The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-07-26 00:00:00

HAYMAKING IN BAD WEATHER.

H. E. M. writes to The Times :—"Sir,—Will you
allow me to add to the various communications on the
above subject the following paragraph, which occurs in
an account by Thomas Palmer, M.D., of his Journey
to See the Sun at Midnight ? ' The locality referred to
is the Hardanger Pjeld, about 60deg. north lati-
tude :

"'Here I saw a way of making hay quite new to
me. A dozen or so of strong, rough stakes, some sft.
high, were firmly fixed in the ground, about 3ft. apart,
and in a straig_ht line. Between these were interwoven
small and thin branches forming a very open kind of
lattice-work, or finer clothes-horse arrangements,
down to the ground. On these cross rungs or rods the
grass was hung up to dry and become hay, the sun and
air having the most free access to it. Owing to the
mountainous and most irregular nature of the ground
here, the space allotted to grass is in small patches be-
tween rocks, woods, and waste land, so this fragmen-
tary way of haymaking answers well enough, each
plot having its own set of stakes. The chilly, damp,
and variable climate of Norway renders our system of
haymaking unsuitable.'"

The Times of Monday also publishes the following
letter :—" Sir,—On Tuesday in last week I lent one
of my hay-dryers to Mr. J. Ashcombe, of Sewardstone,
a practical farmer of long experience and large ' hold-
ing.' He started it at nine o'elock a.m., and in
ten hours had dried and stacked the produce of ten
acres, estimated at 1 load per acre. This was unripe
grass which had been mown about twelve days and left
on the swath quite untouched; it had been rained
upon more or less every day. and night of that time.
The drying process was carried on, without any in-
struction or guidance from me, by his own men under
the management of his son, who had had no previous
experience of it. The machinery was entirely un-
covered, and exposed to a violent, cold, west wind and
heavy showers, which fell at frequent intervals upon
the hay, not only as it passed down the trough,
but while being fed in and taken away, and also
on the stack itself, which was built up without
a rick-cloth. The cost of saving it thus is as
follows :—Portable engine and man (if hired), £1 55.;
hay-dryer and stoker (if hired), £1 103. ; coal for
engine, 6 cwt, at is., 65,; cake for dryer, 2 cwt.
at is., kJ_ 2s. ; two inen to feed in, one to take
away—three at 3s. 6d,, 10s. 6d,; extra man in field
(for pitching dauble weight), 3s. 6i. ; ditto, reloading
carts, 33. ; extra carting (for double weight), say
is, per acre, 10s.-25 103. 6. 110 s. for ten acres,
equal to its, per acre.--I am told that this is about the
same cost as would have been incurred in making it
in the field in fair average weather; but I think
skilful farmers will ree many ways in which the above-
named cost might be reduced, and if so the country
generally would be advantaged by any suggestions
from them on the subject.--Yours very truly, WM A.
GIBBS, Gillwell-park, Chingford, Essex, July 14."

In noticing the above, the Evening Standard throws
out the following suggestions :
Farmers have, however, without exception, a certain
number of hurdle's by them, and these can be utilised with
very great advantage. Let them simply be put up in rows,
and let the grass, as cut, be forked in thickly between the
bars until each row of hurdles looks like a green walL Let
the top layer project somewhat over the sides so that the
drip will fall clear. If the grass is stored like this, it will
dry into good hay in a very short time, even in very
unfavourable weather. The wind gets at both sides, and
finds a passage through the walls. It can stand for days un-
injured by the rain, and a few hours between bhowers
suffice to dry the hay and render it fit to stack. Farmers
witi do well to try the experiment; beyond the labour of
taking the huri4es to the field and erecting them, the cost is
nothing, and the' result will surprise those who do not
know how fast grass dries into hay in a free current of
air.

" DEAR ! DEAR ! "—Man: "Here's where it is,
Miss,—the wally is acoordin' to the flower, and this
'ere's the sower o' the walley,"—Fun,