Year: 1871

grass, in blossom, contains about sew


enty per cent Of water. Well-cureC
hay, that has been in the stack Ol


NOV six or eight months, usually con


tains about fifteen per cent of water


The best hay is nothing more or les


than grass, minus four-fifths Of ii


water.


Mr.. Lawes found that a single clo


yer plant. which when tand dried


weighed 2O4} grains, evapOrated every


day, on the average, from May 18th Z


June 18th, l,473f grains of water. II


other words, an acre of clover thai


would afford one ton OF dry hay
1 evaporates about seven tons Of watel


per day for the month previous to Ii
being cut. After if Is cut, and vher


we want to make it into hay, we only


ask this same clover to evaporate some
] thing less than three tons OF water
/ or less than half what it evaporatec


per day while It vas growing.


There are two reasons why watel


will not evapOrats as rapidly after the
| grass is cut and lying on the ground


as it will when growing. There is
less surface exposed to the sun and ali
and the supply OF water from the roots


being cut off, the grass, after few
hours exposure, is not so full OF sap,
and the pores Of the leaves probably
| became more or less closed. One
hundred pounds OF cut grass, contain
ing say seventy-five pounds Of water,
would part with the first twenty-five
pounds much more rapidly than with
the second twenty-five pounds; and
nothing but an exposure to the heat
of water-bath for twenty-four hours
would remove the last twenty-five
pounds. @


If we would run the knife OF a
moving machine under the grass, and
dissever its connection with the roots
so ,deftly that the grass remained
standing in the same position as when
growing, the first twenty-five per
cent of water would, in q dry day, pass
of with great Tapidity. If the grass
was two feet high itwOuld have an at
mospheric exposure two hundred and
eighty-eight times as great as II 1t lay
fiat on the ground. OF course this
can not be done; but, at any rate, we
should aim to approximate as closely
as possible Shaking out the hay,
and letting it lie as high and as light





mand. And the more frequently it
is stirred, the lighter it will lie, and
the faster it will dry. And the soon
er this operation is done after the hay
Is cut, the better, as q far larger guam
tity of water can be got rid of the
first hour than the second, and in the
second than the third. But in prae-
tiee this will not be attained unless
the hay is constantly stirred and kept
light, for the grass is so full of sap
that il lies fiat on the ground, and pre-
sents but a comparatively small sur
face to the atmosphere. 1t is here
that a tedding machine is so useful
Even q steel-tOOthed rake that will
pull the hay into small windows five
or six feet apart, is very useful, and
should be kept constantly at work
ANY thing that will stir the grass, and
expose IL to the air, will greatly facili-
tate the curing process. There Is no
danger Of drying the hay too much,
If Il is only done rapidly.


We have the best climate in the
world for curing hay. But our pro-
eesses should be adapted to our eli
mate. We must strike out plan our
selves, and especially guard against
the Evolutionary ideas transmitted to
US from Great Britain and Western
Europe, where the climate is moist,
the process Of curing slow and tedi-
Gus. There hay can remain in the
sWarth undisturbed for several days,
in moist weather, without injury
The same thing could be done here,
provided the weather was so cool and
moist that the grass did not wilt
When the grass is fresh and full Of
sap, heavy dew or rain will not in
jure it. But let il wilt a few hours,
and the gum which eneRses the sugar
in the flowers, and keeps It from be-
ing dissolved while the grass or clover
is growing, is decompOsed, and then
q heavy dew will dissolve the sugar
and damage the hay. -s- B


Our own plan is to start a couple Of
moving machines about four o'clock
in the afternoon and keep cutting un-
til sundOwn. The dew viii not in
lure this freshly cut grass. And we
think there is this additional advan-
tage. The growing grass is constant
ly pumping up water from the soil and
evapOrating it through its leaves into
the atmosphere. During a hot day
the leaves evaporate more than the
roots can supply, and the plants wilt;
but during the night evaporation is
partially suspended, and the roots fill
the plants again.with water. If cut
early in the morning there is much
more water in the grass than there
would have been If it was cut the
evening previous. We have shown
that even a lightcrop Of clover evapo-
rates seven tons of water per day, and
though the fact has not, so far as we
are aware, been experimentally deter
it is not difficult to believe
that we might have a ton or more
less water to get rid OF in hay cut in
the afternoon of a hot day than IL it
was allowed to grow until the next
morning.


Allowing hay to sweat in the eockT
is all very we'll when it can not be
avoided. 1t is one Of the traditions
handed down from a generation that
had no moving machines or tedders, I
and had its origin in q climate where
the western winds came loaded with
the moisture of the Atlantic. Cure
the hay rapidly, and get it into the !
barn at once IL possible, but IL neees- |
sATy to allow it to remain out through !
the night, after it is partially cured, |
put it into snug cocks and open them |
again the next morning, IL necessary, /
after the dew is off; keep turning it |
until it is cured, and drawn in. Keep |
the steel-toOthed rake at work when
ever there is an opportunity. No hay /
should be LEFT exposed on the ground /
ovar nfoht Our raEinUa are often
spoiled from neglecting this simple
rule.


The prettiet way OF drawing in hay
where there Is force enough, is with
three wagons IftheTe are only two
teams available, the driver, when he
has drawn his load to the stack or
barn, takes of his team and puts itOn
10 the empty wagon and goes to the
field for another load. Where the
drivers do not unload they can load
'Or two pitchers, as they rest one third
II the time, driving back and forth
% the field. Two men to pitch, and
Two to load and drive lone on each
HagOn), ought to send four loads an
hour to to the barn all day. We have
irawn in twenty-five loads of clover
lay in an afternoon with one pitcher
md three wagons. There is one
wagon at the barn, one going back
md forth, and one in the field all the
line. AS soon as the pitcher is thro'
With one wagon, there should be an
,ther one all ready for the next cock.
With an unloading hOrse-fOrk there
would be no delay at the barn, and
he amount of hay drawn Is deter