Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-07-28
Hints on Hay-Making.

GREEN grass contains about eighty per
cent. of water. Glover in full blossom
contains about seventy.fve per cent. of
water. Ordinary meadow grass in bios
som, contains about seventy per cent. of
water. Well-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-iiiths of its
water.
Mr.. Lawes found that single clover
plant, which, when cut and dried, weighed
2049l grains, evaporated every day, on the
average, from May 25th to June 2Sth,
1,47312 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 it is cut, and when we
want to make it into hay, we only ask the
same clover to evapOIate something less
than three tons of water, or less than half
what it evaporatcd per day while it was
growing
There are two reasons why water will
not evaporate as rapidly otter the grass is
cut and lying on the ground, as it will
when growing. There is less surface eX
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 wateT-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 deity that
the grass remained standing In the same
position as when growing, the first twenty
five per cent. of water would, in dry day,
pass off with great rapidity. If the grass
was two feet high it would have an atmos-
phIric exposure two hundred and eighty
| eight times as great as if it lay fiat on the
| ground. OF course this can not be done (;
but at any rate, we should aim to approx
innate as closely to it as possible. Shaking
out the hay, and letting it lie as high and
| light as possible, is the best means at
command. And the more frequently it is
stirred, the lighter it will be and the faster
it will dry. And the sooner this operation
is done after the hay Is cut, the better, as
far larger quantity of water can be got
rid of the first hour than the second, and
in the second than the third. But in
practice this will not be attained unless
the hay is constantly stirred and kept
| light for the grass is 80 full of sap that it
lies flat on the ground, and presents but a
comparatively small surface to the atmos-
phere. 1t is here that tedding machine
is so useful. Even steel-toothed rake
that will pull the hay into small windrows
five or six feet apart, is very useful, 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, lift is only done
radidly.
We have the best climate in the world
for curing hay. But our processes should
be adapted to our climate. We must
strike out plan for ourselves, and espe-
cislly 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 gap, a
heavy due or rain will not injure it. But
let 1t wilt few hours, and the gum which
encases the sugar in the flowers and keeps
it from being dissolved while the grass OF
clover is growing, is decOmposed, and
then heavy dew will dissolve the sugar
and damage the hay.
Our own plan is to start couple OF
moving machines about four o'clock in
the afternoon and keep cutting until sun
down. The dew will not injure this
freshly cut grass. And we think there is
this additional advantage: The growing
grass is constantly pumping up water
from the soil and evaporating it through
its leaves into the atmosphere. During q
hot day the leaves evapOrate 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 il it was cut the evening previous
We have shown that even a light crop OF
clover evaporates seven tons of water pei
day, and, though the fact has not, so fal
as we are aware, been experimentally de
termined, it is not difficult to believe thai
we might have ton or more less water
to get rid of in hay cut in the afternoon o.
a hot day than if 1t was allowed to grow
until the next morning.
Allowing hay to "sweat in the cock" /.
all very we'll when it cannot be avoided
1t is one of the traditions handed down
from a generation that had no moving
machines or tedders, and had its origiT
in q climate where the western winds
came loaded with the moisture of the At
lantic. Cure the hay rapidly, and get i
into the barn at once if possible, but i
necessary to allow it to remain out through
the night, after it is partially cured, put i
into snug cocks and open them again th'
next morning, if necessary, after the dew
is off; keep turning 1t until 1t is cured
and draw in. Keep the steel-tootheC
rake at work whenever there is an oppor
tunity. No hay should he left exposed OF
the ground over night. Our rakings arr
, often spoiled from neglecling this simple
rule.
The prettiest way of drawing in hay
where there is force enough, is with thre
wagons. If there are only two team
available, the driver, when he has drawn
his load to the stack or barn, takes OIL hi
team and puts it on TO the empty wagol
and goes to the field for another load
Where the drivers do not unload they cal
load for two pitchers, as they rest one
{ third of the time, driving back and fortl
10 the field. Two men to pitch, and wv,