, 1869-06-23
THE FARM AND GARDEN,


HnFnE-Yield OF I1ny and ITS Vh1uo
-Top-DrcssinE tho meadow-Thc
Crops.
{PEON ouK AGRICULTURAL CORRESPONDENT
CuANrAs0S, III, June e, 1867,
HATING.
Il there Is ono thing in opr rural economy that
tseliher not well nuderstood, OF well pracsced,
itb tho time aud manner of cutting and curing
CT hay. Western hay, IL, a. n general thing,
mich Inferior to tho same article 1T the East.
Tlis result Is produced by our own management;
10: nxturc has done mnch for Us, maturing our
rssscs early In the season before the long heated
tenn, aud as general thing giving us much bot
Il: xrather for the cutting aud curing.
THE TINE Or CUTTING.
lust herr is where doctors disagree, at leaat In
pryctice, not to any great extent, however, for
ueliy iii Of us manage to render the hay innutri-
t[oas and unpalatable to. our STOCK. and We rush
to The cosn crib to make amends And tha leads
10 ! nostton Injurious to Cur working teams and
bnoN uarcs, Il not tn the rearing Of colts, We
IND Il df1cult to winter out stock without the aid
Of corn while cur eastern friends have no trouble
ontha score, hsy being almost thcr sole reliance;
andtheY seldom resort to the grains unless large
anauut OF straw Is used. For mflch COWS mud
wpk teams not half the grain L. fed per head as
with rs. Taking these facts as admitted, thoro
nsc Two po1nts to be considered: either tho quality
Of o1z gAsscs Is Inferior, OF VIC do not cut them
at tho proper time. No one will admit that our
Qrassea arc inferior, but the more stoutfy We
stand IN for that Little point tho more rost-
tive Is the other uSly fact presented. TINT
ne manage them badly. But, saJs one, hnd we
tha barns Of New England We could have lust as
gooi hay. Not quito SO fast, my good friend, Tor
the oAy In Our barns L. but little superior to that In
the stacks, for nearly all Of It Is Ont at the same
tins, has been over-enred, tho sugr washed out
Of It By the rains, or bleached ont By heavy deWs
In tho first place the gzass Is over-rtpe when cut,
and In the second place u exposed foE too long
tlmd to the GUNS rays, and the nightly dews;
attad 10 this leaving It IN the cock for daJs, ex
posed to the raIustorms that may visit rs At that
season. Grass to make nutritious hay ahould BE-
cut Hsthe rme Of towering, OF, perhapa Just asthe
seed begins to form; tt then contains all the suga,
for Zone Of II has been changed 10 Btarch to form
tho HeedA Tho atalk Is soft and sncculent instead
Of rr4.ured woody 1bre.
NxJ parte with It's untriment as readlly as taa
withtt2 aroma, as slight sleeping In tepid rater
win prove at any time. VIC NAY then have some
idea pf tho injury done to 1t By warm rain Of
even heavy dew.
/ When grass was cut BY hand It waa found that
When little wet, as with q heavy dew or light
shower, that 1t Wig cut with less labor. This led
10 luz pl0CACHh u Su%suX HAEA liz AAot NVA@AAltVA-
In ease Of the dew, II spread out 10 the Bun. little
harm was done, but where the weather continued
wet Of cloudy it would sour, and thus seriously
tn;u:e 1t. Now that NC cut cur grass In nearly
ever case, Nth horsepower, We need not follow
the old practca. Grass should never be eu3
when, wet; the weather Ia not sultabla
to cdro Il 1t once, better let It stand
until an Improvement in the weather.
BegtL to cut as soon a3 the dew Is Oh, Whan the
grass will wilt and curp in u few hours, bf !
O'Clock 1t wilI be ready to take up, and unless
very heavy or the sky little cloudy Will be ready
for 1ha nov or .haJstack It msy be drawn d.
recty from the meadow. A u,An Will load II on
the gagon nearly as INST as he can put 1t INTO
cocks, have often put It into the bazn when
amp,r Hilted, md when done IN this way In tm-
tied Quantities no azm ls done, but the hsy comes
out sweet and cured IN the winter. II salt "a
added at this time the tendency Il to gather more
mosture: and after Jears OF the practice Of sat-
ing ,,ay hxye discontinued It. Some people use
try line In this case, but Of its value have no
personal exprteuca and have too little oonn-
dence In II to give It q trial would pre-
fer to put up my hay Just W3lted fa1nsf ena1
to e1pose It 10 a shower or heavy dew. inAVe
spoiled la.ga amount Of hay In my day BY the
cqmmcu practice, but now propose to make
somc valuable use Of tho dear bought experience.
With POOR hay We must feed the more grain.
but az this excess Of grain ts but poor compen-
sstton for good hay, va should be tue mora care
fnl to see that cur grass is cut at me n8ht ume
aud property cured To "1nser neat s0cA .la ~
cotts In The best posslble condition a1 Ne need Ia
rood. rtch nAy: and Il We have work teans, mich
oova or stsl-fed cattle, ne shall need but Hna4
quantity Of grain IS compared to poor haIs
nxawell settled fact that Eastern horses DO
poo.1y when brought West; and have no doaos
that Il Is ,aue to tho feedlng Of poor hay, and N
excessive amount Of corn 1ha change N diss
too ersat for them, and they g1Yo wsJ under 1.
W often zee farmers cutting hay after the SEED
hss M f.rIcn out& and ind It 1 mixture Of Ate1-
msrth dead le8yea xnd stones. II We eIQect 70
no5e thau keep life in stock with 1en feed, n
shaa be disappointed. Then, again, wheu We 60