Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1877-07-06
Making Hav,

locked hoopskirt of safe length and mod.
est size.-DOmestic Monthly for July.
Making Hay.
The old saw which tells the farmer to
"make hay while the sun shines" does
not go far enough in the way of advice,
for much poor hay is made in the best of
haying weather. A man cannot make
good hay of poor material; consequently,
he must not only have some good plant
to begin with, but must cut it at the
proper stage of its growth. The best of
timothy and red-top, or any of the clovers,
if allowed to stand until ripe and the
leaves drop, are worth little more for
hay than so much rye straw; and it is to
the Importance of cutting hay early that
we wish to call especial attention. There
is never too much fodder saved anywhere
for the use of stock in the winter; but
there is vast quantity gathered which
is almost worthless, because the opera
tion is delayed until the plants are past
their best.
Haymaking consists essentially in ex-
pelling the moisture from green herbage
cut in a succulent stage, and it ought to
be so conducted as to -expel nothing but
water, while retaining as much of this as
will secure the perfect conservation of
the hay If too large a quantity of
moisture is retained, fermentation, fol-
lowed by deterioration of value, results
The best time to cut a crop for hay is at
the moment of completion of growth in
the stature of the plant, when the forma-
tion of seed has commenced. If the ep-
Grafton is delayed, the stem begins to
Lightly, or become woody, and tine most
important nutrient principles are alb
sorbed by the seed, which is generally
lost by falling out, becoming scattered
during harvesting, or while the hay
is being fed out to the stock. The
agriculturist chemist as well as our most
thorough scientific farmers have long
since demonstrated the fact that all
plants designed for dry forage should be
cut early, that is, before the seed is
formed, and while both the leaves and
stems are in soft, succulent condition.
We believe that this point is well settled
that none but the most ignorant of our
farmers would advocate q delay of hay
making beyond the period named; still,
through want of a proper system of man
agement, hundreds do not get ready to
so far advanced that making good hay is
out of the question; and we think il
would be no exaggeration to say, that,
through neglect to gather in time, the
hay crop of the United States is lessened
in actual feeding value 20 per cent.--a
loss to the country of millions of dollars
annually. This waste of material is so
widely distributed that it is scarcely felt
by individuals; still, it is one of the
great leaks which help to keep our farm
ers poor.
1t is not alone IN the deprecated value
of the hay crop that the effect of late
haying is seen; for another fact which
has also been fully demonstrated, is, that
the production of seed of plants is an
exhaustive process in itself, and, with the
exception of two or three species of
grasses, injury to the roots and general loss
of vigor follows late gatherings of the crop.
In other words, meadows last longer if
the hay is cut early than if left until the
seed has formed, and a second growth
of herbage is sure to follow. Anyone
who has sown rye or oats for soiling
purposes knows that if mown before the
heads have fairly formed, two, three, or
ing the season from the original roots;
but let the grain become fairly formed, and
one cutting will be sufficient to kill the
plants. The same principles hold good
in the management of the perennial
grasses of our meadows and pastures,
and it would be well for every farmer to
consider them while making preparation
for haying the present season.
In many parts of the country there are
great tracts of swamp lands, covered
with a luxuriant growth of low and
not very nutrient grass, and other kinds
of plants, from which a passably good
forage might be made if they were Sc
cured in season. But these low grounds
are usually left until the very last, be-
cause the product is not so valuable as
that of the upland; besides, the herbage
upon them keeps green later in the sea-
son, and it is generally thought that
there is no hurry about cutting bog or
swamp hay until after harvest, and the
hurry of farm work is over. This view
is erroneous, inasmuch as the bog grasses
and other plants growing in such situa-
tions are generally of lower order and
less nutritive than those growing upon
dry land; and they become very hard and
woody long before showing signs of
maturity by assuming brown or yellow
ish color, like those in our cultivated
fields. There are many of these bog
grasses or sedges which would be eaten
by cattle in winter if cut very early, be-
fore the stems and leaves become hard
and woody; and, although we would not
recommend the saving of such materials
for fodder if better kinds have to be neg
lected in order to secure 1t, there are
thousands of cattle that suffer every
winter for want of food and to these
even bog hay would be blessing. The
old saying that "a strawstack or pile of
green twigs is better than snow.bank"
for cattle to wallow in during winter is
applicable to this swamp hay; and we
can scarcely urge too strongly the inn
portance of gathering all such material
for the use of stock in winter. 1t may
not be needed; neither is it always econ
omy to save wheat straw, especially in
regions where the winters are mild, and
better forage plentiful; but the season
may come when such unimpOrtant ma
terial will be handy, as it is this year in
California, where, owing to severe
drought, all crops have failed.
The wise man lays up stores for future
needs, as well as for present supply;
consequently, we advise our readers not
only to "make hay while the sun shines"
but whenever time and opportunity pre-
sent, and out of whatever materials there