The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1908-10-08
CUTTING WILD HAY.
PHASES OF AN ODD HARVEST 1k
MAINE WOODS.


nothing but so many tons Of hay to the
acre from so many acres at so much a
ton. Ever since the close OF the civil
war having has been a matter OF BOOK
keeping on the older farms.
R1,t 90 back rs to 100 miles from the
shore front and reach the region OF log
houses and blackened stumps and buck
wheat cakes, and one finds conditions
very much as they were in old Falmouth
and Castine during the revolutionary war,
when the woodsman carried an AK on one
shoulder and a loaded gun on the oJher,
when Indians were more abundant IN the
Maine woods than deer and moose are
now. and when on moonlight evenings IN
October the farmers sat out IN the clear
ings and husked corn while bears and
wolves were bowling at every point OF
the compass.
Cutting the meadow hay as the
process is termed in Maine, never begins
until after the regular haylng is finished
and the early oats are reaped and under
shelter.
At the beginning OF some week IN
August, when the sun IS hot and the
wind is from the west, nearly every
member of the household starts out by
boat or cart to harvest the foul meadow
and blue joint grasses, which stand thick
Nv and shoulder high in an intervale, which
is too far away to permit the workers W
come home at night.
A canvas tent with camp outfit and
food 90 with the primitive paraphernalla
for having.
As soon as the tent is up for shelter
the. women and children attend to the
details of putting the home to rights,
while the men swing their scythes IN the
stout grass for hours anxious to NOV as
much as possible, so the haymaklng and
stacking may begin. A good man With
sharp scythe can NOW two acres between
sunrise and sunset, even upon rough
land, among stumps and hummocks. With
two or more men in every crew, cleared
space soon shows up, in the center OF
which logs and poles are arranged to
form the foundation for stack that
shall be high enough to escape the au-
tumn floods and guarded sufficiently with
a rude fence to prevent deer and moose
from coming and living upon the hay.
The next day, if the weather is fair,
the hay is rolled into punches of 100
pounds, when two men run long poles
under the bundles and lug them away to
begin the stack. This method of carry
ing hay is called polling and when
man who walks before and he who fol-
lows behind, with their hands hold of the
poles and trying to balance themselves
over the rough ground and not spill the
hay. often arrive at the stack with their
faces covered with blood from the insect
bites.
The haying goes on, however, in spite
of mosquito bites and hornet stings and
goading from bumblebees. Striped snakes
and fat milk adders and huge toads and
aged turtles are encountered every day.
Rabbits scurry from underfoot, to be
chased for the rest of the day by the
family dog, which has come along. Flocks
of snipe and woodcock and bevies Of par
tridges and great assemblages Of black
birds and plover and yellow hammers fly
overhead.
At evening a mother bear brings her
cubs out to investigate the tent. to be
followed by snarling raccoons, and along
toward daylight the cautious foxes nose
about in the new hay for fat meadow
mice. All day bald eagles and great fall
con hawks fly in circles far overhead,
while the small sparrow hawks and pig
eonhawks scale close to the ground, look
ing keenly for food.
After dark, when the flying squirrels
spruces, the owls fit silently above the
sieepers in the tent, and then go away
to tai trees and ask who? Who?" as if
they were the reincarnations of deceased
village gossips.
1t is on August nights when the hay
stackers are camping out that the huge
moose wade shoulders deep into the still
lakes and pull forth the log-like roots of
the pond lilies, and stand half-submerged
while they chew the succuient food.
There are plenty OF interesting diver
sions to sandwich in with the hard work
OF stacking hay in Maine meadows. Wild
blueberries and raspberries are plenty.
Everywhere along the fringe of woods
are green ribbons of hazel bushes, which
produce the meaty and toothsome hazel
nuts of commerce, and when the ''hazel
nut years come around woman can
pick from four to six bushels in day.
On the loamy knobs which stick out
from the meadows, the bitter roots of
goldthread abound, and so highly are
these roots priced by the physicians for
curing canker and sore throat, that the
city druggists pay 81 pound for all they
can buy.
To vary the fare of bacon, brown
bread, beans and berries, the women and
Nilltti eli az W .iiS
and dig the white bulbs of the yellow or
Canada lily, and wash and slice them and
then make them into thick and nourish-
ing soup.
To the farmer and his family who re-
side close down to nature for all the year
these outings at stacking hay serve as |
substitutes for regular vacations.
No matter what the price of pressed .
hay or loose hay may be in the cities,
the quotations on loose hay delivered at /
the camp hovel in the lumber woods of |
Maine do not change from $18 ton year
in and year out.
To make the meadow hay convenient |
for hauling the stacks are built in the |
form of parallelogram with wedge |
shaped top, and are supported by four
slim poles, one at each corner.
After the snow has fallen and the |
ponds and streams will hold up loads |
without breaking the ice, long and low |
sled is backed under stack until its |
center of gravity is approximately above !
the middle Of the sled, when the corner /
poles are cut away and the stack is ready /
to be moved without breaking bulk. With |
a few stout lines over the top and made |
fast to the sled, the hay can be hauled i
for miles over very rough roads without |
danger of mishap.
cross baby have found CAscAswEET a boon and |
60 hob