large rope which holds the middle degree between the cable and tow-line, in any ship whereto it belongs, being a size smaller than the former, and as much larger than the latter.

Hay, any kind of grass cut and dried for the food of cattle.

The time of mowing grass for hay must be regulated according to its growth and ripeness; nothing being more prejudicial to the crop than mowing it too soon; because the sap is not then fully come out of the root, and when made into hay, the grass shrinks away to nothing. It must not, however, be let stand too long till it have shed its seeds. When the tops of the grass look brown, and begin to bend down, and the red honeysuckle flowers begin to wither, you may conclude it ripe for mowing.

Sain-Foin Hay, is of several sorts, which may be distinguished by the following terms, viz. 1. The virgin. 2. The blossomed. 3. The full-grown. And, 4. The threshed hay. The first of these is beyond comparison the best. It must be cut before the blossoms generally appear; for when it stands till it is full blown, the most spirituous and nourishing parts of its juice are spent, the sap is much impoverished, and the sain-foin can never recover that richness it had in its virgin state. But this fine hay cannot well be had of uncultivated sain-foin, because that may not be much above an handful high when it is in a condition to be cut; it would then make a very light crop, and would be a great while before it sprang up again: but the rich will have two or three tons to an acre, and spring again immediately for a second crop; so that little or none in quantity would be lost by so great an improvement of its quality.

The second sort is that cut in the flower, which, though much inferior to the virgin-hay, far exceeds any other kind as yet commonly propagated in Britain; and if it be a full crop, it may amount to three tons an acre. This is that sain-foin which is commonly made; and the larger it is, the more nourishing it is for horses.

The next sort of sain-foin is the full grown, cut when the blossoms are gone or going off: this also is good hay, though it falls short by many degrees of the goodness of the other two sorts; but it makes a greater crop than either of them, because it grows to its full bulk, and shrinks little in drying.

The last sort is the threshed hay; which, when not damaged by wet weather, has been found more nourishing to horses than coarse water-meadow hay: and, when it is cut small by an engine, is good for cattle, and much better than the chaff of corn. The best time to cut it, is when the greatest part of the seed is well filled; the first-blown ripe, and the last-blown beginning to be full.

The goodness of the hay depends greatly upon the manner manner of ordering it. The best hay in all England is made of fain-foin, without ever spreading it. This method, though it be longer before it be finished, costs less labour than the other. If fain-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 have a vent-hole, through which the superfluous moisture of the hay may transpire. As soon as its heating is over, these ricks ought to be thatched; and all fain-foin ricks, that are made when the hay is full dried in the cocks, ought to be thatched immediately after the making them. That which is laid up most dried, will come out of the rick of a green colour; but that which has been much heated in the rick, will be brown.

The feed affords the owner another opportunity of making a profit of his fain-foin; but this, if the hoeing husbandry were general, would not be vendible in great quantities for planting; because the ordinary crop of an acre will produce seed enough to drill an hundred acres, which would not want planting for a long time. The other use then of this feed is for provender; and it has been affirmed by some who have made trials of it, that three bushels of good fain-foin seed given to horses, will nourish them as much as four bushels of oats; and when well ordered, it is so sweet, that most sorts of cattle are greedy of it.

Hay-Making. See Agriculture, p. 199, et seq.