THE OLD AND NEW METHODS OF HAYMAKING. [Pall Mail Gazette.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2068, 8 October 1885, Page 3

THE OLD AND NEW METHODS OF HAYMAKING. [Pall Mail Gazette.]

What a \ ista of delight is opened up to the dweller in towns and cities by the above word ! Many, very many, dwellers in this mighty metropolis of oura ha\e not the faintest conception of the actual amount of manual labor involved in the occupation of haymaking ;to them it means simply a charming way of spending a day in the open air, amidst the the fragrant scent of newly-mown grass, and (unrounded by all the charming Hounds and sights of rural life. They do not realise in more then a casual sort of way that mowing is in itself one of the most laborious forms of agricultural labour, and that the subsequent making into hay demands form its votaries a ceitain degiee of downnght haid work. Their ideas of h.iymnking ire associated moie with dome a little desultory tossing of the grass with a two-pronged instrument of some sort, varied by constant applications to a certain supply of cooling drink marvellously concocted by the hospitable farmei's buxom daughters. But then 1 is another class to whom the delights of the hayhcld offer a still great* r attraction. Year by year a certain proportion of the rural population of England, tempted by the higher rates of wages to bo earned in the towns and cities, elect to exchange their occupation as farm labourers for porters or what not m one or other of the busy centres So surely as the haymaking or leaping seasons come tound do they feel an uresistiblo longing come over them to re-entor the old occupations, nnd if it can possibly be managed, many a whilom countiy l.ibomci gets away for at least a few weeks to take his turn in the hay or corn hai vest, returning to his town work very considerably benefited by the change. Probably no depaitment of agnculture ha-< been more affected by the introduction of machinery than haj making, and tho -cene in an English ha)held of today is vastly different to that of twenty or thirty veais ago. Then mowing machines were compaiatively unknown, or at any rite were possessed only by tins larger farmers and owners. The mowing was consequently almost entirely done with the scythe, the plan most generally adopted being to let the cutting at so much pel acie (the price \aiying according to the nature of the ciop). A gang of fnor.r siv men used geneially to work toguthei, dividing the wages earned at the conclusion of the job. As a rule, they commenced work at the first bieak of day, and went on far into the evening, usually taking a bhort rest during the hottest period cf the day. As soon as the grass was cut every available hand about the place was utilised for turning and spicadmg it out to dry, and it used to be a pretty sight to see ten or twelve Lvbourcis—men, women, and it might be children—following the swathes fioni end to end of tho held, first merely turning tho grass over, and subsequently spieading it out to diy, finally, when " cured," raking it into cocks to be loaded off on the big, luinbeiing waggons, and tiansferred to tho hay yards to bo stacked into rick*. The work of turning and spreading was by no means laborious, and guests and visitors to the farmhouse were all able to render more or less assistance in one direction or the other. The subsequent loading up and making into ricks demanded, of course, a certain amount of physical strength, and was carried out solely by the men themselves, tho farmer frequently lending a hand to pitch a load, "pour encourager les autres." Last of all came the nek-making process, an operation requiring a certain amount of practical knowledge only to be acquired by a long couise of experience. Perhaps the greatest judgment ot all, however, was lcqmred in determining exactly the right moment for the hay to be carried fiom the field to the rick. The introduction of machinery has undoubtedly done much to 1 educe the fanner's an\ietie-> in regard to his hay crop. A mowing machine will make short work of a, trood sized field of glass, be the crop heavy or light; and the hay making machines perform the operation of turning and spreading with much gieatei celerity and legulanty than could be attained under the old system. Then, again, although the old plan of pitching a load for removal from the held still holds its own, tho removal of the hay from the waggon to the nek n Usually perfoimed with ami/ing quickness and despatch by the aid of an ''elevator," an ingenious machine, the outcome of American ingenuity. Despite the rapidity with which gras-, can, under the altered condition of things, be cut down and transformed into hay, it is open to question whether the quality is so exctllent as used to be the case under the old hand-made plan. The operation now a-days is more hurried than formerly, and although this possesses undoubted advantages on the one hand, it is not without its drawbacks on the other. A year or two ago there appealed a probability that the discovery of ensilage as a source of fodder would to a very great extent do away with haymaking opeiations altogether; all that would be necessary to do would be to cut the grass when ripe, stack it away in silos in its damp state, and draw upon the supply as required. Those most concerned, however, —the animals for whose consumption it was intended —had not at the time been consulted, and although in many instances it has been found that cittle devour the pieserved fodder with avidity, experiments go to prove that they do not thrive well on it alone, and in somo cases animals have altogether refused to take kindly to the supposed delicacy thus provided for them. Such being the case, it would seem that hay, as a staple article of fodder will, at any rate, long continue to hold its own, and it will probably be many yeirs yet before an English landscape dining the summer months will be robbed of one of its main atti actions—a hayheld. The persons who derivo the most genuine enjoyment out of haymaking aio probably children. They have no anxieties on their minds as to whether tho crop is a good or bad one ; all they care about is to roll and toss about amidst the newly-fotmcd haycocks, and although their performances may at times do a certain amount of damage (merely nominal) he would bo a churl indeed who would deprive them of the vast amount of enjoyment they deiive fiotn their make-believe haymaking. I never myself go into a hayheld without longing that all tho children of my acquaintance might bo there too, to enjoy a a good game of romps ; and it is almost impossible to realise the delight which would be afforded to a concourse of children out for a day in the country if, to the un wonted treat of seeing green fields and hedges in place of stifling couits and alleys, were added the novelty of being allowed to play at haymaking.

Thk average duration of life in Russia is twenty-six years—the lowest of any European nation. There is no legal tender in China, and silver is the money metal of that country, passing by weight. The Government of Massachusetts gets a salary of !?5,000 a year, and the Mayor of Boiton §10,000. Don Pedho of Brazil is the oldest living sovereign. Ha has reigned fifty-three years, or since he waa six years old. A Nkw York Tribune's London cablegram of August 17 says : —The passage of the Criminal Law Amendment Act remains the last pretext for continual publication of the filthy matter by which the Pall Mall Gazette has earned an infamous notoriety, but publication of this sort of literature continues, and agitation continues. Public meetings are called in Hyde Park by posters on walls and circulais, the text in both instances being indecent. The Archbishop of Canterbury hae published a disavowal of his alleged approval of the so called revelations ot the Gazette. The AttorneyGeneral is investigating the alleged case of abduction of a girl by somebody connected w ith this business, but the Gazette daily fills its columns with accounts of what it calls " New Crusades." "It has," says the despatch, " apparently renounced all hope of regaining a respectable position." The Gazette's " revtla ttons" have been dramatised at Vienna The play is in five acts, and called " Piotect our Daughters." On August 22nd, a tremendous procession (called by the Press ".i morality parade") was made to Hyde Park, the number taking part being estimated as high as 150,000. The affair was UDder the auspices of the temperance societies, Good Templars, Band of Hope Lodges, Salvation Army, various trades and labour societies, and Young Mens Christian Association. One of the waggons in the procession carried twenty-four little giria diessed in white, holding aloft banners bearing the inscription, " Shall our innocents be slain?