The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-09-09
RAISING AND SAVING HAY.

hay raising, and it is only within re
cent years that this has come to be un
derstoOd. Even now not enough hay
is made for home consumption, bu
we are doing much better in this way
than formerly. With the advent o
the mower and horse rake, great i'm
petus has been given to this branch o.
agriculture. The more hay is raised
and the more good stock of all kinds
are kept to consume the hay, the bet
ter it will be for Southern agriculture
In the past, this has been the weakest
point too little hay and two few
stock, with most of the land planted
year after year in clean cultivated
crops, resulting in the loss of much Of
the natural fertility of the soil. 1t il
never too late to mend, and it is re-
assuring to believe that a larger acre.
age is planted each succeeding year in
some hay crop. And this leads to the
question of what is best to plant to
make hay. There are many crops that
are good hay-makers, and it would not
be easy to select any single one and
say that it alone was best. Corn
planted thickly in rows and cut at the
right stage, makes excellent forage.
fodder, as we know it, is unsur-
passed, and sorghum is very nutritious.
However, cow peas are more generally
planted for this purpose than anything
else and more cow-pea hay is raised
than all other kinds combined. Some
times cane is planted with the peas,
and this combination makes fine hay.
DIT hn 10
crab grass is almost as good as q mixer
as the former. German millet is plant
ed quite extensively, but it remains
true that peas are prominently the
hay makers of the South. 1t is here
under the southern sky that they
grow to perfection. Being soil inn
proyers, they are doubly useful.
Whatever kind of hay there is to
grow, the same general rules as to cur
ing will apply. The object should be
to get it dry and under shelter as soon
as possible. 1t is not necessary that it
be absolutely dry before storing in the
barn. but it is best to have it nearly 80.
There are some who think they can
cure perfectly green pea-vines by stor-
ing them away, with air spaces be.
tween the layers, but this plan is not
much practiced.
There is more truth than poetry In
the saying, make hay while the sun
shines" 1t should be the aim to cut
the hay in clear, settled weather. so that
there will be time for it to dry out before
it rains. No one is infallible when it
comes to matter of weather, and If we
happen to do the moving just as
rainy weather sets in, there will be
difficulty in saving the hay. Sometimes
it rains so uninterruptedIy that there
is not much hay.making weather, and
when this is the case, it will be bad
year for hay, just as there are bad cot
ton years. However, it will be posi-.
BILE to save the hay nearly every year,
as there is usually not not 80 much
rain in late August and early Septem-
ber, which might be called the hay
making season.
The most common plan in saving q
crop of peavines, is to start the mower
in the morning as soon as the dew is
off, and continue nntii nightfall. The
vines are left lying thus until very
well dried, but not dry enough to lose
the leaves when raked into windroWs.
This will take perhaps two days or
longer, depending on the amount OF
sap in the vines, and the sunshine.
Then they are raked into wlndrows,
and left so until further cured. Then
finally they are placed in stacks. At
ter q week or two, with favorable
weather, they can be put away in the
barn. This is the simplest way OF
handling peavines. There are various
devices used to give some protection
from rain during the curing process,
and if these can be used, it will be
possible to have little better quality
ofIhay. One plan is to drive stakes in
the ground, tacking cross pieces near
ground on which to place the vines.
The cross pieces hold them up, and 30
there is less damage from contact with
the moist earth. Another device is to
cover the stacks with canvas caps, ard
this is we'll worth trying, as the can
vas for the caps will last for years.
1t will not be possible to more than
offer some suggestions on the subject
of saving the hay crop. Whatever is
said is only by way of suggestion, as
it is realized that each one has his own
way of saving hay. However, it is
hoped that this will prove helpful to
some at least. Our climate is quite
we'll adapted to making and saving
hay. There is usually enough rain
in early and middle summer to ma.
ture the crop, and then a period o1
some weeks toward the end of August
and the beginning of September with
little rain. This is the time to save
the hay crop. Two factors are impor-
tant in determining the time to cut the
hay the state OF the weather, and ol
the crop. In the case of peavines,
those who have had experience cay il
is best to NOW them when the peas
commence to ripen. This is matter
that calls for the exercise of good judg-
ment.
In the West and North, grass and
clover are the main hay crops. Lu-
cerne is coming to be recognized as
one of the very best among the hay
plants, and it is one of those things
that last for years when once estab.
lished. However, it is not factor as
yet in the hay production of the South.
If it is valuable, no doubt the TACT will
be discovered, and then alfalfa will
become as common as cow peas.
If there is any hay of any kind tc
save, by all means save some of it,
and next year resolve to make more
hay and of better quality, if possible
For more hay means more stock, and
more stock will mean richer farm
What we should aim to do is to get out
of the way of raising all cotton, ant
buying hay to raise it with. This il
clearly going at things the wrong way
and yet much hay is still shipped into
the South. This not as it should be
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