Hay (from the same root as hew, hoe), the stems and leaves of grasses or other plants dried for Fodder (q.v.) of cattle. Throughout the grazing and dairy districts of Ireland and England a large breadth of old pasture is annually cut. In Scotland, however, little of this old natural grass is converted into hay, and the crop consists mainly of clover and sown grasses in which ryegrass bulks largely. This requires less turning and labour than the closer succulent natural grasses, and with twice turning, and a week or ten days' drying, will generally be fit for the rick, into which the English farmer at once places it. In Scotland the weather is seldom sufficiently fine to fit the hay, within a moderate time, for a large rick, and the practice here, as in the moister parts of England and in Ireland, is to put it, after a few days, into cocks, containing one or two hundredweight, and thence, after another week, into what are technically called tramp-ricks, containing from one to two tons. From these it is transferred at any convenient time to the rick-yard. This practice, although very prevalent in the north, is attended with loss of time and labour, and, moreover, bleaches and dries up the hay, giving it the appearance of straw, and preventing that gentle heating which English farmers desire both in their clover and grass hay. In the United States timothy is the best haymaking grass; next come redtop, orchard-grass, and blue-grass or June-grass.
The management of the natural grasses of which most English hay consists is somewhat different, and the process is seen in perfection in Middlesex and various of the counties about London. The great matter—too generally overlooked in Scotland—is to preserve the colour and flavour of the grass. This may be done by frequent turning, so as to have it rapidly dried, and if possible without the deteriorating washing of repeated rains. Artificial drying best attains this end, but is of course impracticable on the large scale. In the best style of English haymaking the grass, after being cut with the scythe or machine, and as soon as the dew is off, is shaken and spread out by means of forks or of a tedding-machine drawn by a horse.
It is not allowed to lie long exposed to the sun, but before evening is drawn together by rakes into wind-rows, which, if there is any prospect of rain, are made up into small heaps or cocks. It is again spread out next morning, or on the return of favourable weather; and when the operations are expedited by wind and sun, the hay will be ready for the rick by the second or third day. There is, however, much difference in the time during which the hay requires to lie out; the bulk of the crop and the quality of the land must be especially considered. When the grasses are cut in bloom, as they should be, and before their seed ripens and their stems get tough and hard, they contain the largest amount of moisture, and require careful making, but produce then the most nutritive and palatable hay. As soon as it is thoroughly dry it should be put at once into the stack or rick, and well trodden down. A certain amount of heating improves the flavour, and renders the hay more palatable to every kind of stock. When, as is sometimes the case, it is imperfectly made, or picked up too soon, it gets overheated, and becomes dark brown or black, while its nutritive properties are diminished; it is, moreover, apt to disagree with both horses and cattle, and can be profitably used only when mixed with straw and cut into chaff. Indeed it has been proved by experiments that hay may be so damaged by bad weather in the process of making as to be unable to maintain, not to speak of increasing, the condition of animals fed upon it. Hay put together when damp from rain or dew does not heat, as it does when it contains an undue amount of natural moisture, but speedily moulds. When hay has been weathered and injured by repeated rains, it may be rendered more palatable by scattering a little common salt or specially prepared spice over the rick whilst it is being built. In Scotland, eight or ten pounds of salt to the ton is used alike for the clover and grass hay. In mid and southern England the best hay is generally got up in June, in Scotland not until the middle of July. The crop averages from one to two tons per acre. Hay that has stood for seed is tougher and less nutritive than that cut earlier, for the sugar, gum, and gluten of the matured seed have been abstracted from the stems. See also SILAGE.