The Portland daily press., 1880-06-23
AGRICULTURAL.
Having.

1dyluS.
1t goes without saying that farmer is a
great deal more the master of the hay sea-
son than he used to be. When a man had
to ''swing hook" and heavy one at that,
over every inch of his grasslands, when he
must scratch his hay together with a few
short teeth upon the end of a pole, and
must pitch it ON and off with an implement
which was little better than a horned crow
bar, he had little to say as to when he should
begin or how long he should be about his
haying. He had to strike as soon as his hoe
ing was done, and keep striking till Fall,
with little reference to the condition of his
grass. If, therefore, he cut some grass when
it was too green, and let some stand till the
life had been parched out of it, it was scarce
ly his fault.
But this is not so now. Haying is not a
three months job, for the moving machine,
the tedder, the horse-rake and the hay-cap
enable farmer to harvest his grass crop in
thirty days, and to select the time when he
will do it. He need not begin until his
grass is fit to cut, and he can finish: before
any of it is damaged by age.
This being the case he is criminally care
less if he does not cut every field when it is
in just the right condition to yield the larg-
est amount of animal food When this time
is, every farmer must determine for himself;
but it may be said generally that there is
very little danger that grass will be cut too
early. The danger is all at the other end.
There are thousands of acres in this State
which have run out" but which yield
light crop of June grass, spear grass or 9TH
er fine hay. If cut early, very early and
we'll cured, this makes excellent feed. In
deed, it may be doubled whether any grass
that grows is better, bulk for bulk; but if al
lowed to stand until it is ripe, as a great
deal of il is, it is little better to feed to stock
than old chair-bottoms. There is a good
deal of chew to it, but little nGtriment. 1t
is almost impossible for farmer to cut this
kind of grass too early, and thousands of
dollars are lost every year by letting it stand
too long.
Another loss comes to farmers in cutting
clover when made in the sun, especially if
it is pretty ripe,-a large portion of the
leaves and blossoms which constitute its
greatest value are shattered off. Clover
should be made as much as possible in the
heap, and with the help of hay caps it may
be made quite as easily this way as by bak-
ing it in the sun. When the water is en-
tirely out of it and it is partially wilted, it
should be heaped up and left to cook until
1t will do to NOV away. When the clover is
heavy, the heaps may be turned bottom side
up during the day so as to admit the air, but
shaking it out half dozen times is bad bus
mess. When properly cured clover is one
of the sweetest and most nutritious grasses
we have; when its leaves and blossoms are
shaken off it is worth very little.
Timothy, or herd's-grass, which is the
standard on well-cultivated lands and farms,
the bulk of what is known as stable hay,
bears age and handling better; and the prop
er time to cut it depends largely upon the
use for which it is intended. 1t should not
be cut for any purpose before the first bios
som, and if it is wanted for working cattle
or horses, for muscle instead of milk, it is
undoubtedly worth more if allowed to stand
until it has passed the second period of
bloom. This grass, if the weather is favora-
BILE, makes at the bottom for some time af-
ter it stops growing at the top, and in the
opinion of many eXperimenters contains
more heart after the seed has formed than
before.
When it comes tomeadow-hay that is usu-
ally cut when it comes handy, and that is in
many cases well enough, for at the best it is
worthless except for bedding, and can grow
no poorer; but foul meadow, blue joint and
some other varieties which grow in mead
ows are valuable grasses, and while they do
not ripen as rapidly, and are not SO much
injured by standing as some of the upland
kinds, it pays tc put them into the barn at
the right time which is soon after the bios
SONS appear.
Farmers do not dry their hay as much as
they used to, and are thereby gamers. No
grass is improved by being baked in the sun,
and repeated experiments have proved that
If grass is perfectly free from water it will
keep in perfect condition much greener than
was formerly Representatives, and Farm