Ham - The thigh of a pig, usually cured by salting and drying in smoke.

Hammel - 1. A ram lamb.
2. A small shed.

Hammer Mill - A machine usually housed in a barn, which grinds Cereals and other Feedingstuffs. It consists of steel hammers which rotate at high speed in a casing and are surrounded by a perforated screen. When the grain is sufficiently reduced in size by the impact of the hammers it passes through the holes in the screen. Various mill sizes are available with differing screen mesh sizes, and throughout rates vary between 3 tonnes per hour for large powered mills and about 50 kg per hour for small automatic mills.

Hand - A measure of 4 inches (10.16 cm) used for describing the height of horses.

Hanging - The practice of hanging animal and bird carcases, particu­larly game, on hooks at room temperature for a period so that the meat condition improves.

Hanging Drop Technique - Technique for observing the presence of motile microorganisms in a drop of fluid.

Hank (Cotton) - One hank is equal to 840 yards length of yarn. American cotton on an average is having 38 counts. It means 38 hank can be obtained from one proud of lint.

Hard Seeds - Clover seeds with very tough seed coats preventing Germination and which require scratching in order to do so.

Harden Off - 1. To allow a nursery plant grown in a Glasshouse to acclimatise to the more rigorous outside conditions by transferring first to a cloche or frame, and subsequently to the open air.
2. To gradually reduce the temperature in a brooder over aperiod of time until young chicks no longer need artificial heat to survive. Now-a-days temperature is usually reduced by 5.5°C (10°F) per week over the first four weeks of life, from about 32°C to about I5.5°C (90°F to 60°F).

Hardy - A term applied to plants and animals capable of surviving the cold during winter.

Hardwood Cutting - Cuttings which are made from the past season's growth or olderwood that has shed its leaves and has got lignified e.g. grape, fig. etc.

Harrow - Secondary tillage implement which is used to cut the soil to a shallow depth for smoothening and pulverising the soil as well as to cut the weeds and to mix materials with the soil.

Harrow, Acme - Special type of harrow having curve knives. Harrow Beam. That part of animal drawn harrow which is connecting the implement with the yoke.

Harrow Single Action Disc - Harrow with two gangs placed end, which throw the soil in opposite directions. The discs are arranged in such a way that right side gang throws the soil towards right and left side gang throws the soil towards left.

Harrow Spike Tooth - Harrow with peg shaped teeth of diamond cross section attached to a rectangular frame. It is used to break the clods, stir the soil, uproot the weeds, level the ground, break the soil crust, and cover the seeds. Its principal use is to smoothen and level the soil directly after ploughing.

Harrow, Spring Tooth - Harrow with tough, flexible teeth, suitable to work in hard and stony soils. Spring tooth harrow is fitted with springs, having loops of eliptical shape. It gives a springing action in working condition. It is best suited for hard and stony ground. It is used in soil where obstruction like stones, roots and weeds are hidden below the ground surface. The type pulverises the soil and helps in killing weeds.

Harrow Tandem Disc - A disc harrow, comprising of four gangs or more in which each gang can be angled in opposite direction.

Harrow, Triangular - Spike tooth harrow with a triangular frame. The frame is made of wood and pointed spikes are fitted in the frame. The teeth of the spike are fixed and not adjustable.

Harrow, Zigzag - Spike tooth harrow with a zigzag frame and teeth attached at the junction of the frame members.

Harrowing - 1. Working the soil with the help of a wooden implement harrow.
2. Secondary tillage operation which pulverises and smoothens the soil.

Harvest - The time when ripe or mature crops are cut (eg., cereals), lifted (e.g., root crops) or picked (e.g., fruit, hops) and gathered in, the whole process being called harvesting (sometimes called ingathering). Sometimes applied loosely to the yield of a par­ticular crop. Most arable crops now-a-days are harvested by machine, e.g., Combine Harvester, Potato Lifter Sugar Beet Harvester.

Harvest Index - The ratio of grain weight to total plant weight in a cereal crop.

Harvest Year - The first, second, third, etc., year following the Seeding Year of a Ley.

Hassock - A tuft or tussock of tightly packed grasses, reeds or rushes, etc.

Hatchel 1 - A Haycock. 2. A comb for Flax or hemp.

Hatchery - A term applied (a) to either a cabinet or a walk-in type of incubator, or ( b) to premises specialising in the hatching of eggs and production of Day-Old-Chicks, as distinct from the breeding or rearing poultry.

Hatching - The act of a young bird breaking out of an egg, aided by its egg tooth. A hen will normally sit on her eggs and incubate them to bring them to the point of hatching. Artificial incubation is used in commercial poultry rearing. A hatch is also a brood of chicks.

Haugh - A riverside Meadow or flat alluvial (Alluvium) land in a river valley, particularly in Scotland.

Haulm - The stems and leaves of corn, peas, beans, potatoes, etc, especially after harvesting. Also called halm.

Haulm Killer - A chemical applied to a potato crop to kill the above ground foliage to make harvesting easier.

Hay - A term mainly applied to grasses, but also to legumes, some herbs, and occasionally Cereals, which have been cut and dried and conserved for Fodder. Hay may be classified into two main types, viz., (a) seeds hay (sometimes called clover hay), usually derived from a 1 to 2 year old Ley, atone time mainly from a Red Clover-Rye grass mixture, and (b) meadow hay, derived from permanent Grassland or a long ley. Normally stored in Bale form in a barn nowadays.

Hay Bale Stack - Bales of Hay built into a stack for drying and storage, often under a Dutch Barn, and usually on a base of rough timbers to raise the bales off the ground. Airspaces are left between the bales to allow moisture to escape and to allow lower bales to expand under the weight of higher ones. When chemical additives which prevent mould growth are introduced during baling, and hay is fully field-dried, bales may be more compactly stacked. Small temporary stacks are usually left in the field for a period to ensure full drying before barn stacking. Field stacks are occasionally thatched with hay or reeds, but more commonly a plastic sheet is used to keep out rain.

Hay Quality - Treatment and weather conditions during Haymaking can considerably affect Hay quantity and feeding value. Rapid drying is best, reducing cell Respiration and Carbohydrate loss by oxidation. Considerable Carotene loss may occur due to excessive bleaching by the sun if the hay is left in the swath too long.

Protein and ash are more concentrated in leaves and are better conserved in hay harvested whilst still in leafy condition. Rain and dew can leach soluble nutrients from swaths, and moulding, rotting and heating can occur in hay stored in too moist condition (i.e., above 25%).

Hay Rack - A metal or wooden open frame in which ha y is placed and from which livestock may take what they require.

Haycock - A cone-shaped heap of loose hay drying in a field. Now usually only found on hill farms and smallholdings where the use of balers is not practical. Also called hatchel or pike.

Hayknife - A large broad-bladed knife with a cross-set handle at one end, used to cut Hay from a Haystack, or Silage from a clamp.

Haylage - A foddrer Crop wilted in the field, after cutting, to between 50-60% moisture content and then chopped and blown into an airtight Silo. Carbon dioxide released by cell Respiration inhibits bacterial activity and rotting. Drilage is almost identical except that wilting is only allowed to between 60% and 70% moisture content.

Hayloader - A trailed implement similar to a small elevator used to pick up loose Hay from a Swath and deposit it onto a trailer for carting to Haystack. Now seldom used except on some hill or small farms where the use of a baler is not practical.

Haymaking - The conserving of Hay for use as Fodder, involving drying and the maintenance of nutritive content. (Hay Quality). The moisture content of hay must be reduced from about 80% when freshly cut (Mower), to below 20% to prevent moulding rotting, heating, and possible combustion.

Hay-rake - A hand-rake with a long handle and normally with wooden
prongs, used to gather hay.

Haysel - The haymaking season.

Hay stack - A storage stack of loose Ha y common before the introduction of the Baler and bale storage. Now usually only seen in hill areas and on small farms where topography precludes the use of a baler. Plastic sheets, as protection against rain, have now replaced thatch roofs on such stacks. Some stacks of baled hay are referred to as haystacks. Also called hayrick.

Hay sweep - An implement, either horse-propelled or fitted to the front of a tractor (and sometimes to an old car), once used commonly to pick up hay from Swaths or Haycocks and to transport it to a stack. It consisted of a series of wooden prongs about 3 m(W ft.) long and spaced at 30 cm (1 f1.) intervals in a frame. Often used in conjunction with an elevator or stationary baler. Nowadays most hay is collected using a pick-up baler.

Hayward - A person in the middle ages who had responsibility for fence and hedge repairs and preventing stock breaking through.

Haywire - Twine, normally polypropylene nowadays, used in a baler to tie bales. Now usually called baler twine.

Hazel - A common shrub coppiced in oakwoods and scrub, and in certain areas used for making hurdles.

Head Corn - The largest grains in a cereal sample as distinct from the smallest grains, or tail corn.

Headland, Headrig - The strip along the border of a field where a plough is turned during ploughing, and which is itself ploughed when the rest of the field is completed. 'Also called for racre.

Hear t - A term applied to fertile soil capable of producing good crops (in good heart) or infertile soil in poor condition (in poor heart).