Part 36

One of the Causes why St. Foin, that is properly drill’d, lasteth longer without Manure than the sown, is, That the former neither over nor understocks the Pasture; and the latter commonly, if not always, doth one or the other, if not both; viz. Plants too thick in some Places, and too thin in others; either ’tis not single, but in Bunches; or if it be single, ’tis too thin; it being next to impossible to have the Plants come true and regular, or nearly so, by sowing at random. Plants too thick soon exhaust the Pasture they reach, which never is more than a small Part of that below the Staple: When the Plants are too thin, the St. Foin cannot be said to last at all, because it never is a Crop.

I have now a great many single St. Foin Plants in my Fields, that are near Thirty Years of Age, and yet seem as young and vigorous as ever; and yet it is common for thick St. Foin to wear out in Nine or Ten Years, and in poor Land much sooner, if not often manured by Soot, Peat-Ash, or Coal-Ash.

They who sow Eight or Ten Bushels of good Seed on an Acre, in a good Season, among their Corn, with Intent that by its Thickness it should kill other Grass, reduce their St. Foin almost to that poor Condition I have seen it in, where it grows naturally wild without sowing or Tillage, upon the Calabrian Hills near Croto: It makes there such a despicable Appearance, that one would wonder how any body should have taken it in their Head to propagate so unpromising a Plant; and yet there has scarce been an Exotic brought to England in this or the last Age, capable of making a greater or more general Improvement, were it duly cultivated.

Some think the Cytisus would exceed it; but I am afraid the Labour of shearing those Shrubs by the Hands of English Servants, would cost too much of its Profit.

Luserne, requiring more Culture, and being much more difficult to be fitted with a proper Soil, never can be so general as St. Foin.

But now let us consider the best Methods of ordering St. Foin for Hay and Seed. The Profit of St. Foin Fields, arising from either of these Ways, is a great Advantage to their Owner, above that of natural Meadows; for, if Meadow-hay cannot have good Weather to be cut in its Season, it can serve for little other Use than as Dung, and yet the Expence of mowing it, and carrying it off must not be omitted. But if there be not Weather to cut St. Foin before blossoming, we may expect it till in Flower, or may stay till the Blossoms are off; and if it still rain on, may stand for Seed, and turn to as good Account as any of the former: So that it has Four Chances to One of the Meadow.

The elevated, but not mountainous, Situation of the dry Land whereon St. Foin is mostly planted, renders it so commodious for making of Hay, that it escapes there the Injury of Weather, when Hay in low Meadows is utterly spoil’d.

On the high Ground the Wind will dry more in an Hour, than on the Meadows in a whole Day. The Sun too has a more benign Influence above, and sends off the Dew about Two Hours earlier in the Morning, and holds it up as much longer in the Evening. By these Advantages the St. Foin has the more Time to dry, and is made with half the Expence of Meadow-hay.

But before the Manner of making it be describ’d, the proper Time of cutting it ought to be determin’d; and upon that depend the Degrees of its Excellence (besides upon the Weather, which is not in our Power); for tho’ all Sorts of this Hay, if well made, be good, yet there is a vast Difference and Variety in them.

The several Sorts may be principally distinguish’d by the following Terms; viz. First, The Virgin. Secondly, The Blossom’d. Thirdly, The Full-grown. And, Fourthly, The Thresh’d Hay.

The First of these is best of all, beyond Comparison; and (except Luserne) has not in the World its Equal. This must be cut before the Blossoms appear: For when it stands till full-blown, the most spirituous, volatile, and nourishing Parts of its Juices are spent on the next Generation; and this being done all at once, the Sap is much depauperated, and the St. Foin can never recover that Richness it had in its Virgin State. And tho’, when in Blossom, it be literally in the Flower of its Age, ’tis really in the Declension of it. If it be said, that what is not in the Stalk is gone into the Flower, ’tis a Mistake; because much the greatest Part of its Quintessence perspires thence into the Atmosphere.

And moreover, That all Vegetables are, in some Degree, weaken’d by the Action of continuing their Kind, may be inferr’d from those Plants which will live several Years, if not suffer’d to blossom; but, whenever they blossom, it causes their Death, tho’ in the first Year of their Life. For in Plants (as Dr. Willis observes in Animals) Nature is more solicitous to continue the Species, than for the Benefit of the Individual.

Part of a drill’d St. Foin Ground was cut the Beginning of May, before blossoming; and from the Time of cutting, until it was set up in Ricks, being about Ten Days, the Sun never shone upon it; but the Weather was misty: At last it was forc’d to be carried together for fear of Rain, so green, that out of the largest Stalks one might wring milky Juice; yet by making the Hay up in several little Ricks, and drawing up a great Chaff Basket in the Middle of each, its Firing was prevented; but it look’d of a dark Colour by heating; and was the very best Hay that ever I had.

By cutting before blossoming, is not meant before any one Blossom appears; for here and there a Bud will begin to open with a red Colour long before the rest: Therefore, when we perceive only a very few Blossoms beginning to open (perhaps but One of a Thousand), we regard them as none.

This also was an Advantage to this Hay; for Apothecaries find, that Herbs dried in the Shade retain much more of their Virtue than these dried in the Sun; but Farmers not having any such Conveniency of drying their Hay in the Shade with Safety, must always choose to dry it by the Sun; because in cloudy Weather there is Danger of Rain; and therefore such excellent Hay must be had by Chance; for to be well made in the Shade, it must be in Danger of being spoiled or damaged by Rain.

This Hay, so cut before blossoming, has kept a Team of working Stone-horses, round the Year, fat without Corn; and when tried with Beans and Oats mixed with Chaff, they refused it for this Hay. The same fatted some Sheep in the Winter, in a Pen, with only it and Water; they thrived faster than other Sheep at the same time fed with Pease and Oats. The Hay was weighed to them, and the clear Profit amounted to Four Pounds per Tun. They made no Waste. Tho’ the Stalks were of an extraordinary Bigness, they would break off short, being very brittle. This grew on rich Ground in Oxfordshire.

The other Part of the Ground was afterwards cut in the Prime of its Flower, and made into Hay by the Heat of the Sun, without Rain or Mist: This came out of the Ricks at Winter with a much finer Colour, and as fine a Smell as the Virgin Hay; but did not come near it in fatting of Sheep, or keeping Horses fat at hard Work without any Corn, as the Virgin Hay did.

This superfine Hay cannot well be had of poor uncultivated St. Foin: because that may not be much above an Handful high, when ’tis in Condition to be so cut; and would then make a very light Crop, and would be a great while ere it sprang up again: But the rich will have Two or Three Tun to an Acre, and spring again immediately for a second Crop; so that little or no Quantity would be lost by so great an Improvement of its Quality. For ho’d St. Foin upon a poor chalky Hill, cut at the same time with that uncultivated on a rich Valley, does in dry Weather grow again without Delay, when the Valley attends a Month or more for a Rain, to excite its vegetative Motion.

I reckon Manure of Peat-Ashes, Soot, or the like, to be a Culture.

This Hay the Owner (if he be wise) will not sell at any common Price; but endeavour to have some of it every Year, if possible, for his own Use.

The Second Sort of St. Foin Hay is that cut in the Flower; and tho’ much inferior to the Virgin Hay, it far exceeds any other Kind, as yet commonly propagated in England; and if it be a full Crop, by good Culture, may amount to above three Tun to an Acre. This is that St. Foin which is most commonly made; and the larger it is, the more nourishing for Horses. I have known Farmers, after full Experience, go Three Miles to fetch the largest stalky St. Foin, when they could have bought the small fine leafy Sort of it at home, for the same Price by the Tun.

The next and last Sort of St. Foin that is cut only for Hay, is, the full-grown, the Blossoms being gone, or going off: This also is good Hay, tho’ it fall short, by many Degrees, of the other Two Sorts: It makes a greater Crop than either of them, because it grows to its full Bulk, and shrinks little in drying.

This gives the Owner a Third Chance of having Weather to make good Hay, and spins out the Hay-Season ’till about Midsummer; and then in about a Fortnight, or Three Weeks; after the Hay is finish’d, the Seed is ripe. But, first, of the manner of making St. Foin Hay.

In a Day or Two after St. Foin is mow’d, it will, in good Weather, be dry on the upper Side: Then turn the Swarths, not singly, but Two and Two together; for by thus turning them in Pairs, there is a double Space of Ground betwixt Pair and Pair, which needs but once raking; whereas, if the Swarths were turn’d singly, that is, all the same Way, suppose to the East or West, then all the Ground will require to be twice raked; at least, more of it, than the other Way.

As soon as both Sides of the Swarths are dry from Rain and Dew, make them up into little Cocks the same Day they are turn’d, if conveniently you can; for when ’tis in Cock, a less Part of it will be exposed to the Injuries of the Night, than when in Swarth.

Dew, being of a nitrous penetrating Nature, enters the Pores of those Plants it reaches, and during the Night possesses the Room from whence some Part of the Juices is dry’d out: Thus it intimately mixes with the remaining Sap; and, when the Dew is again exhal’d, it carries up most of the vegetable Spirits along with it, which might have been there fix’d, had they not been taken away in that subtile Vehicle.

If St. Foin be spread very thin upon the Ground, and so remain for a Week in hot Weather, the Sun and Dew will exhaust all its Juices, and leave it no more Virtue than is in Straw.

Therefore ’tis best to keep as much of our Hay as we can from being exposed to the Dews, whilst ’tis in making; and we have a better Opportunity of doing it in this, than in natural Hay; because the bigger the Cocks are, the less Superficies (in proportion to the Quantity they contain) will be exposed to the Dew, and St. Foin may be safely made in much larger Cocks than natural Hay of equal Dryness can, which, sinking down closer, excludes the Air so necessary for keeping it sweet, that if the Weather prevents its being frequently mov’d and open’d, it will ferment, look yellow, and be spoil’d. Against this Misfortune there is no Remedy, but to keep it in the lesser Cocks, until thoroughly dry. St. Foin Cocks (twice as big as Cocks of natural Hay), by the less Flexibility of the Stalk admitting the Air, will remain longer without fermenting.