Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-06-27
farn1 aud firesiae.
WHEN To CUT GRASS FOR HAY.

The quality of hay must depend
primarily upon the character of the
grass from which it was formed. Nc
power or skill of man can make good
hay from poor varieties of grass
Man can make the good poor, and the
poor poorer than it need be a; but he has
no methods or processes by means Of
which he can give to hay good qualities
which the grass did not possess
Though the highest point of quality
which hay can reach is beyond the
power of man to increase the degree oi
excellence which it will attain is sub
ject to a great deal of modification. In
the quality of hay, as in many other
things, there is often very wide diff
ference between the possible and the
actual. One of the principal of the
modifying influences is the time al
which the grass is cut. If this is either
too early or too late the best quality
of hay into which the grass might have
been made cannot be secured.
Some twenty-five or thirty years
ago there was a widespread move
ment in favor of the early cutting ol
grass for hay. Many farmers who had
been in the habit of waiting until the
second week of July before commenc'
ing haying in earnest, began to cut their
grass by June 25. From that time to
this, writer's in agricultural journals
have been insisting that grass should
be cut early, and as a class farmers
have followed their advice. AS COM
pared with very late cutting the mod
erately early cutting of grass for hay
is undoubtedly beneficial. If grass
stands too late, much of the nutritive
matter is formed into seeds. Quite q
portion of these seeds are shelled in
the field or in the nov, destroyed by
mice, or fail to be digested by the ami,
mails which eat them. The stems be-
come woody and comparatively innu.
tritious and unpalatable, and many oi
the leaves are broken off and lost. In
these ways much of the valuable feed
ing material of the plant is lost.
But while very late cutting involves
losses, it is possible to 60 to extremes
in the other direction and to lose still
more by too early cutting than would
be lost if the grass stood too long.
The writer knew man who for
some years managed farm belonging
to town, and whose ideas regarding
the early cutting of grass for hay were
quite advanced. This man always
finished haying much earlier than his
neighbors who had farms of equal size
and he always had a good deal less
hay.
What was of more Importance than
the comparison of the quality of hay
secured by himself and the neighbor.
ing farmers, was the fact that while un.
der his care the farm did not yield
nearly as much hay as it did before he
took charge oft, or as it had produced
since he went away.
The advocates of the early cutting oi
grass for hay assert that though a less
quantity is obtained the quality is 80
greatly superior that the value of the
crop for feeding purposes is increased
This theory was not sustained by the
result on the farm just mentioned.
During the years in which the grass
was cut 80 early the farm did not sup.
port more than three-fourths ss much
stock as it had previously done and
has done since another manager was
secured. The idea which many hold
that if the first crop of hay is gath
cred very early the rowen will be 80
abundant as to make up for any
deficiency which has resulted from this
course was not sustained by the re-
turns from this farm, and it has been
disproved in so many other instances
as to compel the belief that it is entire
ly incorrect.
The results of chemical investiga.
ton 60 to prove that extremely early
cutting of grass is not profitable.
They show that the grass plant con-
tains more nutriment when the seeds
have formed, but before they have be-
come hard, than it did at an early Pc
riod. But they also prove that very
late cutting is far more economical.
AS the development of the seed is ac-
companied by diminution of the nu-
tritive materials in the stalk, it is evi.
dent the best time for cutting is very
soon after the plants have passed the
Towering stage.
Not only is there a gain in quantity
and quality by deferring the cutting
of grass for hay until the plant has
we'll approached maturity, but there is
also decided gain in the degree of
ease with which it can be cured and
kept from heating in the NOW or stack.
If cut before it flowers, grass contains
a very large portion of water, and al
together to much time and labor is re-
quired to dry it enough so it can be
safely stored.
Unless special precautions are taken
there will always be risk of heating if
the grass is cut before it has made its
full growth. In choice of evils it is
better the quality should be injured a
little by allowing the grass to stand
too long than it is to have it injured a
a great deal by heating and moulding
in the barn.
Owing to the difference in the char
acter of the soil, or to the fact that diff
ferent varieties are grown, the grass
in the different fields of many farms
does not ripen at the same time. Upon
such farms, if the grass in the earliest
field is cut as soon as it is
ready, that in the other fields can u.s.
ually be harvested when it reaches the
proper stage.
finland GRASS sometimes ripens two