COUNTRY LIFE

The New Haymaking In twenty-one districts at any rate, and perhaps in others, haymaking began in the first or .second week of May. Such an early date was unknown a few years ago, is still unknown to the general farmer, for the art and science of haymaking have undergone a revolution. You can infer the revolution from a glimpse at the finished product. The new hay remains as green as the grass that is waiting to be cut. It has faded not at all. Your first impression is that the verdancy has been even enhanced. And you may infer a second and more important thing from this surprising unbleached greenness: the hay has lost none of the virtue that was inherent in the grass. The only thing that differ- entiates the hay from the grass is the subtraction of the greater part of the moisture. Last week I watched with very grelit interest the progress of this new haymaking ; and the whole subject is worth particular attention, for a real advance-in the science of husbandry is involved.

Young Grass All graziers know that young grass is richer in nutrim-nt than-old grass. The chemists who have analysed grasses have. more than corroborated the practical experience ; and it follows that if you can preserve young grass, as in the past old grass has been preserved, you will store a fodder rich in nutrient food, indeed so rich that the animals who eat it may be able to do without any of the concentrated food, known generally as " cake." The young grass contains the essential nutriment belonging to these expensive products, supplied by linSeed or what not. This fact has been common knOwledge for some while ; and in consequence the inventors —at Okiord. and at Jelotts Hill for example—have been very y designing machines which shall dry young grass without taking away its virtue. The chemists have worked with:the:engineers. They have produced nitrogenous man- ures so potent that they can give a long succession of young grasses from the same plot ; and a system of progressive grazing from

been 4esigned and works well. But a winter

as well as a summer food is needed : hay is essential. Hence the drying machines. One of these machines, of which much iS-expected,. has been blessed by the I.C.I. and a score are now in operation; They Can diy and bale—a most important part of the operation—about two tons of hay

within the day. . .

The Atli of Drying The -ideal height for the hay crop is put at five inches before the -seed has formed and begun to take good out of' the grass, which is carted direct to the drier. Rain does not much affect the process, for the superficial moisture is very much more easily dispersed than the inner moisture. Each field. is hayed twice or three times within the year. One advantage of the method is that the cuttings, say, from recreation grounds or golf links, are as valuable as any other grasi especially designed for the purpose. As Bottom said : "Good 'hay, sweet hay bath no fellow " ; and the very sweetest of hay man ever smelt came off the back of bunkers! The 'drier, that I saw in operation was on a fruit farm in the West ; "and I should think that the new system would be especially. valuable in orchard districts where the grass is difficult to dealwith and very often cannot be hayed in the traditional manner, partly because of the shade of the trees. We may, I think, take it as certain that in Britain as on the Continent the drying of fodder crops will b..22ome a regular part of the routine of the farm. Probably the biggest in existence is on the farms of Parker and Procter in Norfolk, and the experimental work done there (especially perhaps in the treatment of alfalfa) is likely to be of real service to the industry. Which sort of drier is the best, I do not know ; but the latest seems to do its work well.

Man and Machine

The machine, so to say, is not very mechanical ; that is to say, a. good deal of handwork and fork work is included in the process. The wet green grass is spread on broad trays--of which there are four—passed into a compartment where hot air is forced through them ; and at the end the green grass (containing only about 7 per cent. of moisture)

is thrust into a baler, where it is compressed and tied with metal bands. Each truss weighs in the neighbourhood of MO lbs. The machines arc of several sizes. The biggest, with necessary additions and a sort of Dutch barn covering. would cost nearly £1,009. The proof of the pudding is, as always, in the eating. If these green bales prove to be as nutritious or nearly as nutritious as concentrates, the saving in farm expenses where stock arc kept should make the system economic. The weather at any rate is completely defeated. The scene of the operation was attractive. The quick, vigorous work on either side of the drying chamber suggested what one may call a factory standard of energy. The slowness of the old heavy horses bringing in the grass almost irritated the men at work about the machine, who were anxious to keep their tale of completed bales up to the desired standard. The smell of new-mown hay, always one of the sweetest in the country scene, was accented. You enjoyed the quintessence. Outside the ordinary horse-drawn mower was being used, but experiments are also being made with a motor mower which can dodge round the orchard trunks and under the boughs as the horses and the widge- blade cannot. A very careful record is being kept of the Weight of hay produced in the dried form and of its efficiency as a complete fodder. It is possible that even three cuttings under the new system will not give a greater bulk of hay than one cutting under the old, but there can hardly be any doubt that the sum of nutrient value will be greatly higher. It will be interesting to see the effect of early and repeated cutting on the hayfield weeds. It will certainly put an end to the annuals and biennials.

* Half-and-Half Trees A quaint phenomenon, watched for many seasons in a We it- country orchard, has appeared with emphasis this summer. Certain apple trees blossom and bear fruit every year, but the same side of the tree does not flower freely in consecutive years. This year one of these trees was a mass of bloom on the south-west side and very nearly b tre of blossom on the north-east. Last year the contrast was reversed. TI:c eccentricity is " a thing that men of science boggle at." It is as mysterious as what is known as bud-variation. It was in the same neighbourhood that one single shoot of a Cox's orange pippin bore the bright red fruit that has now come to be regarded as a popular variety. All the grafts taken from this one shoot and its descendants have been true to this quality of redness which does not normally belong to the Cox, though it is sometimes induced by ingenious treat- ment after the fruit is picked.

Blossoming Dates There is a West-country doggerel verse that runs more or

less as follows :

" If the blossom comes in March For apples you will have to search.

If the blossom comes in April You may gather a bag full.

If the blossom -comes in May

You may gather apples every day."

One may hope that for this year at any rate the prognostic will come true. The apple blossom is very late indeed in most (though not quite all) districts. It is not generally very profuse ; but a small blossoming that sets well gives much more fruit than a free blossoming that has been at all frosted. The verse, though it prevails in the west, says

nothing about the likely issues of June blossom And this

year many sorts of cider apple will not open their buds for another three weeks or so. Perhaps June oily be made to rhyme with good fortune. Last May, on the 17th. we suffered one of the most devastating frosts in the annals ; but it is the considered opinion of sonic orchard specialists that the loss of their crops-did the trees good rather than harm. Spring

is late, but has so galloped that lost ground is made good, and after all the month of May will be merry with May blossom : the quicks are glorious.

W. I3Escn 'Pavans,