MAKING HAY. ("National Live-Stock Journal.")

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2081, 3 January 1879, Page 2 (Supplement)

MAKING HAY. ("National Live-Stock Journal.")

(iood hay forms 90 important a. part in the economy of stock raising, that we cannot too earnestly nor too often urge the necessity of securing it in the best possible condition. " Made hay while the sun shines" is an old maxim ; but there is such a thing as getting too much hot sun for the good of the hay. It requires thorough drying ; but it should be got into winrows and heaps just as soon as can be done with safety, and should never be left to bleach in the sun after it is dry enough to be safely put in the barn or in the The superiority of early cut hay over that permitted to ripen on the stalk has been so thoroughly demonstrated, and so often alluded to, in these columns, that we scarcely deem it necessary to again call attention to it; but it seems that in this, as well as in other matters, farmers need '' line upon line, and precept upon preceipt." It is so much easier to cure the grass after it has ripened, that the temptation is so very strong to postpone the cutting upon that ground solely ; but it is a mistaken economy, as by this the properties that make the hay palatable as well as nutritious are seriously impaired. Scientific herbalists have laid it down as a rule that medicinal plants should be gathered when infulljlower, and dried in ike shade, in order to obtain their highest virtues; and the same rule holds true in preserving the nutritive and palatable properties of grass in the form of hay. It is more difficult, of course, to cure it when cut at this season than when permitted to dry on the stalk, but its value is so much the greater, that it will amply repay all the extra labor required. One objection that we have often heard : urged against cutting timothy when in flower is, that when cut at this season, the pollen from the flower permeates the dry hay with an impalpable powder or dust, which is very hurtful to horses. We have ourself sometime! experienced inconveniences from this source ; and when the hay is intended for horses, we prefer cutting it just as the blossom has fallen oft", "or just before it makes its appearance. But if the hay be thoroughly cured before being placed in^the mow, or stack, but little inconvenience will be experienced from the pollen, even though it be cut when in full flower —the period when its nutritive value is unquestionably at 'its maximum. Most of the dust found in early-cut hay is caused by mould, resulting from imperfect curing, rather than from the blossom.