The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-07-14
Chritio Clover Hax.

The clover hay harvest never before
came So close UPON the wheat harvest for
the tihge UPON the wheat fields how ill.,
Dictates an early cutting. The Success
full harvesting of clover hay uicpenus up
OH dry; hot weather. Dump, cool, show
ely, murky weather Is fatal to elevef
Aafvest-aaAd when we inust work be-
tween showers, as this year thus fur, ali
hest VT call with usually mUrg fililufu
than SUCCESS in the: iiattef Of G0Ud clio
ver HAY. Again, all must admit, says d
writer iii Ohio Farmer; that the best
and cheapest hay is made With the lkast
handlii'H. Tie lehves are tile mist vdlu-
able part of the forage and as much
handling breaks them off and they are
lost, it is essential to handle clover care
fully. The way some men frolic around
know it is not necessary. Our best clo-
yer handlers are discarding the tedders
entirely and these who are still using
them ted Immediately after the tfiawtfs
before the leaf stems have wilted ehBugh
to break. In my Judgment if the swath
board or track cleaner is properly ar
ranged SO the swath is not doubled over,
$ ST. SEX tbs hay ajid deRsld o'1 eari1iE il
cures licely III the cdck but c6htena that
id this latitude It il uAHtcessary lab5t to
ceck crop Of clover: If c0ckiiig is to be
III the plan Of work then l would adv6-
cate hay caps, for clover cocks will not
turn water and with, GIFTS n efeAtet
amount ,caA BIZ cut and put in process Of
curing than it would do to risk unless the
weather was very dry and settled. How
ever, l do not advocate the plan Of cock
inU nd do I hav MI n
that have followed for few years and
find very satisfactory and speedy. l
sometimes find that clover needs to be
turned to cure nicely. This turning pro-
cess should be carefully done at tho PROP
er time go as not ta waste, the ledtes.
When the clover has wilted enough to
be turned we tn Ike the forks and turn
one sw8th frem each side site the first
6hes ThiS makes ld6se WiiidroW Of
three swaths to cure out slowly ahd, hot
fS The i5ade raw ~ 30 tSs With the fer
i'll lieu Of a siae-aSSlivfrt rA6e' pratil Wy
fell that We c:in afford side-rake. You
will observe that this turning into Wild
rows Includes the r;iking aid leaves the
windows in a much better condition than
This turning can be done, with the dew
on when 1t is still t00 daihp to use d
horse rake. Glover clihgs together well
and is turned in sheets and man can
turn one swath at good brisk walk.
Three swaths make about the sized wind
row we can handle we'll from the loader.
l am enthusiastic on the loader and con-
slider it great labor-saying machine. BY
curing this in windows you will have the
hay more evenly cured and not so much
burned. Last year we put up forty-fvee
acres of clover hay on our. farm and
every load was in fine condition. 1t is q
nice point to have clover we'll cured and
not burned. Some men claim they can
cut clover in the evening. and get it in
the next day. am unable to do this.
Clover cut in full blossom will not cure
til the second day. The matter Of how
soon it can be gotts ii, AFTER 1T en mh;gg de- E.
IL cut. Glover can be cut lii the MORN
ing and hauled iii the slime day-but this
means that it is too ripe and needs little
curing. But all practical farmers under
stand that clover is best and contains the
most nourishment at the full blossom and
if cut then requires more care and time
in curing.-Prairie Farmer.