Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-11-16
CHEAP Hay SHEDS.
These May he of Any Size Desired and
Located Wherever Convenient.


One of the greatest wastes on the
farm is that of hay after it has been cut
and stacked The waste is i'm many di
rections. The waste of stacking is re-
duced TO the minimum where farmers
stack as they do III the older countries,
where the climate Is such as 70 render
large barns or hay sheds impracticable.
Under these circumstances the stack is
built with a skill such as few Americans
possess, ralled as no American will take
the time TO rake il aud then matched as
no American Will ever thqtch. Under
our conditions hay can be put IN large
barns Of almost ANY size, although it is
dangerous 10 rut clover hay III barns
over 20 feet high Go the squared on ac-
count OF spontaneous combustion.
As ordinarily stacked, M.d especially
in the prairie country, the stack suffers
first by the deposit Of moi ure on the
outside during the heating period, a
damage which has been estimated by
scientists at not loss than - per cent.
1t suffers from insufficient raking, from
leaning TO one side or the other on ac-
count of unslillful building, from blow
ing off the tops during severe wind
storms and from the waste that comes
from handling these stacks Ill the win
ter, many farmers having from one TO
five stack bottoms covered with snow or
wet with rain during the latter part OF
the winter season.
The remedy for all this is the hay
shed. Hay sheds can DC built very cheap
~ and of any size desired and located
wherever it may be convenient For the
hay shed proper there is nothing needed
but telegraph or native poles, or i'll de-
fault of these q by q timbers for sides
and ends, and Il roof which may be Of
boards or shingles. Authority for the
foregoing tells in the Iowa Homestead
that the most convenient width is 20
feet and roof one third pitch. This will
enable l6 foot boards to be used for roof
ing without waste Of material. The shed
can be made of any length desired.
Where timbers are used set posts in
the ground and spike the timbers TO the
posts, so that III case the posts rot off
they can be replaced with others. The
hay carrier can be attached TO this as it
is to barn and should extend from
the end the usual length.
The hay shed can very easily be con-
verted into feeding shed on three sides,
preferably the north, west and south,
leaving the east end open as place at
which TO unload the hay. The sheds
should not be less than l3 feet wide and
7 feet high at the rear; s would be bet
ter, thus allowing the wagon 10 be driv-
en- around for the purpose of hauling
out the manure, They should be covered
in the same way as the hay shed proper
and can be divided off with movable
partitions for different kinds of stock.
We prefer them high, so as to leave
room for plenty Of bedding and avoid
the hauling out Of the manure during
the winter, thus protecting the manure
from the waste unavoidable where it
lies unused through the summer season.
We have thus given the general outline
of plan which can be modified 70 suit
the circumstances of each farmer. a
hay shed 26 by 40 will hold from 80 to
30 tons Of hay, depending on the care
with which it is filled.