Part 37

This being able to endure more Days unmov’d, is also an Advantage upon another Account besides the Weather; for tho’ in other Countries, People are not prohibited using the necessary Labour on all Days for preserving their Hay, even where the certainer Weather makes it less necessary than here, yet ’tis otherwise in England; where many a Thousand Load of natural Hay is spoil’d by that Prohibition for want of being open’d; and often, by the Loss of one Day’s Work, the Farmer loses his Charges, and Year’s Rent; which shews, that to make Hay while the Sun shines, is an exotic Proverb against English Laws; whereunto St. Foin being, in regard of Sundays and Holidays, more conformable, ought to be the Hay as proper to England as those Laws are.

But to return to our Hay-makers: When the first Cocks have stood one Night, if nothing hinder, let them double, treble, or quadruple the Cocks, according as all Circumstances require, in this manner; viz. Spread Two, Three, or more, together, in a fresh Place; and after an Hour or Two turn them, and make that Number up into one Cock; but when the Weather is doubtful, let not the Cocks be thrown or spread, but inlarge them, by shaking several of them into one; and thus hollowing them to let in the Air, continue increasing their Bulk, and diminishing their Number daily, until they be sufficiently dry to be carried to the Rick.

This I have found the most secure Way: Tho’ it be something longer in making, there is much less Danger than when a great Quantity of Hay is spread at once; for then a sudden Shower will do more Harm to one Acre of that, than to Twenty Acres in Cock.

And the very best Hay I ever knew in England, was of St. Foin made without ever spreading, or the Sun’s shining on it. This Way, tho’ it be longer ere finish’d, is done with less Labour than the other.

Not only a little Rain, but even a Mist, will turn Clover Hay black; but St. Foin will not with any Weather turn black, until it be almost rotten, its Leaves being thinner than those of Clover.

If St. Foin be laid up pretty green, it will take no Damage, provided it be set in small round Ricks, with a large Basket drawn up in the Middle of each, to leave a Vent-hole there, thro’ which the superfluous Moisture of the Hay transpires.

As soon as its Heating is over, these Ricks ought to be thatch’d; and all St. Foin Ricks, that are made when the Hay is full dry’d in the Cocks, ought to be thatch’d immediately after the making them.

That which is laid up most dry’d, will come out of the Rick of a green Colour, that which has much heated in the Rick, will have a brown Colour.

The Seed is a Fourth Chance the Owner has to make Profit of his St. Foin: But this, if the Hoeing-Husbandry were general, would not be vendible in great Quantities for planting; because an ordinary Crop of an Acre will produce Seed enough to drill an Hundred Acres, which would not want replanting in a long Time.

The other Use then of this Seed is for Provender; and it has been affirmed by some, who have made Trials of it, that Three Bushels of good St. Foin Seed given to Horses, will nourish them as much as Four Bushels of Oats. When well order’d, it is so sweet, that most Sorts of Cattle are greedy of it. I never knew so much of it given to Hogs, as to make them become fat Bacon; but I have known Hogs made very good Pork with it, for an Experiment; and being valued at the Beginning of their feeding, and the Pork by the Score when the Hogs were kill’d, which, computed with the Quantity of Seed they eat, did not amount to near the Value of the same Seed sold for sowing; that being Three Shillings per Bushel, and the Profit made by giving it to the Hogs was but Two Shillings a Bushel.

The Goodness of the Seed, and of the Hay out of which it is thresh’d, depends very much upon the manner of ordering them.

This thresh’d Hay, when not damaged by wet Weather, has been found more nourishing to Horses than coarse Water-meadow Hay; and, when ’tis cut small by an Engine, is good Food for Cattle, and much better than Chaff of Corn.

It requires some Experience in it, to know the most proper Degree of Ripeness, at which the seeded St. Foin ought to be cut; for the Seed is never all ripe together; some Ears blossom before others; every Ear begins blossoming at the lower Part of it, and so continues gradually to do upward for many Days; and before the Flower is gone off the Top, the Bottom of the Ear has almost fill’d the Seeds that grow there; so that if we should defer cutting until the top Seeds are quite ripe, the lower, which are the best, would shed, and be lost.

The best time to cut is, when the greatest Part of the Seed is well fill’d, the first-blown ripe, and the last blown beginning to be full.

The natural Colour of the Kernel, which is the real Seed, is grey or bluish when ripe; and the Husk, which contains the Seed is, when ripe, of a brownish Colour. Both Husk and Seed continue perfectly green for some time after full-grown; and if you open the Husk, the Seed will appear exactly like a green Pea when gather’d to boil, and will, like that, easily be split into Two Parts. Yet St. Foin Seed in this green Plight will ripen after Cutting, have as fine a Colour, and be as good in all Respects, as that which was ripe before Cutting: Some, for want of observing this, have suffer’d their Seed to stand so long, till it was all ripe, and lost in Cutting.

St. Foin Seed should not be cut in the Heat of the Day, whilst the Sun shines out: for then much, even of the unripe Seed, will shed in Mowing: Therefore, in very hot Weather, the Mower should begin to work very early in the Morning, or rather in the Night; and when they perceive the Seed to shatter, leave off, and rest till towards the Evening.

After Cutting we must observe the same Rule as in mowing it; viz. not to make this Hay whilst the Sun shines.

Sometimes it may, if the Seed be pretty ripe, be cock’d immediately after the Scythe; or if the Swarths must be turn’d, let it be done whilst they are moist; not Two together, as in the other Hay aforemention’d. If the Swarths be turn’d with the Rake’s Handle, ’tis best to raise up the Ear-sides first, and let the Stub-side rest on the Ground in turning; but if it be done by the Rake’s Teeth, then let them take hold on the Stub-side, the Ears bearing on the Earth in turning over. But ’tis commonly Rain that occasions the Swarths to want Turning.

If the Swarths be not very great, we never turn them at all, because the Sun or Wind will quickly dry them.

If it be cock’d at all, the sooner ’tis made into Cocks, the better; because, if the Swarths be dry, much of the Seed will be lost in separating them, the Ears being entangled together. When moist, the Seed sticks fasts to the Ear; but, when dry, will drop out with the least Touch or Shaking.

Sometimes when we design to thresh in the Field, we make no Cocks at all, and but only just separate the Swarths in the Dew of the Morning dividing them into Parts of about Two Feet in each Part. By this means the St. Foin is sooner dry’d, than when it lies thicker, as it must do, if made into Cocks.

There are Two ways of threshing it, the one in the Field, the other in the Barn: The first cannot be done but in very fine Weather, and whilst the Sun shines in the Heat of the Day: The best Manner of this is, to have a large Sheet pegg’d down to the Ground, for Two Men with their Flails to thresh on: Two Persons carry a small Sheet by its Corners, and lay it down close to a large Cock, and, with Two Sticks thrust under the Bottom of it, gently turn it over, or lift it up upon the Sheet, and carry and throw it on the great Sheet to the Threshers; but when the Cocks are small, they carry several at once, thrown upon the little Sheet carefully with Forks; those which are near, they carry to the Threshers with the Forks only. As fast as it is thresh’d, one Person stands to take away the Hay, and lay it into an Heap: And sometimes a Boy stands upon it, to make it into a small Rick of about a Load. As often as the great Sheet is full, they riddle it thro’ a large Sieve to separate the Seed and Chaff from the broken Stalks, and put it into Sacks to be carried into the Barn to be winnow’d.

Two Threshers will employ Two of these little Sheets, and Four Persons in bringing to them; and when the Cocks are thresh’d, which stand at a considerable Distance all round them, they remove the Threshing-sheet to another Place. There belong to a Set for one Threshing-sheet Seven or Eight Persons; but the Number of Sheets should be according to the Quantity to be thus thresh’d: The sooner these thresh’d Cocks are remov’d, and made into bigger Ricks, the better; and unless they be thatch’d, the Rain will run a great Way into them, and spoil the Hay; but they may be thatch’d with the Hay itself, if there be not Straw convenient for it.

But the chiefest Care yet remains; and that is, to cure the Seed: If that be neglected, it will be of little or no Value; and the better it has escap’d the Wet in the Field, the sooner its own Spirits will spoil it in the Barn or Granary. I have known it lie a Fortnight in Swarth, till the wet Weather has turn’d the Husks quite black: This was thresh’d in the Field, and immediately put into large Vessels, holding about Twenty Bushels each. It had by being often wet, and often dry, been so exhausted of its fiery Spirits, that it remain’d cool in the Vessels, without ever fermenting in the least, till the next Spring; and then it grew as well as ever any did that was planted.

But there is yet another Care to be taken of St. Foin Seed, besides the curing it; and that is, to keep it from Rats and Mice after ’tis cured; or else, if their Number be large, they will in a Winter eat up all the Seed of a considerable Quantity, leaving only empty Husks, which to the Eye appear the same as when the Seeds are in them. A Man cannot without Difficulty take a Seed out of its Husk; but the Vermin are so dextrous at it, that they will eat the Seed almost as fast out of the Husks, as if they were pulled out for them. I saw a Rat killed as he was running from an Heap of it, that had Seven peeled Seeds in his Mouth not swallowed; which is a Sign, that he was not long in taking them out. They take them out so cleverly, that the Hole in the Husk shuts itself up when the Seed is out of it. But, if you feel the Husk between your Finger and Thumb, you will find it empty. Also a Sackful of them is very light; yet there have been some so ignorant and incurious as to sow such empty Husks for several Years successively; and none coming up, they concluded their Land to be improper for St. Foin.

But of Seed thresh’d in the Field, without ever being wetted, if it be immediately winnow’d, and a single Bushel laid in an Heap, or put into a Sack, it will in few Days ferment to such a Degree, that the greatest Part of it will lose its vegetative Quality: The larger the Heap, the worse: During the Fermentation it will be very hot, and smell sour.

Many, to prevent this, spread it upon a Malt-Floor, turning it often; or, when the Quantity is small, upon a Barn-floor; but still I find, that this Way a great deal of it is spoil’d; for it will heat, tho’ it be spread but an handful thick, and they never spread it thinner: Besides, they may miss some Hours of the right times of turning it; for it must be done very often; it should be stirr’d in the Night as well as the Day, until the Heating be over; and yet, do what they can, it never will keep its Colour so bright as that which is well housed, well dry’d, and thresh’d in the Winter: For in the Barn the Stalks keep it hollow; there are few Ears or Seeds that touch one another; and the Spirits have room to fly off by Degrees, the Air entering to receive them.

The only Way I have found to imitate and equal this, is to winnow it from the Sheet; then lay a Layer of Wheat-straw (or if that be wanting, of very dry-thresh’d Hay); then spread thereon a thin Layer of Seed, and thus Stratum super Stratum, Six or Seven Feet high, and as much in Breath; then begin another Stack; let there be Straw enough, and do not tread on the Stacks; by this means the Seed mixing with the Straw, will be kept cool, and come out in the Spring with as green a Colour as when it was put in, and not one Seed of a Thousand will fail to grow when planted. A little Barn-room will contain a great Quantity in this Manner.