Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-07-21
THE HAY HARVEST.
How secure my Hay Crop-yaluc Of the Hay.
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was next 10 worthless hcuCc IL cOst me Dut
little to purchase it, Two-thirds Of it is COM
posed of low fat land the rest is knoll
The knoll is yellow loan, cropped to death J;
the rest gravel and clay, and more or less wet,
alording mostly water-grasses This was the
condition when | purchased the land. | at
once underdrained the low land This gave
me a corn crop the next year, and oats and
barley (mixed) the year following both crops
heavy The land was seeded with the last
crop to clover and timothy. 1t was an ex-
ccllent catch the ground was mellow and
in the fall heavy coat (of cloyer) covered it.
This was left without feeding Off The next
year it was cloud, a mass of growth that
was unsurpassed.
An this while the yellow knoll did nothing,
though it was MANFRED. What was sown was
struggling noticed in the spring that the
yellow soil, which was thought to be dry, was
frozen and wet, while the land Immediately
below was always the wettest--wet, in fact,
while the other was thought to be dry-was
now dry fit to be used it was dry aud mel
low, in the finest possible condition, early,
before sowing was thought Of.
The explanation was, the lower land was
drained, the upper not Would draining,
indeed, help this already dry" land ? 1t
was drained There was magic at once.
1t was mellow with the rest, aud afforded bet
ter crops than before without any extra effort.
Why was this2 There was the same soil,
plowed no deeper-it had been plowcd pretty
deep before.
And now, for the first time, grass dourished
here The clover equalled the lower crop,
and the whole is now in meadow.
begin haying early-too early, you would
say, for so every one said when | first began
the practice several years ago-for it must
be remembered this is the celebrated Ilerki-
mer county district, IN. W where they do
such things. put the scythe in, or rather
the moving machine, the middle OF June
This was two weeks ahead of the time. But
itwas the proper time for me- The hay was
cut, half of it. The tedder went to work
D. sht and 'eii scattering il. 8" A tedder for
$50 Hlue hay Ie. The tcdder did it bet
tor than could do TO- and il did it speedily
and Almost constantly giving it only time to
dry little more at the top
Ny hay was cut carly in tho day. At 10
O'Clock the tcdder was doing its work, aud,
lboiiHn 10 60 HANWlANAf ailA was 0ttiAA w wv 10
kept at it all day, the sun shining hot. This
kept the hay in the air--sun and hot air en-
bracing it, and yet not so continuously as to-
crisp it; it was being cured, though in the
sun, virtually in the shade.
When night came was tired, and so were
he horses But the hay had been dried
raked up, and secured. Itwas dry, and fresh
md green, lin color, fragrant, once in the
,arn. 1t was worth its weight in gold, al
most, you would have said had you seen it
nd you would have said it was worth its
weight in gold, quite had you seen it fed out
% stock in winter. The butter was summer
1utter literally as to quality, surprising the
pest fall-made article; it was june butter,
made from June-cut grass.
The yield Of hay was two tons to the acre.
This was not much. Had it stood half a.
month longer it would have weighed half a
ton more, for putting the soil in order.
Plaster and ashes were now appled--and
guano would have been sown had the land
been poor and the crop badly needed it.
There was a drouth, but the clover needed it
no more than though showers had been in its
stead. 1t was still early, and the ground had
not been much dried the spring rains yet
told, but most, the ditching, Besides the
long root of the clover was penetrating this
deep mellow soil-ior that it was to certain
extent mellow, now that the water, surplus
and sour, had gone out Of it, Here was
breathing The water went down fresh from
the sky with its pure fertility and warmth,
and light, and the root followed it; it pene-
trated till it reached the tile. Will the drouth
affect such root, such stem2 This did
not; for the tufts shot up, and soon there
was sight again, cloud or course the
drouth will affect nothing now, and it did not
There was growth equal, fully to the first
The plaster and the ashes aided here. There
was no plaster used before, because the crop
was heavy enough without, and the second
crop was had in view to be plastered
This crop was secured, strange as it may
seem, in the midst of " haying" But the
difference between this crop and the surround
ing crops Theon green-green when cureC
the other though without rain, pale. This
was tne fore part Of August. When Septem
Der came the field was again green, and sool
crowded the ground, but not so densely as be
fore. The drouth was very severe, burning
up many fields in grass This was the only
truly green one-bccause the only thoroughly
drained aud taken care Of
Towards the close Of October there was
good stand again, tempting the scythe. Blu
no scythe was put in. That would have beel
sacrilege to the land. The crop would hay
gone unprotected into winter quarters, ant
been seriously hurt--ruined, were not thu
tile doing their work.
Now, only the cattle were turned in The
were turned in just before the time of tn
heading Of the clover, and kept there til
winter. There were cattle enough, not to fee
it down, but to keep it from further shooting
up, and to lower it somewhat, leaving still
plentiful protection and good rich coat o
manure which the nitrogenous clover fur
, nishes.
Now, there are heavier crops raised. Tn
, yield in some of the European countries i
double that recorded here, but it is done b
forced means-by irrigation and stmulatn
measures, where labor is cheap aud hay is Al
article that cannot be dispensed with Her
are only the dressing of the ashes and plaster
, and the securing the two crops instead q
seven hundred and fity-eight cuttings an
dressings.
+, The next year finds my lot little less i
its yieId---ony little. There is now som
timothy with the clover, The crop is les
bulky, but heavier for its bulk, and the farm
ers adjoining or almost any other farmers
mot quite) will tell you it is better TIL
bright solid timothy can't be beat" The
say this because it seems so they never tes
cd it; they never read a fair test
To Loosen screws aud Bolts.
The Coach Makers Magazine says tina