VOL. XXXI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JUNE 6, 1896.
NO. 23
EXPERIENCE "DEPARTMENT.
Cutting and Curing Hay.
lst Premium.—Botany tells us that
grass with immature seeds, when
the seeds are in the dough stage,
contains the greatest amount; of
such constituents as furnish energy
and tissue building for the working, animal, without having.the mechanical effect eo noticeably in row.en. With ideal
weather, cool and somewhat cloudy—cut
in the morning after dew is off, and win -
row and place in cocks before the night
dew falls upon it. Qover with cloth*, or
paper caps with an opening as a stake
would make _through the center. Let
cock stand for a day or two.: It will then
be ready to stow away In the mow. The
I green color, the aroma flavor, so liked by
the animals will remain in the hay. The
moisture that remains will not set up fermentation and heat. The reasons for cutting and curing hay in this the ideal way
are briefly these: Hay in the dough
stage contains more digestible nitrogen'
, oas material in proportion to the digestible carbohydrates, and less\ of . the ■ indigestible woody fiber. If grass is out when
dewis on the sweet aroma evaporates
with the surface moisture and may even
discolor the hay. If slow curing can take
I place the moisture contained, in stalk and
(leaf will pass} oft \by. transpirat"od,-Uh e
I water passes out of the plant when in the
I y«_-_d-is^>~^s>'.- Thn raoutrfr^tn'-the?stam
becomes exhausted through the leaves,
giving a natural process of., curing. If
placed for a long time in hot sun the hay
may be discolored, the leaves soon wilt
and thus destroy the natural -process of
transpiration and leave a great deal of
1 moisture in the stem which can only] escape by evaporation from-the surface or
will remain to be stored in bulk, and
there produce fermentation and heat that
olten produces so much injury. When
capped at night the cocks continue their
curing process, transpiration continues;
the moisture through evaporation passes
to the top and escapes through the opening through center of cock and cap. This
process .would not be considered a practical one. The weather is too uncertain,
too much time and labor is involved, and
will not allow our modern haying tools,
especially the faithful hay loader to take
apart Taking the weather as we have
it in Indiana, I> would-put off cutting tim-
1 othy until July lst, if possible to get
through by the 10th or 12. As a rule we
have more settled weather at that time.
I The hay is in its seeding stage. Cut even-
1 ing before and rake in winrows and store
in the barn on the following evening. If
I hay is heavy it will need tedding to cure
1 it well, if possible do not aliow cured
I hay to get dew or rain upon it, as it takes
I away the desirable green color, the aroma
land soluable food material. If neces-
Isary haul in on the green order and scat-
I ter about the loft or salt it The salt will
Isbsorb the surplus moisture and prevent
|the action of microdems that causes fer-
I mentation, induce chemical changes that
I He so injurious to nutritions and palat-
I able fodder. Salt will act on uncured hay
lin a way similar to its action on uncured
lweats, absorbing the moisture and mak-
1*1": the material an undesirable place for
|pntrefactive bacteria. W. B. A.
Tippecanoe Co. -
-d Premium.—The question necessarily
%lies all kinds of hay; the clovers and
:h grasses as are used for fodder.
x5*her for,best results should be cut
mo*h before nor after-maturity.   If cut
re ripe the hay will be light and de-
Ibeil
IficieW in nutrition. If after"the result
Iwillfce pretty much the same; and harsh
Itm. U ln addltton'~ Stock -will eat it
ITUh reluctance. The heads of. olover
l^U \bewe-- downed before cutting,
Ik rr a8ses ~*ave shed t~~e-*-bloom and
I metlitag more.. Fullness of maturity is
the right stage for cutting either and will
be readily discernable^with some experience. It endures more than a single hour
or day. Exposure to excessive sunshine
is unnecessary and injurious. -Six hours
of good sunshine will be'sufficient to cure
most hdy, provided if it be heavy, it be
well-shaken up and exposed in every part
to the sun and air. * All exposure to dew
and rain should if possible, be avoided. So
long.as'cut hay is uncured these will do
no injury. Unless hay can be raked • and
shocked the day it is cut it should not be
cut until in the evening. Injury by-the
night's dews will thus be avoided. The
grasses will not injure "if put in mow
slightly moist. "ltis safest they be dry,
however. If the weather be humid or in
the least drizzly when clover is mowed it
will surely mold "and spoil. If it lacks
something of being well cured it will not
injure if placed compactly in a close loft
or mow, excluding all air as much as possible.- The grasses well stacked will keep
in the open field. The clovers must have
shelter. ... X. Y.
Clark Co.
3d Premium.—The art of making hay is
not fully understood by many, and as
this product comprises the main product
of the farm, too little attention is given
to the snbject Statistics will show, that
in the year 1893 there were raised in the
United States over 65,000,000 tons of hay,
worth twice the value'of the wheat -crop.
proper putting up of. hay is a. very material factor, and this is especially true
when hay is put up for the market, when
buyers are , critical ahd exacting. The
value of bay lies in its likeness to grass.
With the changing of the times no doubt
we shall learn to take better care. of our
hay in the curing, getting rid of the extra
moisture, by methods which will leave
more of the aroma and nutrients in the
stems and leaves which go to make up
the hay. If the farmer is feeding for
mere subsistence early cutting is more
expensive, but if the best returns out of
his stock is his aim early cut hay is just
what he wants. Timothy should-be cut
while the seed is in the milk- stage, and
clover when in full bloom, when the first
heads begin to turn brown, if the weather
is suitable. Hay should never be cut
when wet with either dew or rain. It
will dry off much more rapidly while
standing, and cutting while... wet only
tends to complicate matters. You must
consult it as to how long it will take your,
hay to cure, and how much you had better
cut down before you commence putting it
up. The best plan is to cut on'a* sunny
day as soon as the due is off. If the
swaths are heavy the tedder. should be
run through when the top has partially
wilted, and when the whole is cured (not
sunburned as.is often the case), it is
drawn as soon as possible to the barn or
stack. All the hay should be put under
shelter, but when it is necessary to stack
it the work should be done by one who
understands his business. Hay should
be sold or fed within a year after cutting
it, as it loses in weight and feeding value.
Precisely, as * a large amount of human
food is spoiled by bad cookery, so is a
large amount of hay rendered valueless
by the way it is made. • J. H.
Dearbprn Co.
In the first place hay should never be
allowed to get too ripe before cutting, as
over ripe hay is too woody. I think
clover should be cut when in full bloom,1
but timothy could stand till the bloom
begins to fall off, but not too much.
Where a field has mixed hay it is best to"
watch and mow. to suit the largestpart of
the crop. Ked top will stand to' get riper
than any other ; hay without so much
damage to crop, but it does not yield as
much as clover or timothy. But red-
top is excellent for wet places and along
drains.    And as to curing of hay tbere is
a difference of opinion, but I think any
kind of hay should be let lay in the sunshine a few hours before mowing away
in the barn or stacking. And when put.
ting hay away sow some salt over it The
salt will help to keep it as well as to cause
the stock to relish it better.
Harrison Co. James D. Lemay. :
I could solve the problem of cutting and
curing hay in a few words if I knew when
it wes going to rain. I have a barometer
and with it and my own judgment I have
pretty good luck. I will begin with cloverr hay, cutting it when it Is in full
bloom. I cut one day and the nextday at
noon I rake in winrows and begin hauling right away, I aim to cut what I can
get in half a day at a time. I do not like
to have it out more than one night, as the
heavy dew is injurious to it. Neither do
I believe in storing hay in the mow green'.
I also cut timothy and red top while it is
in full bloom. By this time it is so hot
and dry I can cut it in the morning and
take it up in the evening. If it is right
heavy I use a hay tedder to scatter it It
is not necessary to mention the kind of
machinery used, as it is all good if rightly
handled. Benj. Williams, i
Harrison Co.   ' -..•■>
review. j
Good hay like good cooking is often not
obtained." It is a; child of skill and
promptness. "Of'course a fleshy plant
""ke clover is the hardest to cure right I
must commend especially two .points-
given by correspondents: ■ '/
1st To cut before too ripe and woody;
say when the bloom is one-third to one-
half browned on clover.
2d. To prevent "burning" the leaves
off and allow them to exhaust the sap.
Barley and oats straw is often cut for
hay, putting it up early enough to catch
the sugar in the straw, before it is made
into starch and stored in the seed. I
often cut hay soon after a shower while
wet, as we generally expect two or three
days of dry weather.
In very heavy clover there is always
external moisture present before cutting.
In sparsely timbered countries they do
not trim off the limbs of a fallen tree
until the leaves have evaporated the sap
and dried. I noticed recently sycamore
trees cut in winter with half grown green
leaves on them. This very much aids in
seasoning the timber. ..__.
A most common mistake in curing
clover is in cutting before noon in a hot
sunshine. The leaves crisp up dry, leaving the straw full of sap. If the weather
is cloudy it would not hurt to cut in.the
morning. If one cuts after noon the
leaves will not wilt enough to be blackened and damaged by the dew of the first
night The most of the sap will be removed by the green, slowly wilting leaves
by the next day noon, and if heavy, one
teddering will put it in nice condition to
rake before dew falls again. With a little
care one can throw the winrow so that
the butts will largely- protect. the mass
from dew, and next day the hay is well
cured and free from external and sap
moisture by 10 a. m. and ready to be
housed. By , this , method you save most
of the leaves color and aroma.
"Very heavy crops of all kinds may require * shocking, especially during the
earlier cuttings or catchy weather; and
light crops may be put up next day after
cutting. The sweat of hay in cocks is
sap moisture, which has passed out of the
stem'and could not reach the air. And
the reason cocked hay keeps so well is
because it has had time and shade during
which'this' moisture can escape. •• Cocks
are generally scattered'too much. If
lifted in flakes they will quickly dry of
this sweat moisture,! and should not be
too much exposed to the sun, as the hay
becomes harsh'and bfittle. ' ' •
'Icannot agree with .our friends who
recommend salting' or liming hay.  This
is an expedient used to patch up a bad
job of curing. I know many have faith
in it, but I think it is of no benefit, unless
it be to season and make palatable a bad
article of feed, and lime makes the straw
hard and brittle.
We often hear it recommended to cut
and mow green. A few days ago a large
farmer told me that he always did so, and
that if you didn't "allow it to wilt a bit"
it would keep a bright green. There
seems to be a ' certain happy condition,
when the plant is just ripe enough and
the weather quite dry, when it is possible
to cure in the mow.V Many who have
tried it say that the hay will be black
where trodden and thatsomeyears it will
spoil. Then it will shrink about half in
weight in curing, and it is not only safer
but easier to permit this water to pass off
before handling than after.
Clover has a nutritive ratio of about
one to six which is the normal balance of
nature's food, as in milk and young grass.
Timothy is one to 16 and corn one to 12. •
The editor wants a little talk with our
subscribers. We would all like for this
department to grow more chatty and rich
in experience. Its purpose is to be a sort
of heart to heart talk among farmers,
giving their method and experience in
various farm operations. It intends to
discuss each field topic just before time
for practical work. We have received
words of commendation from a number
of subscribers, some saying they especiallyenjoy its practicatsiiataGt-irj-othars-
say "I read every word of- the experience
department"
"We wish to hold all who have thus far
favored us with copy, and we are anxious
to secure a larger number of Writers,
especially on the less popular topics.
What was it you said to neighbor B this
morning about wild lettuce and white top
and burrs and ragweed? Well write it
down and send it in. If the grammar
iB'nt good we will correct it free. We
want your experience and will give you
ours in return and a premium of $1 for
best article, 75 cents for second and 50
cents for third.
The unpopular topics often don't get
many articles and you are nearly sure of
a premium. We forward all copy to press
on Thursday before printed. Considerable copy reaches us too late. Please give
address and county and write on one side
of the paper. Past favors much appreciated by E. H. Collins.
In the Parmer two weeks ago Mr. I. P.
Fislar criticises my objection to the custom of plowing under a feather bed of
rye or clover for a corn crop. I said it
cuts one's seedbed off from sub-soil moisture.
The gentleman says he has practiced it
for years with good success. Allow me to
say that I greatly appreciate such criticism. It also helps to bring out a more
perfect understanding.' I had two friends,
one near Fortville, Hancock county, and
one near this place, whose experience I
had in view. The first was a dairyman
and pastured rye till it headed, in Fall
creek bottom. The other allowed clover
to grow till about May 10th and turned
under. Both absolutely lost their crops
of corn.
The practice, however, of average years
is a good one. I aim in practice to turn
under a clover sod for corn or potatoes
every year. But I was illustrating the
great amount of evaporation from hard,
unbroken soil in these yery dry springs,
also the fact that our crops depend far
more on sub-soli moisture than on rain
fall, during - the growing season. Both
certainly prominent facts of agriculture,
and both'littleappreciated. , We so often
see farmers howling about dry, weather,
when theyihave flung to the,wind enough
moisture to make their seedbed fine and
damp if only rationally cared for. ......
Friend Fislar was fortunate in getting
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