Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1870-05-25
for the farmsr.
Chemistry of Hay-Making.

The sUcculent grasses that ciolho Jul
fields with verdure are very insignificant
vegetable growths in contrast with the iores'
trees whose huge trunks rise up from the
hillside and the plain, and darken, with
their dense foliage, unnumbered acres OF
our fertile lands. In the tiny stalk and
leaves of the timothy, clover, redtop, &C.
there are rich juices circulating, which nave
been drawn from the breast of mother ear.n-
These juices are the very pabulum OF me-
and from them indirectly we drawn our
subsistence. If we subject to chemicai
analysis these grasses, we shall lind them to
contain all the essential elements of animal
growth. But it is not our intention to fol
low this line Of thought, however pleasing
or attractive it may be- We wish to make
few briet observations upon the chemistry
of curing hay.
Curing hay is, chemically speaking,
.distillatory or evaporative process. 1t Is
doing with succulent vegetable substances,
what the saltmaker does with his saline
waters, or the sugarmaker with his sacchar-
inc juices. The OBJECT is to drive off surplus
waters, which hold the valuable principles
in solution to get rid ofworthless and inter
fering substances, and retain all the desirable
ones. The sugarmaker may apply too in
tense heat or direct fame to his evaporating
pans, and burn or spoil his products; SO the
farmer may heat his hay too much in the
blazing rays of the sun, and greatly injure
the rich nutrient principles upon which its
value depends. Certain it is, we cannot
control all the conditions upon which the
production Of perfectly cured hay depends
but we can control them much more decided
ly than we do. A ton of well-cured or pro-
perly dried hay is worth more in the NOW
than two tons of that which is cut at an
improper time and cured in an imperfect
manner.
Grass is not generally cut and cured early
enough in the season. The sugar, the gluten
and starch, are in the best condition for
preserving before the ripening of the seed
commences. The great end and aim OF
plant life is to reproduce itself-to perfect
its seed. The periods of inAorescence and
seed-bearing are attended with large e1-
penditure of costly material. The develop
ment of the flower to blade of timothy is a
very different affair to that Of one Of the
green leaves. The former contributes moth
ing to the general maintenance of the, plant;
the latter Is mouth, stomach, and lung.
just previous to Towering, the vegetable
power is most active, and large quantities
of starch are being stored up ready for use
when the pressing occasion arrives to form
the seed. A tremendous struggle takes
place in the plant when the nutritive princi-
pie is dissolved by the aid of diastase, and
transferred to the seed. As soon as it is
over, signs of exhaustion appear, and the
plant dies. The time to cut grass is before
this eliminating point is reached, when the
nutritive principle pervades every part of
the stalk and leaf
Grass is generally dried too much. The
ligneous part becomes hard and tough and
animals do not like it any better than we
ike over baked bread. The nutritive pro-
tions are not so readily eliminated, and the
waste is much greater in passing through
the assimilating organs. 1t is not necessary
to dry hay 30 thoroughly in order to preserve
it from putrefactive change in the now
lfthe weather is clear and warm, it may
safely be stored the, same day it is cut, pro-
vlded it is not cut in the early morning,
while loaded with dew. If grass could be
mown after the dew is gone, and spread
upon dry parcel of ground, four or FIVE
hours exposure to sun and air will fit it for
the barn. All moisture proceeding from
dew or rain must be removed Hay seldom
or never spoils from fermentation of its own
juices, unless the condition under which i,
is stored are extremely unfavorable The
process of drying or curing in the NOV
proceeds slowly and advantageously if but .
part Of the natural moisture is evaporated
in the open air. A pound of hay we'll dried
in the NOW is much better than an equa
amount dried in the fierce rays of the sum-
If farmers will observe more carefully,
and learn few simple facts in regard to the
important labor of hay y-making, they car
secure the crop more expeditiously, at les.
expense, and obtain it of far better quality
Let them venture more Don't be afraic
of spelling hay by storing, if partially curet
and not wet with rain or dew. These sug
gestions are drawn from experience, ant
are worthy of regard.