, the prac-
tice was in his boyhood to get hay
in half dried and salt it.
In the first part of his article he re-
fers to another practice of forty or
fifty years ago, which was probably |
in his manhood, yet he does not COM
nit himself to any method but says in
conclusion that he has seen it stated
thai lime is good for preserving hay
got in green.
| think his brother farmers will do
well to try the salt and lime if they
can't get the hay dry, but they will
still hold to the idea that at is best
to make hay when the sun shines. -
He asserts the same fact that | did
that the hay loses by the crumbling
off Of the tender leaves and stalks, or
as | expressed it the "fner and per-
haps the better portions result
of handling it when dry. In good
hay day the practice is to cut the
grass before noon and spread unless
it is spread by the machine, then soon
after dinner the grass is we'll warmed
by the sun, and has mostly passed
through the pliable wilted state and
begun to harden toward dryness, but
when the rakes turn it up many locks
are still somewhat green, it is raked
as rapidly as possible and the stirring
requisite in gathering it together as
sist materially in drying, and by the
time it is in proper heaps for pitching
it has the rustling sound that charac-
terizes hay. In loading it is again
exposed 10 sun and air, and again
when it is thrown from the load and
spread about the NOW, and then as
the NOW settles hundreds OF cubic
feet of air slowly arise through the
mass, and it is better for the hay if
it rises as air instead of steam. This
process is in a good hay day with a
quality of Of grass that will dry quick
ly. Now if the grass is not thorough
ly dry, at the proper time for carting
it is often better to run the risk of
fermentation rather than the risk of
rain or even dew, and to preserve it
should prefer to put layer Of straw
occasionally rather than salt or lime.
The fact that any thing is put III
shows that moisture in hay is detri
mental. The testimony Of those who
have used lime is conflicting; some
see no damage, others say the horses
cough and the cattle do not thrive.
The color of hay is no sure test of
its merit, no more than the color Of
rancid butter or measly pork, sanded
sugar or watered rum. Hay is not
injured if once thoroughly dried and is
not wet during the process but is i'm
mediately stored where it can be pre-
served. "Haymaker" says every good
house wife knows that coffee loses
half its goodness by being boiled I'M
til its odOr permeates the house. How
then can he say hay is not injured
when in a steaming, reeking mass for
days after packing in the barn.
Hops cannot be dried fast enough
in the sun, more heat is required in
order that such a large quantity can
be dried as fast as picked, for if piled
up green or only sun dried it would
probably take salt and lime to pre-
serve them but perhaps the beer woulC
be better. The sun does very well
for hay and also for grapes. (Se(
Webster's unabridged, "Raisin a drieC
grape-dried in an oven or exposed
to the heat of the sun. Those drie(
in the sun are sweetest"
The Importance Of the hay crop il
this country would be sufficient reas
on to call out many articles on tn
subject Perhaps a third of all GU
cleared lands are occupied by tn
crop. There is great expense in cut
ting and storing, and also in feeding
BY its proper preservation we SUI
round ourselves with domestic animal
without which we could not surviv
the cold winters, but should be drive
to a climate where the production
of the earth are constant and almo;
spontaneous, where swift decay is a
cOmpanied by constant growth.
Yet there are always acute me
who can find a reason for everythin
They will prove that rye is bett,
than wheat and India wheat still be
ter; that native stock are better thu
short horns, they are tougher; TIN
chunks are better than fine wood
the women can't burn them so fas
that grass should not be dried to ha
as salt and lime will preserve it.
say dry hay thoroughly and hand
carefully. Ii it is necessary to ket
it in the field over night, it should
cooked mp if 1t has been partially d
ed, and good hay caps assist in
protection. If the cocks are open,
the next day it should be done wi
judgment and laid in pieces so it c;
be rolled together again without gre
waste, and the "stout" man that pitC
es on should not tear the tumbles
pieces; then one boy can rake aft
without the aid of a little girl, such
used to assist haymakers forty or
ty years ago as he he so fondly !
members.
z. Z. JAMESON.
The Wool MARKET. - Walt
Brown & Co.'S Monthly Wool G
cular, for July, contains the follow
remarks:
transactions in domestic W.
for the past month have been gu