Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-09-11

loa'ler saves time and hard labor.
Stacking in the open air has proved to
be very costly method of preserving
hay, and our prairies are becoming
thickly dotted with hay barns, into
which the hay is placed by horse
power. Brain has supplanted Drawn
in great measure, and haying may
now be justly considered an art. By
utilizing the improved machinery, and
following improved methods, one man
can now do the work that formerly re-
quired two men.
Where the hay is placed on the
wagon by hay loader, and taken off
with fork or sling, good working
crew for large farm consists of four
men, and two boys ten to fourteen
years old. With the wide cut-mower,
it is not necessary to begin cutting be-
fore 4 o'clock in the afternoon This
is easier tor the horses, more comfort
able to the man who drives them, and
much better for the hay if it contains
much clover. Enough can be cut be-
tween and o'clock to keep ahead of
the wagons until the next afternoon.
One man does the moving and tedding,
and what little raking there is to do,
and still has time to help considerably
in moving away the hay in the barn.
The boys drive the wagons. Two men
stay in the field and do the loading,
and one stays at the barn to manage
the horse fork and keep the hay moved
back. Three teams and one good horse
are necessary, the latter being used at
the barnfor unloading. When the boy
comes in with load, he leads the
horse, which is attached to the fork,
taking the load off his wagon while the
other one is being loaded in the fields.
The time consumed in loading is
little more than that for unloading,
and this allows the man at the barn to
scatter the hay in the NOW. Whether
he can keep up this end of the work
depends on the distance to haul and
the amount of hay in the barn.
Hay is made very rapidly and cheap
ly in this way. With the force men
toned there is very little time lost.
Everything runs smoothly, and little
energy is wasted The hay is put in
the barn at the rate of fifteen to twenty
tons per day, and at cost of forty-five
to sixty cents per ton, varying, of
course, with the weather. On the farms
of the Atlantic and Central States this
tedder, loader and horse fork are COM
ing into increasing favor, but the av-
erage farmers of those regions manage
the work with two, OF at most three,
horses and two men. The tedder and
the loader not only save time and
money, but the hay is secured in much
better condition. The tedder shakes
the grass, and gives the air chance
to circulate through it, and dry it
evenly and quickly, without burning.
The loader follows, and takes the hay
out of the swath, hence the leaves are
not shaken off, as when it is raked.
Hay barns are becoming deservedly
popular. No buildings on the farm so
quickly repay the money invested. A
good hay barn, holding fifty tons of
hay, can be erected for one hundred
to one hundred and twenty five dollars,
and not infrequently enough is saved
by its use in one year to entirely cover
the cost. The saving occurs in three
ways. First, the time and labor saved
during the harvest season, to say moth
ing of the advantage of putting every
load under roof, and having no open
stacks to be caught by sudden showers
Second, the elimination of the large
waste on top and sides that follows
stacking. There is practically no waste
whatever with the hay barn. Third,
the saving of labor in feeding the hay
during the winter. This last is q con.
siderable item, for it often means the
board and wages of one man during
the winter months. BY putting aplain,
strong manger or rack around the barn,
one man can do the work of two work
ing in the old way.-American Agri
culturist.