Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-01
HARVESTING OF HAY
Now Being Done In Allegheny County
In a Very Thriftless Way.
RATHER POOR STUFF TO FEED ON.
Thousands of Tons Are Allowed to Become
Thoroughly Soaked.
The PROSPECTS FOR EATABLE FRUIT

Aside from garden truck, hay is almost
the only crop the average farmer in ALE
ghenv county can raise with profit, and this
is being harvested in very poor shape and IN
q very rhriftless manner. Thousands OF
tons have had from one to three wettlngs
before being stacked or put away In mows.
1t NAV sell, but it is likely to bring poor
price, and the poor brutes that must feed
Ilpon ii are TO be commiserated, as they viii
scarce he able to get around sufficient
ouantitv to be well nourished.
The average Allegheny county farmer
has lost his grip, and has no right to COM
plaiu if his hav fetch but little more money
than No. prairie or packing hay. He does
not cut his timothy until it is dead ripe, and
the silica in the fiber predominates. Much
of the grass being cut now is dead ripe, and
the seed shells off with the least shaking,
and there are many meadows yet un-
touched.
LITTLE MACHINE HARVESTING.
Comparatively little machinery is used in
harvesting in this county, and farmers say
it does not pay on hilly land. But as they
must pay mechanics wages for very indiffer-
ent help. Ii is evident that the interest on a
few hundred dollars worth of machines
would be saved in one week each harvest,
for in these davs of sharp competition only
a tirst-class article of hav is worth shipping
to market, and machines have gotten very
cheap For instance, a moving machine
that cost $50 25 wears ago can now be
bought for $50. and the machine has been
greatly improved in that time by the use OF
stronger and at the same time lighter ma
terial in its construction.
II Is true that hav does not command so
high a price as ii did then, but it should be
h5rne in mind that ii costs just as much to
produce a poor article as good one. If
Instead of allowing field to lie in swath
until ii is wet two or three times before
hefng stacked a smaller amount were cut
each forenoon and cooked quite green in
the afternoon, ii would cure and make
much better hay, and the work could be ex-
pedited Just as well as in the other fashion.
LOCAL FRUIT CROP SPOTTED.
Notwithstanding the extraordinary fruit
prospect in early spring, the local crop is
quite spotted. In many parts OF the county
viii be found two apple orchards one-fourth
Of 3 mile apart, one having about half a
Cron. and less than a wagon load in the
other but in ,ane of the orchardJ will be
found branches bc-sking under their loads,
as at one tim. the spring was expected.
The fruit, however, will be of better quality
than ii would have been had the early ex-
pectations been realized.
Early potatoes in good ground that has
been well worked are phenomenally large
and in splendid condition, larger than
known previously for generation past, but
most other vegetables are late, and grade
ness viii tell you that the home crop of ripe
tomatoes will not make much show in mar
ket until the new moon has attained some
size And here the lunatics have science
on their side, as it has been amply demon
strated that vegetables, such as tomatoes
md cereals, ripen faster in light than in
darkness, and moonlight becomes an i'm
pOrtant adjunct.