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.