Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-08-04
Hay Crop.

of weather, it is practical TO use hap caps.
We give the method as deIineated in Wis
consin Institute Bulletin No s, by Mr.. c..
n. Everett, as follows:
The foliage OF the clover plant is the
most valuable part, anu we must save that
if we wish to get all the feeding value in
the hay. In speaking of good clover hay
do not mean the average quality TO be
found in the state. | don't mean that
course, mow-burned, indigestible stuff
| that can be found in abundance.
clay of any kind must be bright and
clean, free from dust and possessed of the
desired aroma. | know it is possible to
make such hay"
"Supt. Morrison-Suppose it rained
everyday in June?"
Mr.. Everett-If we had nothing but
an ordinary shower each day, | would have
| just about as good hay. There is, IN my
| Judgment, only one method Of making hay,
and by that method | get a certainty Of
success IN quality each year that cannot
be said of any other method with which |
am acquainted.
You all know that clover hay has get
to sweat out somewhere. If it is allowed
to sweat in the shack or in the barn there
is loss of feeding value; it becomes dis
v,
ed. [ have found from experience, that
the place to let that take place is in the
field, and | have found to do that success
fully, in all kinds of weather, that hay
caps are a necessity. don't mean some
thing that will cost thirty or forty cents
each, but simple hay cap made of cotton
cloth. [ buy that cotton cloth by the bolt,
and the caps are made one yard square.
tear off yard square and hem the rough
edges | fasten those down on the hay by
means of little weights at the corners of
the caps, and they keep in place all right.
| used to use the pin, but the hay would
settle down, and in a hard Wind the PIN
would work out.
81 studied long time to determined
what [ should use for weights. | went to
the factory and found it would be too OK
pensive to get them cast; then wondf red
if I conld fasten in pebbles weighing
about four ounces, and the more thought,
the surer was that could. So fast6n-
ed in a pebble to each corner of the cap by
means of little piece of cloth. [ tear up
the cotton in squares just large enough to
place the pebble in the cloth and tie around.
Then | tie strong piece of hemp right
around it and to the corner of the hay cap.
| know Of such caps having been in use ON
farm near Baraboo for tW enty years, and
they are good to-day. When drawn over
the hay in the field they are nearly water
proof. Such cloth when it is wet thickens
up, and it will turn water like canvass.
Now then AS to when to cut clover to
make the best kind of hay. Many farm
ers wait too long, until the heads are
turned brown, because they say they can
handle it better. That is true, but the
ease with which they handle it has been
purchased at the price Of one-third Of the
value of the hay. have found that by
cutting Fl the clover plant as it began to
head, chat the stalk was full of water; it
was very rank, very green.
"Then | waited until the head was out
in full bloom, and cut again; and found
at that stage of maturity that the stalk
had begun to get little bit pithy; of
course at that stage of maturity the honey
or sugar is in the plant. Then | waited
until the hay was turned brown, ard |
found the stalk was getting hollow, woody
it was fast losing its feeding value.
$50 | determined the best time is when
it is in full bloom, and we go by that
rule.
''If you have fifteen acres of clover, you
will need $50 or 400 caps. Ifyou have
fifty acres, you won't neeo more than a
thousand.
''To illustrate my methods, | will take
fifteen acres Of clover hay, and handle it
as if were at home.
eff | were ready to cut, | would go out
after the dew is off, never put up clover
with any external moisture on it, and
would cut down enough this morning to
make $50 cocks of hay, as nearly as we
! Of Of
up and put on the hay caps.
"We take no chances on the weather; as
soon as it is piled up, it is covered. To-
morrow we repeat that operation, the reXt
dav the same, putting up each day about
$50 cocks. On the morning of the fourth
day, if We have had average hay weather,
after cutting the usual amount of hay we
remove the caps from the hay that was cut
the first day. That hay has been through
the sweating, and we OPEN it to throw out
the water that is in it. In opening that
| hay Up, don't tear it all to pieces and
scatter it over the ground. The hay has
settled down and we take it off in what
call fakes.
eve put two rows Of cocks into wind
row, and in two or three hours of good
weather that is perfectly made hay; you
/ have all the moisture drawn out, and you
| have all the feeding value left In. 1t does
not go through the sweating process
a second time in your barn, and it
comes out good color, bright and weet.
Some years it takes longer to sweat out
than others.
sit is handled in fakes, and it makes
pretty work of it. The caps taken eff this
hav cut the morning Of the fourth day.
and after that we draw every day, and add
as much each day, so that we are using 400
or 500 caps each day, but only handling
$50 to 200"
A New Departure in Beet Culture.
We understand from citizen of Grand
Island, Nebraska, that the Oxnard Com
pany have made new departure in the
way of procuring beets for their factory.
They have secured some two hundred Rus
sian Mennonites, paying them by the year,
and are growing three thousand acres OF
b cts. It seems that while the factory
has been prosperous in the past, farmers
have not made money in the grow
ing of beets. and hence the factory has re-
sorted to skilled labor. As the HOME
STEAD has contended for some time, there
is no obstacle to beet culture in the soil or
climate of great deal of the West. The
d fficu!ty is to secure TIE proper kind OF
Culture. It is difficult for the farmer