Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-10-09
HAVING.
The Ahci, 1t and Modern systoms Of Gut
ting Grass Contracted.

Tile Ahci, 1t and Modern SystcIns Of Gut
ting Grass Contrastod.
There is scarcely any occupation that
has undergone SO great changes during
the period of a generation as that Of
haying Many speak of the revolution
that has occurred in almost every kind
Of manufacturing establishment by the
of the various machines
that arc propelled by water or steam
power. But greater change has oc-
Cured in the field where grass is cut
and cured for tho support OF animals
during t:p wintor. In almost all manu-
featuring Establishments some of tho
hand tools that wee in use forty years
ago are still needed to d. the work. In
tie haying field. however, the work is
now performed by machines drawn or
operate by animals. On many large
farms wlerc several hundred acres of
grass are h:rve. ted, not IL and-scytho
or rako can le found. Grass Lat cun
not be cut with mowing-macl,ine Is
left untouched. After tie grass Is cut
the to Iior scatters it bout or places 1t
where It W Ii be in The best condition to
dry. When it is sufficiently cured the
horso-rake collects it into windrows
On many farms al. or nearly all. tie
pitching is done by machinery The
labor is p!a ed on an mails to perform.
The machine has driven out of tie lay
ing field all kinds Of hand tools
Not many years ago ha ing was tie
most laborlous occupation on farms.
Now it is one OF the lightest Then it
employed not only all the men anil
boys on the places, but all that could
he pro uroI IN the neighboring villages.
Often man kinds Of business were sus-
pended to give the men an opportunity
TO work Ii t..e haying fell. They were
sure OF receiving higher wages than
could be obtained in most other en-
and OF having chance 10
work while there was little going on in
towns. Not unfre uently women,
girls and children worked in the hay ng
!clds. They spread out tie green grass
from the swat IS, turned { when dry, and
followed the cart that the mon were
loading. 1t was encral y necessary to
mpioy all the ava liable help in the
order TO secure the hay
crop in proper season. Haymakers
W re obliged to work very long hours.
Tae mowers were expected to be up ly
daylight and TO be in the field before
sunrise. Time was often too prcc.o
o admit of going to the farm-ho1se to
obtain meals. Lunches and often din.
ners We're brought out for the men in
the fields, and supper was not eaten
until it was too dark 10 admit OF wor;-
ing. With the many laborerS, the hard
work and the long hours, the hayinI
season was extended through fully two
months.
Haying has now become an easy oc-
cupation, employing only the mbcr
of men who ordinarily work on tie
farm. Old men, women, girls and it
tie boys arc no longer seen in the hay
ing fed. There is nothing for them TO
do, The hours for haying are no Ion =
er. than those ior planting or cu IT,
waiting. 1t is not necessary TO cut grass
while tho dew is on 1t because the work
is done easier The machine and the
horses that draw it never complain of
being fatigucd. Men engaged in haying
do not go to the field in the morning
twilight or remain till dusk. The cost
Of hay machines has been great'y ro-
duced In places where improved ma
chinery can be employed to advantage.
In many parts of the West grass is cut,
cured and put in stack for seventy-fve
cents per ton, although laborers receive
much higher wages than they did thirty
years ago. There is no longer trouble
In securing all the hay needed to keep
any amount of farm stock. Hay is SO
easily put up in many places that farm
ers pay little attention to taking care OF
straw or to saving corn fodder. They
raise no roots for stock food and sow
no rye for affording winter pastnrage.
Scientific discovery and skill In the con-
struction of labor-saving machinery
have accomplished more in the baying
fed than in the workshop.
In no respect has the condition OF the
laborer been injured by the introduction
of machinery into the haying field. The
poets, novelists and painters find little
to admire in the haying field at the
present time. 'I know nothing"
writes an English novelist, 80 cheer
full, so genial and yet so peace-bestow-
ing. as the sound, in the first hours of
the morning, of the whetting of scythes.
1t is the happy mean between utter
rural silence and the roar of the
crowded city; so exhilaratlng, so socia-
BILE and yet so undisturbing is its unaf-
fected music. What quiet, happy
laugh there is in it! What half-sub-
dued humor, what friendly good nature!
The sound never ceased. Field after
field took up the magic morning music.
Sometimes it was played on a perfect
orchestra of instruments" All the
pastoral poets from Virgil to Words
worth have sung of the merry haymak-
ers, The painters Of every land
have transferred the picturesque
scenes of the haying field
to canvas. They have shown the
mowers bending to their work, the boys
spreading out the grass to dry, the
women and girls, clad in scarlet frooks,
with gypsy bonnets on their heads, rak-
ing the hay, and the strong men pitch-
ing it on to carts. The building of the
stack has been the subject that has in
sp'rcd many painters. There is little
poetry or romance about the modern
haying field. Everything pertaining to
the picturesque has departed, never to
return. Every machine designed 10 do
a large amount of labor in short time
is, in the nature of things, prosaic. 1t
is only suggestive of gain, and any
money-getting employment is unpoet-
ical. Tho Losses; tlat have been sus-
tanned by the introduction OF machinery
into the haying field have, however.
ben very small compared with the
gains. Cheap and abundant hay amply
compensates for the loss OF few pict-
uresque scenes and little poetic senti-
ment - Chicago Times.