The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1871-07-27

IftEN u ass couldlllS ABOUT 6lgnIy per
cent Of water. Glover IN full blossom
contains about seventy five per cent of
water. Ordinary meadow grass in bios
som, contains about seventy per cent of
water. Wcll-cured hay, that has been in
the stack or NOW six or eight months
usually Contains about fifteen per cent OF
water. The best hay is nothing more or
less than grass, minus four tilths of it's
water.
Mr. Lawes found that single clover
plant, which, when cut and dried, weighed
204&l grains, evaporated every day, on the
average, from Nay 18th 10 June 26th,
l,41312 grains Of water. In other words,
an acre Of clover that would afford one ton
of dry hay, evaporates about seven tons OF
water per day for the month previous to
its being cut. after at is cut, and when we
want to make it into hay, we only ask the
same clover to evapora;e sonnet hing less
than three tons of water, or less than hall
what it evaporated per day While it was
growing.
There are two reasons why water will
not eVaporate as rapidly after the grass is
cut and lying on the ground, as it will
when growing. There is less surface *
posed to the sun and air, and the supply
Of water from the roots being cut eff, the
grass, after few hours exposure, is not
so full of sap and the pores Of the leaves
probably become more or less closed One
hundred pounds Of cut grass, containing
say seventy five pounds of water, would
part with the first twenty-five pounds
much more rapidly than with the second
twenty five pounds; and nothing but al
exposure to the heat of water-bath for
twenty-four hours would remove the last
twenty five pounds.
If we could run the knife of moving
machine under the grass, and dissever its
connection with the roots so GETTY that
the grass remained standing in the same
position as when growing, the first twenty
five per ctnt. of water would, in dry day,
pass It with great rapiiity, If the grass
WAS two feet high it would have all atmos-
phuric exposure two hundred and eighty
eight times as great as if it lay fat on the
ground. OF course this can rot be done :
but, at any rate, we should aim to approx
ic-a' e as closely to it as possible. Shaking
out the hay, ana letting it lie SIS high and
light as possible, is the best means At
command And the more frequently it is
stirred, the lighter il Will be aud the iasttr
it will dry And the sooner this operation
Is done after tie hay is cut. the better, a,
a far larger quantity Of water cal lie goi
rid of the first hour than the second and
in the second than the third. But in
practice this will not be attained unlcss
the hay is constantly stirred and kept
light, for the grass is SO full of sap that it
lies fat on the ground, and presents but
comparatively small surface TO the atmos
pheIe. It is here that tedding machine
is 50 useful Even g steel-toothed rake
that will pull the hay into small windows
tive Or six feet apart, IS very Us full, and
should be kept constantly at work. Any
thing that will stir the grass, and expose
it to the air, will greatly facilitate the
curing process. There is no danger Of
drying the hay too much, if it is only done
ra4idly.
We have the best climate in the world
for curing hay. But our processes should
be ada ted to cur climate We must
strike out plan for ourselves. and eSpe-
cially guard against the traditional ideas
transmitted TO US from Great Britain and
where the CLINE is moist, and the process
Of curing slow and tedious. There hay
can remain in the swarth undisturbed for
several days, in moist weather, without
injury. The same thing could BE- done
here, provided that the weather was so
cool and moist that the grass did not wilt
When the grass is fresh and full of sap, a
heavy due or rain will not iniure it. But
let it wilt few hours, and the gum which
tncases the sugar in the flowers and keeps
it from being dissolved while the grass or
clover is growing, is decompcsed, and
then heavy dew will dissolve the sugar
AID damage the hay.
Our own plan is 10 start couple of
moving machines about four o'clock il
the afternoon ard keep cutting until sun
down The dew will not injure this
freshly cut grass And We think there is
this additioGsl advantage: The growing
grass is constantly pumping up water
from the soil AID evaporating it thr ugh
its leaves into the atmosphere. During
hot day the leaves evsporate more than
the roots can supply. and the plants wilt:
but during the night evaporation is par
tally suspended, and the roots fill the
plants again with water If cut early in
the morning there is much more water in
the grass than there who would have
been if il was cut the evening previous
We have shown that even light crop of
clover evapoTates seven tons of water per
day, ard, though the fact hiss hot, So far
as we are aware, be peTimentally de
termined, it is not difficult 10 believe that
we might have ton or more less water
TO get rid of in hay cut in the sfternoOn of
hot day than if it was allowed to grow
until the next morning
Allowing hay to sweat in the cock" is
all very well when it cannot be avoided.
II is one of the traditions handed down
from a generation that had no moving
machines or tedders, snd had its origin
in climate where the western winds
came loa6 ed with the moisture Of the At
lautic Cure the hay rapidly, and get it
into the barn at once if possible, but if
necessary to allow it to remain out through
the night, after it Is partially cured, put it