Manual of agriculture, for the school, the farm, and the fireside . Fig. 36. 732. Besides mowing so much faster, the machine alsospreads the grass evenly, saving the labor of spreadingby hand. It also enables the farmer to cut all his grassnearer the proper time, and he is not obliged to let a partof it stand till it is too ripe. 733. After being cut, the grass should be frequentlyspread and turned, so as to dry as rapidly and asuniformly as possible. This may be done by hand with acommon fork, or by a machine called a hay-tedder, alight revolving cylinder set with tines and drawn by onehorse,
Manual of agriculture, for the school, the farm, and the fireside . Fig. 36. 732. Besides mowing so much faster, the machine alsospreads the grass evenly, saving the labor of spreadingby hand. It also enables the farmer to cut all his grassnearer the proper time, and he is not obliged to let a partof it stand till it is too ripe. 733. After being cut, the grass should be frequentlyspread and turned, so as to dry as rapidly and asuniformly as possible. This may be done by hand with acommon fork, or by a machine called a hay-tedder, alight revolving cylinder set with tines and drawn by onehorse, by means of which the grass may be constantlystirred and kept in motion, and much time and labormay be saved. 734. When grass is partially or wholly cured, it maybe raked by hand, or by a horse-rake (Fig. 37.) B^ 210 THE Fig. 37. using the horse-rake,one man and horse cando the work of ten menin the same time with-out it. Hay cut inthe forenoon should beraked before night,that it may not be ex-posed to the dews. 735. The time re-quired for curing haydepends partly on its ripeness when cut, and much onthe state of the weather. In good weather, if machineryis used, it may be cut in the morning after the dew hasrisen, and dried so as to be put into light cocks early inthe afternoon, or before the dews of evening. A slightopening to the sun for an hour or two the next day shoulddry it enough if it was cut while in blossom or before. 736. Grass cured rapidly and with the least exposure,is more nutritious than that cured more slowly and longerexposed to the sun. If dried too much, it contains moreuseless woody fibre and less nutriment. The moresucculent and juicy the hay, the more it is relished bycattle. 737. After the grass has been cut at the proper time,the true art of haymaking consists in curing it ju
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear1912
