The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1901-05-24
FARMER NDPLANTER.
THE HAY CROP OF THE SOUTH.
A Southern Farmer Gives some
Timely Hints in Regard to
the saving of Hay.


The time of cutting cultivated
grasses is when they are just past
full bloom. Red clover should be cut
when about half of the blooms have
turned brown, then it makes an excel
lent quality of hay if well cured and
taken care of. 1t is quite necessary to
have good dry weather for the hay
harvest. If the grass is a little too
ripe it makes a larger quantity of hay,
but the quality is not as good: and
the ripper the grasses get the poorer
the quality of hay. 1t is not the seed
that makes hay good, it is the hay it
self. When the grass gets ripe enough
20 save the seed, the stalks are hard
and woody, and the hay is not as good
for stock, they will not eat it well
unless starved to do so, and will
scarcely touch it at all if they can get
the lay that is cut at the right time
and properly cured and taken care of.
To make good hay cut the grass in
the morning, and see that it is spread
evenly over the ground. If there is a
heavy crop of grass and it is cut be-
fore the dew is dried off it should be
turned over soon after noon, so that
all the wet green locks may be given
chance to dry, for the object is to
dry as soon as convenient after it is
cut.
bermuda grass can be cut even af-
ter frost, and if properly taken care
of makes better hay than a large part
of the hay that is put on the market.
1t might be called the lazy mans
grass, for it will wait and keep wait
ing and yet make good hay
Any hay that has been wet. wheth-
er from rains or dews, is not as good
as when properly dried and taken care
of at the right time, and the right
time to take care of hay is just as
soon as ii is thoroughly dried.
Crab grass is hard to cure because
there is so much water or sap in the
stalk, it is weedy, and the stalk is
hard TO dry so as to pack in the NOW
or stack and save well. The best quail
ity of hay is never musty or moldy,
it always has the good, sweet hay
odor Sometimes it is necessary to put
up hay before it is thoroughly dried,
when a small quantity of salt may be
used where it is packed away. But
/ want to feed the salt and hay sep
arate, always keeping salt where
they stock can go and eat what they
want when they want it. Never force
stock TO eat an excess of salt by put
ting it in their feed, it is an unnat-
ural way for them to eat it, and if fed
your stock will have scours.
The best way j know of to take care
of the hay is to put it in good barn
as soon as it is dry enough to keep
without heating in the NOW. If the
hay does not get quite dry enough the
day it is cut, have it put into cocks
or PILES of about so or 100 pounds
each, and the next day after the dew
is off, say about ten o'clock a. M,
spread out the cocks and it will soon
get cry enough if the weather is good
Very rank growth of grass should be
cut soon after it commences to lodge
or fall down. If it is variety that
has lsrge course hard stalks like John
son grass, it should be cut before the
stalks get too hard.
OF all grasses for making good hay,
give me Burmuda. 1t makes good hay,
and can be cut any time after it gets
high enough to cut, and you can gen.
orally select good weather for curing
it. If the weather is rainy it keeps on
growing, and the quality is not made
poorer. Suppose it gets high enough
to cut in June and the weather is bad,
it can stand until August or Septem-
Der and yet make excellent hay, while
clover head grass and red-top, crab
grass, etc, would be very materially
injured if not ruined because not cut
at the right stage.
There are several things that should
be observed if you want the best
quality of hay, and one is, never let
hay that is dried or partly dried lie
spread out to take dew or rain. 1t
should be cooked and finished drying
the next day, or as soon as the wealth
er is suitable. Remember it is very
easy to ruin good hay by carelessness
but it is impossible to make first class
feed out of musty hay or fodder.
/ do not write this article thinking
1t will be read and remembered by
all, but there are men that notice
when they are feeding bad feed to
stock and want to provide against it
in the future.
A very great advantage that Bermu-
da grass has over the other grasses
is that it does not have to be re-sown
or reseeded. Bermuda gets better
every year IL taken care of and the
ground improved by the use of fer
tllizers, while other grasses run out
and come to nothing-weeds take
their places in very few years gen.
erally.-Yours as ever, r. Cummings,
In Southern Cultivator.
PRACTICAL FARM NOTES.