The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1897-07-08
Haying.

Within the memory of the younger
farmers even, haying was considered the
most laborious and exhaustive work of
the entire year upon the farm and great
preparations had to be made, both out
side and in the house, when the haying
season arrived. An extra supply of eat
ables was provided for the men during
the long days in the haying fields and ex-
ira help was secured for this part of the
farm work, which was talked about and
anticipated ever after the grass began to
grow in April. When the time arrived,
every man was expected to be in the field.
at least by sunrise, and the long rows Of
mowers swinging their scythes in unison
or whetting them in the still clear atmos-
phere of the early morning amid the Jokes
of the wag, who was always sure to be
present in every haying gang, was an in
teresting and enlivening sight, and al
though profitably displaced by modern
machinery and horse power, it causes
feelings of sadness that those old familiar
practices have gone by forever. The men
expected to NOW and rake and pitch from
daylight till dark, and many can remem-
Der the great creaking loads of hay tug
ged into the old barn by the slow moving
oxen even after the stars had made their
appearance and the nighthawk had begun
its nightly serenade. And when they cut
the meadow that was part of nearly
every farm there was precious little time
between the leaving off at night and the
commencing in the morning. 1t was ex-
tremely hard work and lasted about two
months, but everybody seemed to enjoy
it; and yet when the last load of hay was
in the barn all hands felt as much reliev-
ed and pleased as the active politician at
the end of close and exciting political
campaign in which he has come out vic
torious.
Through the use of improved machin-
cry all this has been changed and haying
is now one of the easiest and lightest
duties on the farm. After breakfast the
farmer bitches the horses to his moving
machine, and by II O'Clock has enough
cut for the day. After dinner he rides
the tedder and the rake, and when the hay
is in the barn the horse hay fork takes it
to even the highest beam without hard
labor The pitching onto the cart, and
about the only hard work left for the
farm hands to do. The days work is
completed at O. clock as easily as in any
other season, and all the machinery re-
CURED to make this vast change costs less
| than one hundred dollars. We can call to
mind no feature of farm work where
there has been such a complete change in
the substitution of horses and machine
power for manual labor as in the matter
of securing the hay crop. Muscle is of
less account than brains in the hav field
at the present time.
While these new methods have reduced
the labor and expense in securing the
hay crop, they have also enabled the
farmer to secure the hay at the right time
and in the best possible condition. A
farmer now seldom hays more than two
weeks if the weather is reasonably fair
and the entire crop is secured while at it's
best. This adds a great amount to the
feeding value of the crop. Another ad-
vantage is the absence of the worry and
bother in securing extra help for the hay
ing season and getting rid of the extra
work in the house. The haying now re-
quires even less hired help than other
crops at other seasons of the year and all
hands are in good trim for the work to
follow next after the haying.
The farmer who owns his farm and
stock to eat his hay and who has a
healthy, happy family around him is in a
NoIttieICh " SLJOS lHt SEASON. I'M
der the present system as much as any
person can enjoy any Other occupation in
the world and he who fails to look at the
matter in this light fails to appreciate his
occupation. Some parts of the work are
hard and sometimes the weather is in
tensely hot, but it is in the bracng coun-
try air with clean fields around him and
| amid sweet scented hay and sunny skies
which appeal with more than ordinary
force to mans higher and better nature
and tend TO develop it. No store, factory,
| business or professional office is to be
compared, even in the slightest degree, to
the surroundings Of the jolly haymaker as
he goes about his work with a light heart
and little care whether stocks 90 up or
down. He only worries about the
weather. Let the farmer 90 about his
haying with this feeling, for it is the sen
timent that should actuate every honest.
rue-hearted farmer in love with his occu-
! patton, and no business OF profession can
equal in pleasure that enjoyed By the true
| husbandman, however humble and lowly
his surroundings may be. while engaged
in the haying field. Mirror AID Farmer,