Nothing says summer like a freshly mown country field―cut grass drying in the sun―sweet scent of new hay filling the air. The frenzied activity of haymaking―everyone racing to get the hay done before it rains. The situation instantly brings to mind the old adage to “make hay while the sun shines”.
According to The Hand Book of Illustrated Proverbs, written by John Barber, the old familiar saying to “make hay while the sun shines” implies “there are certain seasons, or times, in which certain things must be done, and if done to any good purpose, must be done at the proper time. The farmer, who wishes to make hay, watches the weather closely. Although clouds may obscure the sun, he may mow down the grass in his meadows to good advantage. But in order to make it into hay, he must have the warm, clear, and bright shining sun.”
Several days of fine weather are indeed required to make high-quality hay. But that’s not the only requirement. For instance, the crop must be ready to harvest, the field must be dry enough to work, equipment must be available and workers must be ready to engage.
Hay making is “a multiple step process to harvest grass … and other herbaceous plants by cutting, drying or “curing”, raking, processing, and storing” explains Wikipedia. The next few photos depict different stages of haying. The grass in this field, in Margaree Nova Scotia, was recently cut and is drying, or curing, in the sun. 
Recently cut grass is also visible in this field in Madison Georgia. Some of the grass has been raked into a windrow in preparation for baling.
This field, also in Madison Georgia, appears to have been baled recently.
Round bales were scattered around the field…
…while sections of dried cut grass were still visible around the edges.
Round hay bales, like those pictured, are now the norm. They were introduced in the 1970s replacing the old traditional rectangular bales commonly called “square bales”. Specific sizes vary but a 2-stringed, square bale typically weighs 50-60 lbs and measures about 14” high x 18” wide x 35” long. On the other hand, a 5×6 round bale typically weighs 1270-1700 lbs and measures 5’ wide x 6’ in diameter. In comparison, one 5×6 round bale equals about 30 square bales.
“Why have most of hay producers changed from making small square bales to large round bales?” asks author Gary Bates in his article What is the Difference Between Square and Round Hay Bales? “It is primarily due to the labor requirements for making the smaller bales. Those bales must be picked up from the field, moved on a trailer, then stacked in a barn for storage. Ask anyone who has had that job, and you will quickly realize it is hard, time-consuming work.”
Speaking of hard, time-consuming work, there’s a vocational high school in Germany which incorporates haymaking as a team building event. As explained on the school’s website, “our hay harvest takes place every year at the beginning of the school year … There are two goals with harvesting hay. On the one hand, it offers the new arrivals … the opportunity to get to know their classmates just as easily as the teachers. Furthermore, with our work we can support our long-standing partner – the Erzgebirge Nature Conservation Center – and can do the work in half a day that the employees of the Nature Conservation Center would have to master in three days”. What a great idea!
The shift from square bales to round bales is only one of many changes in the making of hay. Before baling technology became available, for instance, farmers worked with loose hay. The illustration shown below is taken from The Hand Book of Illustrated Proverbs which was published in 1857. Barber explains, the farmer mows down the grass and then “he must … spread the new mown grass on the ground, and when one side becomes dry, he turns it over to have the hot sun dry the other―he then rakes it together, and transports it, by large loads, into his barn, or makes it into stacks secured from the weather.”
This engraving seems consistent with an old family photo showing my grandfather (Opa), Jacob Verboom, working on the family farm in Moordrecht, Netherlands around 1955. Opa and two of his sons were harvesting wheat which they appear to be cutting with scythes and stacking to dry.
Typically, after the grain is harvested and threshed, the remaining stems and dead leaves are used to create straw. Straw is used mainly for animal bedding. In this next photo, my Uncle Joe drives a work horse while turning over the straw to help it dry in the sun.
Meanwhile, my father and mother had immigrated to Canada and by 1957 they were making hay on their own dairy farm in Nova Scotia. As you can see in these photos, they were working with loose hay and they used a tractor to move the hay from the fields to the barn.
I often find myself drawn to old haying equipment such as the below hay rake at Sherbrooke Village. Check out my previous blog post Printer’s Devil for a Day to learn more about this living museum depicting life in rural Nova Scotia around 1867.
As best I could determine, this is a “dump rake”―the “typical early horse-drawn hay rake”. Wikipedia describes it as “a wide two-wheeled implement with curved steel or iron teeth usually operated from a seat mounted over the rake with a lever-operated lifting mechanism. This rake gathered cut hay into windrows by repeated operation perpendicular to the windrow, requiring the operator to raise the rake, turn around and drop the teeth to rake back and forth in order to form the windrow.”
Here it is viewed from a few different angles.
The vintage mower shown below was also on display. I believe this is a “sickle mower” also called a finger-bar mower. A “sickle”, by the way, can be defined as “the cutting mechanism (as of a reaper, combine, or mower) consisting of a bar with a series of cutting elements”. Sickle mowers, according to Wikipedia, were “the first successful horse-drawn mowers on farms … [They] have a long (typically six to seven and a half feet) bar on which are mounted fingers with stationary guard plates. In a channel on the bar there is a reciprocating sickle with very sharp sickle sections (triangular blades). The sickle bar is driven back and forth along the channel. The grass, or other plant matter, is cut between the sharp edges of the sickle sections and the finger-plates (this action can be likened to an electric hair clipper).”
Here’s a closer look at the mower bar with its mounted fingers and stationary guard plates. Notice this mower does not contain the sickle bar with the cutting sections.
The mower bar pictured below was spotted in a heritage farm equipment display at the Reynolds Nature Preserve in Georgia. This one definitely does include the sickle bar of sharp triangular blades.
Traditional hand tools used for haying are also intriguing. However, as much as I admire this collection of old hay rakes and forks, I’m not so sure I’d want them displayed inside my house!
Now, to bring us back to present-day, I’d like to share a few of my favorite hay bale photos. All were taken around the Georgia countryside.
Hay bales in a country field can be picturesque but they are, of course, serving an important purpose. Hay is used to feed animals when they are unable to graze a sufficient amount from pastures or rangeland. For instance, hay is commonly used to feed farm animals during the winter.
Here a young sheep eats hay at Lismore Sheep Farm in River John, Nova Scotia.
I’ll wrap up with this gorgeous Gypsy Vanner horse eating hay at the Gypsy Gold Horse Farm in Ocala, Florida.
More Info
Previous blog posts mentioned in today’s blog post include:
. Printer’s Devil for a Day to learn more about Sherbrooke Village in Nova Scotia.
The following resources were consulted in writing this blog post:
. The Hand Book of Illustrated Proverbs 1857 book by John Barber which is available here on Internet Archives.
. Various entries in Wikipedia.
. What is the Difference Between Square and Round Hay Bales? article by Gary Bates.
Check out the website of BSZ1 Vocational School Center in Erzgebirge Germany to learn more about their Hay Harvest team building event.
See the Lismore Sheep Farm website to learn more about this farm and wool shop in River John, Nova Scotia, Canada.
See the Gypsy Gold Horse Farm website to learn more about the fascinating Gypsy Vanner horses or to plan a visit to the farm in Ocala, Florida.
Today’s Takeaways
1. The proverb “make hay while the sun shines” means to take advantage of favorable conditions while they last.
2. Hay making is “a multiple step process to harvest grass … and other herbaceous plants by cutting, drying or “curing”, raking, processing, and storing” says Wikipedia. The basic processes remain unchanged although the specific technologies and techniques have evolved over time.
3. Farmers make hay to be stored and used as animal fodder.
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