[Sidenote:  Methods of curing hay in mountains.]

In mountain regions of heavy rainfall, thick dew and numerous cloudy days, it becomes a problem to get the hay dried and stored before a drenching shower comes.  In many parts of Switzerland, therefore, the peasant on a clear morning cuts a limited amount of grass.  This, with the help of his wife and children, he diligently turns and tosses at short intervals all day long, thus subjecting it to a rapid curing process by the action of the wind and the sun, whose rays are doubly effective in the rarefied air of the heights.  In the evening the hay is made up into bundles and carried on his back to the barn.  In other parts of Switzerland the green hay is hung on horizontal poles arranged against the sunny side of the chalet and under its projecting roof, thus exposed to the heat and protected from the rain till cured.  In Norway the same purpose is achieved by setting up in the fields racks supporting long horizontal bars, over which the newly cut grass is hung.  There it is exposed to the gentle fanning of the wind and penetrated by the warmth of the sun, in the short intervals when the sky is not overcast; and during a shower it sheds the water immediately, so that a minimum of harm is done.  In the mountains of Germany, the hay is stacked on cone-shaped racks made of poles, with lateral projections which support the grass; thus the air can circulate freely inside the hollow cone, which is lifted well above the ground.  Elsewhere sharpened stakes provided with cross bars are simply driven into the ground, and on these the hay is draped till cured.

Mountain hay-making leaves nothing to chance; too much depends upon the crop.  In fact, at high altitudes it becomes the only crop.  Cereal culture drops off with every increase of elevation.  Norway has few fields above 1600 feet;[1319] even barley fails to ripen above 2600 feet.  In the mountains of Wuertenberg we find pure Graswirthschaft at 3000 feet elevation, with only a small garden patch near the dwelling.[1320] It is interesting to take a tramp up one of the longitudinal or lateral valleys of the Alps, and observe the economic basis of life gradually change from agriculture to hay-making, till in some high-laid Alpine cirque, like Bad Leuk or Barmaz at the head of the Val d’Ilez, one sees only meadows and an occasional potato patch, which impresses the lowlander as a last despairing effort in the struggle for existence.

[Sidenote:  Winter industries of mountain peoples.]

Where climate and soil do so little for the support of life, man must do much.  Work must in some way be made to compensate for an ungenerous Nature.  The closely housed existence necessitated by the long severe winters of high altitudes stimulates industries in the home.  The winter feeding of the stock involves little labor, so the abundant leisure would otherwise be wasted.  Hence it is no accident that we find almost everywhere native mountain industries