The Little River news., 1915-08-21

ment of Agriculture)
 The cure given the hay crop has much to do with it's selling price on the city market. One of the greatest obstacles in the way of producing hay in the great agricultural sections of the South, which imports more than one-fifth of all the hay it uses, is the matter of curing. Rains are heavy in the South, and often come at har- vest time. Weather-stained hay un- less badly damaged is quite satisfac. tory as feed for farm stock, but there is strong prejudice against it in tie city markets. The following suggestions for curing southern hay are contained in United States Depart ment of Agriculture Farmers, Bulle tin No. 677, Growing Hay in the South for Market"
 The curing of grass hay in favorable weather is simple process. Curing is really combination of three proc esses, drying, fermentation and bleach ing. The first two processes are nee essary and desirable; the third is un. desirable, but in field curing it can not be entirely avoided To secure the best quality of hay the drying proc ess must not De too slow. To avoid uneven drying the familiar processes of tedding and cooking are commonly employed.
 Tedding is simply the turning or scattering of the cut grass after it is partially dry on top. It may be done by hand with a pitchfork or, pref erably, by horse-drawn machine called tedder. When the crop is very heavy, the grass is sometimes tedded when i.ssthe swath but usua ly not until after it has been raked into windrows
 Cooking consists of putting the par tially cured hay into small piles The object is twofold: D It reduces the surface exposed to moisture that may fall upon it, either as dew or rain, and CD, it evens up the dry ing, for the reason that the relatively dry leaves continue to draw water from the moister stems. Incidentally, cooking also reduces the amount of bleaching.
 In unfavorable weather the labor of curing hay is much increased, as the cock, until sufficiently dry, should be spread at each favorable opportunity and recocked again in the evening or when rain threatens. If ha..' that is not sufficiently dry be placed in the barn or stack it is likely to become moldy and dusty.
 Cut hay should never be handled while wet with rain or dew. AS the surface of the hay, if lying in the swath, is the part which was best cured before the rain, it is in the best position to dry promptly. If in the windrow, the stirring of the hay would bring the surface moisture il. contact with the drier hay beneath, by which 1t would be readily absorbed
 Bale Hay Only When Sweating Is
 Completed.
 The fermentation of hay takes place during the process of drying, and be. cause of it the characteristic sweet odor is developed. The process is accompanied by the formation of heat, which is particularly noticeable in the later stages of curing in the cock, the stack, or mow. The final stage of fermentation s called sweating The process of sweating continues for a considerable period And hay should nover be baled until the sweating has ceased. If for any reason curing be long protracted the hay becomes bleached or weather-stained and loses most of its aroma.
 Legumes, with the exception of lespedeza, are far more difficult to cure than grasses. This is due large ly to their solid, more succulent stems, and to the fact that the leaves shed readily if the curing process is delayed, so that much of the leafage, the most nutritious part of the hay, is lost. Furthermore. legume hay ab- sorbs rain or dew more readily, both in the windrow and in the cock Fin ally, legume hay is very apt to heat excessively in the sweating process if put in the stack or mow when not sufficiently cured. This heating is often sufficient to char the hay in the center and sometimes to cause fires Legume hay should therefore never be put into barn when half cured
 Curing may be considered completed when the stems are apparently dry. Ia this state wisp of the hay is dry enough to rattle if gently shaken and breaks readily when tightly twisted in the hand.
 Special Devices for Hay Curing.
 To hasten the drying of Lay and to prevent the injury of half-cured hay by rain, several devices often used are helpful and are here described. but each neeessitates additional labor. Various forms of hay caps to protect