The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1890-06-27
The Timothy Crop.

EDITORS OF MIDLAND JOURNAL.
Gentlemen :-Thanking you for
many of the good hints thrown out to
farmers and others. l beg leave to
express my objections to the hint
thrown out in the inclosed paragraph
viz: that farmers have commenced
too soon to cut their hay, and l
think that when you consider that
time is consumed in putting up the
hay and that unless cutting of the
grass is commenced while it is too
green, large portion OF the most
valuable hay is allowed to get too
ripe, and the loss in both weight and
price of hay is far greater from get
ting too old and dead, than the loss
from cutting too green, which does
not lessen the price paticle, and if
much mixed or all clean the second
crop grown from the early mown
fields is often more valuable per field
than the first and is quite as market.
able. | do not raise this question
for sake of argument, but the exper.
fence of our best farmers will carry
me out in my opinion, and my obser.
vations in purchasing the hay from
the farmers affords me an excellent
opportunity of judging in this matter.
At same time, if it were possible to
cut the whole crop just at the mo-
ment it was in the dough state"
then your suggestion would be prac,
ticable, but as this is not the case,
in order to secure the best condition
of the entire crop it is necessary to
commence the work at an earlier
stage. have urged this matter of
early cutting, and those who have
adopted the plan market the best hay
and receive the most money for it.
think you cannot condemn in
too strong terms the practice of put.
ting wheat in open shocks as it
spoiled a very large portion of last
years crop. Truly,
A. l.. DUYCKINCK.
The following is the "hint" referred
to:
Farmers are moving their grass
this week-as the Yankees say hay.
ing. The hay crop will be first class
this season both in quality and guam
tity, but it Is being cut rather green. .
Timothy. before the seed is in the
dough state, which is when the bios.
SONS begin to fall, does not make
the best bay"
Friend Duyckinck's argument is
spoiled by that little adverb "too."
He admits that it is not the best
when timothy is cut too early or be,
fore it is ripe for hay, which is when
the seed is in the dough. but it is
better cut too early than too late,
mainly because the hay looks better
and sells better. Those are good
commercial reasons, but bad scien.
tifc reasons. Stock do not like very
young timothy hay so we'll as when
it is rather old. We do not recon-
mend cutting too young o. too old,
but just at the right time. That the
farmers must begin before the tim
othy is fit on account of wheat har-
vest or other pressing work is a
faulty reason. Timothy being a
money crop and one of the principal
crops of this section, farmers should
arrange their rotation to give the
timothy crop the right of way. In
order to do this red clover and TIN.
othy should not be sown together
for they ripen ten days or two weeks
apart. Alsike and timothy ripen
together and should be sown togeth.
er. They harvest we'll together aud
both are green when cured. Red
clover should be sown by itself and
on stock ground either in the spring
following or at the last working of
corn, and turned under for wheat.
1t will pay better than a crop of oats
and save large fertilizer bill.
There is not one season in half a
dozen that red clover hay is got up
fit to feed stock with. A crop of it
will keep weeds down on corn stocks.
make good summer pasture and an
excellent crop of wheat if turned
under in the fall. Farmers, it would
seem, will not quit an old custom for
a better one because they are so
welded to habit. Their wheat crop
doesn't pay them, and a smaller
bredth should be sown, the ground
given extra cultivation which would
insure good stand of timothy and
alsike, give ample time to cut the
timothy crop when just right, cure it
and put it up in the best condition,
when it would bring the top price in
the market and the best results in
1.-The manger.