The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-06-20
Agricultural.
When to Cut Relative Value
of Hay and Straw.

begins to turn yellow, the plant receives
no more sap from the earth, and that
the formation of the flow is finished
in the grain by the action alone of the
air and the heat.
cit has been equally we'll proved
that the grain in process of ripening
becomes more full, sheltered from the
heats of the sun, in the interior of
shock for instance, than stretched in
the swath because in the latter case
the heat dries the grain to excess,
diminishing at the same time it's quail
ity, its weight and its volume.
"The most rational system therefore
for harvesting grain is,
"1. To cut the straw at the mo-
ment it begins to grow yellow.
''2. To put the swath Immediately
into sheaves, which should be gathered
into pyramid-Iike groups called shocks,
with out delay.
Each shock is formed by five or six
sheaves placed standing little,inclined,
and in a round form, to give solidity to
the structure. The ears gathered into
a center are then capped with a reversed
sheaf, unless they can be covered, as we
have seen it done in Auvergne, with
small cowls or hoods of straw, prepared
beforehand for that purpose, a practice
which notably facilitates the work.
The ears thus sheltered from the ex-
cessive heat, the rain and the dew,
ripen slowly and furnish large grains,
smooth and of good quality. An other
advantage of this method is that the
grain is secured the farmer is not
hurried to remove it; he can leave it in
the shock without inconvenience until
after the labors of the harvest.
'This is an important point at pc
Rod when, for want of force, there are
always loos in waiting, even among the
best directed transactions. "-Gazette
des CanlpGg1aes.
REMARKS BY TRANSLATOR.
The practice suggested in the latter
part of the above remarks is one which
has been long followed in our section,
it is not usual to cut as soon as recon-
mended in the beginning. "Cut as
soon as the grain is out of the milk and
in the dough, is the rule most fire.
quently uttered here, and the grain
Will be in the milk sometime after the
straw has began to grow yellow at the
bottom. It is desirable to know the
earliest possible moment at which grain
can be safely cut, but few farmers are
provided with the necessary apparatus,
and few farmers have the necessary
time to test the matter. It would be
necessary to cut the grain at different
stages of the ripening process, and
compare them, by weight, appearance
and analysis, with one another. We
are aware that experiments have de-
monstrated the advantages of very
early cutting, to both the farmer and
the miller, the early cut grain making
more and better flour than the ripe
grain, but we are not aware that it is
safe to cut as soon as the straw turns
yellow, although if this can safely be
done it will prove of immense advan-
tage to all concerned in the growth of
cereals, and who is not?
The farmer will be enabled to begin
his harvest earlier, without the loss
which now follows, particularly in
large hqrvests, from the over-ripening
and shattering out of grain.
In our present wheat field the rank
growth of the oats from the shattered
grains threatened IN some places to
outgrow and smother the wheat, al
though the :sfeld was narrowed half
dozen times, rolled and drilled. We
delayed harvesting the oats, fearful of
cutting too sson, and before the work
was done, some of the oats was far too
ripe, the whole field was pretty well
seeded anew, and taking strong hold in
the good ground, they went too
deep for a harrow tooth to remove
them. Wheat fields have sometimes
been ruined by the obtruding oats.
Again, the straw is becoming more
and more valuable as our system OF
farming advances from the primitive tc
the more careful stage, and the earlier
the straw is cut the more nutrition il
affords. Formerly the straw was set OF
fire, or allowed to rot down uncareC
for, while the farmer titled the field by
ploughing around what he no doub
considered a troublesome obstruction
but we have changed all that, and the
seasons, by cutting off our hay crops
have assisted us in the change. Let III
glance here at the relative value o
straw and clover and timothy hay TO
feed, as determined by analysis
Timothy hay contains in every on
hundred pounds, II of water-the ny
droscopic water of vegetation is ALLUDED
to-25 of crude fibre, about 81 pound
of matter which is not nutritious.
Clover hay contains in every one hun
dred pounds, 16 of water, 35 of crud
fibre, (wood, 81 pounds Of non-nutri
tious matter.
Wheat straw III every one hundre
pounds has II of water, As of fibre, an
81 pounds of non-nutritious matter tn
clover hay contains II less, and timc
thy hay % pounds less of non-nutr
tious matter to the 100 pounds than tn
wheat straw. Dat straw contains l
pounds of water, 40 of fibre In every 10
= pounds-5O of nominations matter
. eight pounds less than wheat straw.
The above table is a statement of til
relative proportions of the waste mate
= rails, having aside their vaIue as m,