The Somerset reporter., 1898-08-25
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HOW TO HANDLE CLOVER.
For Making Hay of Good Quail
ity with Economy of Time.

ity With Economy of Time.
How TO make clover hay of good
quality is of interest to every up TO date
farmer ought to succeed i'll making such
hay. Cloudy and rainy weather Of
course decreases the chance of success.
A correspondent of The Prairie Farmer,
who has the experience of ID seasons in
the business, says:
To succeed we'll the farmer must have
ali needed help at call and the necessary
tools of the most convenient kind. If
we cut in the morning, we do not ex-
pect TO get it in shock or NOW TIL next
day. Our advice IL not to cut till the
dew is off. If we have tedder, and
every farmer that makes clover hay
should have one, we can hasten the
work by starting the mower before the
dew is all off and following at once
with the tedder. 1t will dry quicker by
being tossed in the air than it will
standing uncut. We have taken clover
in the swath, wet with rain, that if I'M
disturbed would not have dried before
noon, and by starting the tedder early
in the morning have it dry and in the
barn the same day, and desirable
quality of hay at that If we must have
clover wet with rain after it is cut, we
prefer to have it wet in the swath
rather than in the windows or shock.
Our usual plan after we make start
is to cut in the evening what we can
cure and put in windows or shock the
next day. The next day after putting in
the windrow or shock, and as soon as
the dew is off, the windows or shocks
or both-should be opened out to the
free circulation of the air and heat of
the sun. If the day is favorable, about
10 O'Clock it will be safe to put in the
barn or stack. 1t can be put in tight
barn when containing greater per cent
Of moisture and have it come out good
hay than it can with safety be put in
the stack.
The great drawback with most farm
ers against securing good clover hay is
the fact that only part of the day can
be utilized in handling it. The morning
and evening must be lost to him and
the men employed unless he has other
work. We have found that every bun
die dropped from the horse fork or sling
into the NOW should be moved. If this
is not DONE it will NOW burn under the
carrier track. When rushing the work,
we drop a few loads in the NOW and
then move and store back the next
morning. This allows the excess of heat
to escape without injury to the hay and
gives the men employment, to some ex-
tent, in the morning, while the dew is
drying off in the field.
Glover hay cannot be too dry to store
in the NOW. 1t may be too dry to han
die without loss of leaves and some
stems, but if put in the NOW in this
condition we know it will come out
good hay. On the other hand, it is easy
to err in Judgment as to the amount of
moisture it may safely contain when
stored. Foreign moisture, rain or dew,
is much more detrimental than that nat
urally belonging to the plant If once
wet with rain, It is not safe to put damp
wisps in NOW or stack, thinking that
the surrounding hay will absorb the
moisture, for it will not. The damp
hay will core out moldy and unfit for
use.
To have clover cured as dry grass it
must be cut when in full bloom, but un-
less the weather is most favorable it is
very difficult to cure at this stage. If
necessary to use tedder and the sun is
hot, all the leaves will be whipped off.
Two or three days later, when a few
heads have begun to brown, it will be
found much easier to cure. The leaves
will not burn up SO easily and be lost in
handling. In our own work we prefer
to lose some Of the grass nature and cut
little later than to have SO much
trouble in curing when cut SO green.