Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-14
Open Hay Early.


The editor of the FARMER was taught
when boy by his father that hay cocks
opened as soon as six o'clock in the morn
ing, will be ready for the cart several hours
earlier than if not opened until the dew is
dried of the stubble. Twenty-Five years Of
practice have confirmed the belief that ia.
theirs way was right. The custom has not
been generally adopted by farmers. Some
farmers who never tried it, know that it can.
not be so. A correspondent of the FARMER,
who, at our suggestion, made the expert
ment last year, condemned It as failure.
But his hay cocks had stood out in drench-
ing rain. Another reported favorably. The
editor of the New England Farmer who has
been led to test the thing, makes the follow
ing statement;
Necessity is the mother of invention, +"
but no more 80 than the mother of discovery.
We are pretty apt to follow in beaten pash
as long as there are no distractions in the
way Of our progress. We have IL sually fol-
lowed the old practice Of waiting till the
dew was off before beginning to open our hay
on the morning Of the second day, but, occa-
sionally, having taken down an extra large
amount on the day previous, and knowing
that hard days work was before us, we
have commenced opening the cocks early in
the morning, in some cases an hour or more
before the dew was dried from the stubble.
1t seemed decidedly odd to be opening
and spreading hay that was nearly dry upon
stubble so wet with dew as to soak the shoes
on the feet, but knowing that, if the hay was
all to be put in the barn during that day, it
was only choice between dew in the morn
ing or dew in the evening, we chose the for.
mer, and went at it with a confidence that
was increased with every experiment of the
kind, until now we have no hesitation what
ever about opening hay in fair weather as
soon after sunrise as it is convenient It is
better to work on hay early in the morning
than late in the afternoon The middle Of
the day, say from ten O'Clock in the forenoon
till three or half past three in the afternoon,
is the best time for drawing hay to the barns.
Hay put in during these hours may be slowed
away considerably greener than later in the
day and with perfect safety. Farmers do
not generally realize how much hay is dried
while being carted and moved away, if it is
put in during the heat of the day.
The use Of machinery for harvesting the
hay crop has made it necessary, or, at least,
advisable, to modify our old time practices
aud methods Of handling our grass aud hay
while cutting and curing it. When moving
with scythes, it is much easier to cut the
grass when the dew is on, but the machines
run decidedly better and more easily when
thsgrass is nearly free from dew.
We cannot always do all our work Just
when we would like to, but when things can
be made to move according to a previously
prepared programme, we always do all our
machine moving in the afternoon, after it is
too late to be carting hay. Between four
O'Clock and seven, while the men and boys
are putting up the green hay, or. doing the
chores, we can always cut as much grass as
can be taken care Of the next day. Ii is
nearly free from dew at this time, and on
the following morning it begius5to dry as
soon as the sun gets fairly up. If the sea-
son is advanced and the grass fully grown,
and the tedder is used freely during the
carly part Of the day, such hay may, in
good weather. be sufficiently cured without
standing in the cock over night. THIS prac-
tice saves great deal of hard work, besides
avoiding the risk from bad weather. We
can never know certainly what day may
bring forth, and it is always safer to make
our hay in one day if possible but, in order
to do 20, we must begin early IN the morn
ing to put it in condition for drying