Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-20
Moving Of Meadows.

1t is doubtful whether any single IN.
vention, in the way of agricultural i'm
plements, has conferred q greater boon
upon the farmer than the mowinp-ma-
chine. In our younger days, when the
implements used in every branch Of
farm work were comparatively few and
primitive, we recollect the ANXIETY
caused by the approach of .'hay bar.
vest, ;" and the preparations made by
good farmers to have the grass cut as
quickly as possible when it was ready
for the scythe, and the pains taken to
spread and turn it, and get it ready
for the stack as soon as possible. Then,
as now, there was difference of opinion
as to the proper time to cut and the man.
ner of curing, but on 1.-THE home place.
of our boyhood it was the rule to cut
(barring bad weather) when the grass
was well in bloom, just before the for
nation of the seed. At that period
there is a larger percentage of sugar,
starch and gluten iu the stalk than at
any other time during its growth. Then
tits that nature has drawn to the plant
the materials necessary for the produc-
ton of seed, in the process of providing
for the perpetuation of any species or
kind of plant-growth. The elements
named are all soluble in water, and
readily dissolved by the juices in an
animals stomach and easily assimi-
lated. If the grass stands later than
this period these elements undergo a
change; the forces of the plant are
theoretically directed to the production
Of seed, the stalks become woody, and
the longer they stand the less nutritious
they become. For this reason the
scythes were started in the meadows at
1.-THE home farm" when the grass was
in full bloom; in couple of hours ''the
reserve corps" of the place followed
with forks (mostly wooden in those
days. and turned the grass over and it
was put into cocks later in the day. A
few days later it was put into ricks or
stacks.
AS this work came at a time when
farm labor was hard to obtain, it re-
luired, on large farms-where consider
able stock was kept-several days to
complete the work, even when there
was no interruption from rainy weather.
But this is all changed. The moving
machine, the horse-rake, the tedder, the
hay-loader, the hay-fork, and the car
rier make it possible to accomplish all
this work with no increase of the ordi-
nary farm force, easily, speedily and
economically.
But our object, at the outset, was to
speak of a practice which obtains among
some farmers of moving meadows too
close. This practice is not general, for
many persons understand that it is not
safe nor economical. But, as rule,
grass is shaved too close to the sward.
Especially is it very hard on timothy to
cut too low. This plant is the general
reliance as a hay crop over a vast area,
and it is often badly abused by low cut
ting. IT is perennial plant which re-
Jews itself by an annual formation OF
bulbs, or, as they are sometimes not in
aptly termed, tubers. In these bulbs
the vitality of the plant is concentrated
during the winter. On the habits of this
universal favorite of the farmer Prof.
Kirkland says: Ito insure a perfect de-
velopment of tubers certain amount
of nutrition must be assimilated in the
leaves and returned to the base of the
plant through the stalk. As soon as
the process of nutrition is completed it
becomes manifest by state of dessica-
ton or dryness, always commencing at
d pOlut ellHtT dDONc Tile llTSb UT SeCODu
Joint of the stem near the joint of the
tubers. From this point the dryness
gradually progresses upward, the last
portion of the stalk yielding its freshness
being that nearest the head"
With the dry appearance of stalk and
leaves near the crown of the tubers the
process of maturing the seed of the
plant begins. At this stage the tubers
and heads have received the requisite
amount of nourishment and substance
for the development of TIE fruit or seed,
and the leaves and stalk have reached
the highest point of nutrition. The
proper time for cutting timothy is just
at this stage. 1t is important to gauge
the moving machine sufficiently high to
cut the timothy above the second joint
from the tubers, or bulb; and this is,
in fact, the only safe course to adopt
for if cut closer, in the event of hot and
dry weather, serious injury, if not the
entire destruction of the meadow will
follow.
In any case, whatever the kind OF
grass may be, close moving of upland
meadows is unwise. Wet lands will, OF
course, bear closer moving. Prairie
Farmer.