The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1870-05-31
Hay Making Machinery.

There is perhaps no single crop in
which larger number of farmers are ac-
tually interested, and few if any that are
of greater importance, directly or indi-
rectly, to the prosperity of the country,
than that of Hay 1t does not appear on
city tables, and most city people know
and care little about it. 1t enters only
in limited extent upon our list Of ex-
ports, and commercial men hardly give it
q thought. 1t is not made into clothing
or buildings, into furniture or paper, and
manufacturers seldom consult the quota
tons of its value in the markets. But it
is the raw material out Of which are man
ufactured, in the Incompatible process Of
nature, a great part of all the meats, the
milk, butter and cheese, the wool and
leather, we consume 1t is, indeed, the
motor Of many Of the forces that stretch
their sustaining power into every domes-
tic home, as well as across the ocean, in
grains Of wheat and barrels of -four and
bales of cotton. Like some other com.
paratively disregarded things, the air we
breathe, and the water we drink-no es-
innate in money reaches its intrinsic
worth, for in vast quantities it is outside
of money valuation. Except under pc
culiar circumstances Of situation and
management, the farmer is not apt to
boast Of the tons of it he has sold but
the tons of it he has made and consumed,
and the price at which they are produc-
ed, affect Immediately the calculations Of
every thrifty cultvator.
1t would be difficult to trace the result
as regards our agriculture, and through
it, upon every other interest, if the now
ing machine and horse-rake were now
suddenly blotted out of existence. In
other departments of hay.making machin-
cry, such as the tedder and power hay
fork, the saving of human muscle, the
economy in cost, the improvement of the
product, although not yet as universally
appreciated, are really adding to the
profit of the hay crop just in proportion
to their dissemination and adoption
through the country.
When the hay has been cut and ted
ded, and raked into winrows and cooked
for the night it may or may not be nee
essary the next day to spread it again to
dry off the dews it has absorbed, but we
must at any rate devote no little time and
some muscle to loading it for the barn.
In our last we referred to a new machine
which is intended to do for the pitch fork
what the mower has done for the scythe
One or two Hay Leaders have been ex.
hibited heretofore, but they were cum.
bersome, inefficient, or open to other Sc
rious objection. The description quoted
on page 297, of the invention of Mr.
Douglas, though correct as far as it goes
gives one very imperfect idea Of what
this machine is and does, as We have since
seen it in operation. Its purpose, as then
intimated, is to save the labor of cooking
and secure the housing at night of what
has been cut and cured during the day.
An upright apron is attached-or il
effect, the back end of the hay rigging il
boarded up, on an ordinary hay wagon
A light frame stands behind this board
ing, connected by rods, to it at the top
and to the axle of the wagon at the bot
tom-thesc rods, however, allowing
certain play up and down, regulated by
chain on each side suspending the franz
from the sides of the apron, at an adjust
ible height from the ground. The franz
has also pair of small wheels. so tina
when it touches the ground, owing to un
evenness Of surface, its motion may no
be impeded. 1t supports at bottom
drum about inches in diameter, an
at the top, nine feet from the GROUND
there is a smaller drum, and around tn
two drums there are eight leather bands
armed at intervals with steel spurs pei
haps four inches long. The hay whe
dry enough for housing is raked int
winrows, and as the wagon proceed
astride the winrow, motion is communica
ted to the lower drum from pulleys al
tached to the hind wheels as it turn
the hay catches upon the spurs and
carried up in continuous stream th
width of the loader and the winrow If
an ordinary awgon it is not quite four fee
wide,) between the belts and the apro
on the rigging, until at the top, inclinin
Stats turn the current into the wagon, ii
spurs disappearing between them. A be
is required to drive, and a man to sto
the hay on the load as it comes in-an
the latter will have to be pretty livel
worker unless the team is uncommon
slow in gait.
Such in brief is the action of this mi
chine, which seems to perform its work
manner almost beyond criticism, Th