The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-08-25
Sunshine and HEay.
[SOn of the Soil, |


So little attention has been paid in the
cOtton-grOWing States to the growing
| and curing OF hay that, from want of
| proper knowledge of the matter and
experience, many who have made some
| effort to that end have met with such
| poor results aS to he dlScOumg ged. iu
no case, We feel sure, have mistakes
| been Oftener made than in the time
! of cutting and manner OF curing, R9tI
| these, it hardly need be said, are the
| all important matters in hay-maklng.
| 1t has been prevalent impression
| herett5pre, not only i'll the south, but
even in the States in which hay making
| is much more of business, that grass
| should stand in the field until it Is ripe;
or nearly so. Reference has already
| been made, in former article, to the
fact that much nutriment III the grass
is thuA1llOst by being converted into
woody fbre, but there is another con-
SideratiOn of no less importance, why
grass should be cut so early for hay.
That is, if cut even before the head
appears, Il second crop of good hay may
be Ubtaiued from almost any variety or
grass. That this Is true any one may
see from the fact that any ut the grains,
such as rye, wheat or oats Will take
Il second growth and form heads after
being grazed oft.
The National Live Stock Journal in
an article ON the subject states that Mr..
Scott, of Vermont, has been in the
I'ahlt 0t cutting his grass before the
hands appear, his theory being that " it
HE grass Is cut before this seed stalk
begins to shoot upward, the same stalk
that is cut off begins to grow again in
stead Of starting Il new shoot from the
y Il. H.,
Scott has cut rs much as five tons of
hay per acre. The same gentleman, by
a actual experiment, has proved that this
hay, cut before the grass has formed
the head is of more value both in feed
ing cattle for milk and in feeding for
flesh, than common hay. There is still
another consideration why those who
raise hay should cut it early it does less
injury to the meadows. This may be
readily inferred from the fact that il
SuccpSsivh crops OF hay, headed and
mAtured, are taken from the meadow,
it results in deterioration to the land,
whereas if grass lands are only grazed
the land may even improve.
In regard to curing hay, as great a
miStake as permitting it to stand too
long i'll the field, has been very genera
y committed. The old adage, make
y y
W ell and proper, but too much sunshine
will inevitably do much toward unmak-
ing the value of the hay. 1t has been
demonstrated by many who have eX-
perimented in the last few Gears, that II
very few hours of hot sunshine are sufti-
cient for the curing of hay. The idea
that hay not thoroughly dried in the
sun will spoil in bulk is erroneous, if it
is properly treated. The main point is
to keep he air out as much as possible,
and even if the hay does "sweat" in
the bulk it will dry out if left undis-
turbed and kept as near air tight as
possible. Acting upon this theory,
several European nations, principally
the French, have adopted a system of
preserving forage of all kinds, called
eUsitage. Their plan is to place corn
fodder or other forage in pits OF six or
eight feet in depth, having sloping
sides, after only few hours sun-curing,
pack dc vn hard, and cover with a
pyramid of dirt. Being thus kept dry
and air-tight the forage is kept in a
perfect state of preservation, has more
nutriment than ordinary forage, and
even large stalks are rendered soft and
digestihe. We should be glad if some
one will try the eusiIage method and re-
port upon the results. If any one will
do SO, we will publish the full detail Of
the method. The bOny live stock Of
most Southern farms are Il constant re-
minder of the necessity of paying more
attention to the feed question than
heretofore. q