Do you know how hay fever got its name? In England, they harvest alfalfa and other grasses to make hay for winter animal feed. It’s the “dust” from these grasses that are the original cause of hay fever.
A British doctor named John Bostock originally described the symptoms way back in 1819. He called it “a periodical infection of the eyes and chest.”1
Today, we know that what happens is an overreaction of your immune system to particles in the air, like pollen and ragweed. They are produced by trees in the spring, and grasses in the early summer.