The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-08-11
ARTIFICIAL HARVESTING.
WHAT AN ENGLISH FARMER IS DOING
TO ASSIST NATURE.

TO ASSIST NATURE.
The bad crops of last year both in
Europe and this country give an unusu-
al interest to the discoveries of an Eng
lish farmer by the name of Nelson. Ac-
cording to the London DAILY NelUS, it
appears that Mr.. r. Nelson, of Hale
wood, near Liverpool occupies farm on
the estate or Lord Derby, and that, as
the results of series of experiments,
perseveringly carried on for more than
twenty years, he has brought to perfec-
tlon system of securing his crops with
out material damage from weather.
Even when the crops are well grown and
ready for the sickle or the reaping ma
chine, enormous losses have in all ages
been endured by farmers in consequence
OF the bad harvesting of the grain and
fodder crops, The sacrifices of produce
In wet seasons are always prodigious /;
nor is is possible for any one interested
in farming to turn deaf ear when Mr..
Nelson assures US in his pamphlet that
| happily a discovery has at length
been made showing how hay and corn
can be harvested in continuous rainy
weather as perfectly as when the skies
are clear and the sun shines brightly" :"
He adds that the fact is as inconverti-
al wealth frequently amounting to MANY
| millions sterling, might have been obvi-
ated in the past ''if successive genera
tiOns of mankind had applied themselves
more attentively to a study of the laws
| OF nature.' The method of Mr.. Neil
son can not only be adapted fully to
hay but also to wheat, barley, oats and
to almost all other kind Of field produce.
and, by employing it, a perfect immun-
ity is promised from the calamities
which made the harvest of 1881 so sad a
remembrance to farmers-such calami-
ties as wheat sprouting in the stack,
while barley was so stained and washed
as to be unfit for mailing. Mr.. Nelson
shows that under his system ''the grass
makes itself into hay by that law of
chemical action which causes vegetables
and other perishable substance, if put
together damp or green, to ferment and
generate heat-the temperature, how
ever, being regulated by drawing off
from the rick all steam and excessive
heat above certain point, ascertained
by means of thermometer Thus the
grass does not require to be sun-dried.
but, after being slightly withered, will
make itself into hay as good as can be &C.
cured by the old way of haymaking un-
der favorable conditions, and, conse-
quently, of far better quality than is u.s.
ually made in bad weather" In carry
ing Mr., Nelson's process, the stacks
have to be built with a hollow space OF
air shaft in the centre, extending from
the base to about half way up the stack;
and from the bottom of the air-shaft the
pipe must be previously laid down, so as
to connect an exhaust fan placed at
convenient spot outside the stack. When
the temperature of the rick is ascertain
ed by the tell-tale thermometer to be
higher than desirable, the fan is set in
motion, and draws the hot air and steam
out of the cavity, whereupon cold air
diffuses itself through the body Of the
stack, filling up the vacuum and cooling
the entire mass. In this manner the
rapid fermentation, generated by excess
sive moisture, is controlled and regula-
ted, while simultaneously the aroma and
other valuable properties of the crop are
retained.
The obvious advantage of the Neil
son process of harvesting is that it seems
to offer perfect security for saving the
produce of the field and meadow at all
times, in all weathers, and under all
circumstances. 1t is stated that the
system, which has been matured in
Lancashire, has already been extensive
ly tried, and with the best promises of
success, in the neighborhOod of London.
| Upon the farm of Mr.. Alender, at Roe
hampton, it is said that the grass crop
| this year was exceptionally heavy and
juicy. and that it was cut, carried and
| stacked in peTsistently showery weather.
| On one occasion the temperature of Mr..
| Allender's hay stack is said to have
reached one hundred and forty-five de-
grees-a heat which would shortly have
| ended in the whole mass bursting spon-
! taneously in fame. From this high
range the temperature was reduced in
an hour and quarter by Mr., Nelson IS
exhaust fan to ninety-six degrees. In a
| climate so damp and uncertain as the
English, it is impossible to exaggerate
| the Importance and value of such dis
cOvery as Mr.. Nelson claims to have
made. To secure the blessed effects of
sunshine, in land where, according to
! Oriental fire-worshippers, the ''lord of
day" is never seen, would be almost tan
! tamOunt to the work of that Grecian
sage, who was said to have beneflcially
brought down philosophy from heaven
| to earth.