The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1909-07-24
Hay Shrfnkage

! he character oi the weather when
the hay Is put IN the barn aud Tor a
week proceeding determines in a large
degree tie perccntag ri water remain
ing III the dry hay In the IVES, the
percentage uf moisture in timothy hay
Is less than IN the East Professor Nj
water found that OH the average iimo-
thy hay IN New England retains an
average al - per cent. al water. clover
hay had u per cent. In Colorado,
California and Utah the percentage al
water might be expected To- fall con
,de~ably below this figure The per-
ccntagc oi shrinkagc will. OF course.
vary with the percentage oi water in
the hay when cured and put in the
barn. The Michigan Experiment Sta
tiun has performed more experiments
along the line ni Shrinkage oi hay than
any other station. and am glad To
bring your attention To- some of our
results. says the Tribune Farmer
ON June y, 100. five tons OF very
dry timothy hay were drawn from the
field and, after weighing. were placed
in separate NOV. Just after harvest
II wa, covered with grain in the shcaf
which was ihrcShed ont IN September.
On January ~ il was rcwcghcd and
found {" have lost 6SI pounds. or a lit
tie less than per cent Remember
that this hay was very dry al the start.
Two years later 5000 pounds oi tim
nthy hay in fairly good condition was
hauled "a the barn and weighed oui
again the February following It had
lost 10 pounds. or 1873 per cent.
The early cut hay loses. other things
being equal more than late cut hay.
The Pennsylvania station has shown
that where the dry cut hay lost 20 per
cent. ~ weight. the late cut hay lost
but ItS per cent.
Without wcaryng you with further
figures "u this particular line. have
related enough To show that no hard
and last set 81 figures can be adopted
a, showing the per cent that timothy
hay may hc expected To- shrink II it is
very dry It vii shrink less The Utah
station reports n case where some very
dry hay was stacked in July and re-
weighed in Npril. when il actually had
gained something over per ccut On
the other hand. where the timothy hay.
although not damp enough To spoil, is
stored iull 81 iuicc. the Shrinkagc is
apt t. he a, high aS ~ per cent. ~
even 20 per cent Normal hay or dam
per will shrink more IN the stack than
IN the barn. while dry hay will shrink
more IN the barn than in the stack
This matter 1T >hrinkagc should he
remembered 10y the farmer When he i
irving To- determining whether To hold
the hay over or sell in the fall
Clover ShrlnkN something over hall
in going from the green state a, stand
ing to the condition ui fairly well cured
hay In certain cases. ~ the Michigan
station. the loss oi weight from tn
fresh mower Swath To- the load going
int" the barn was 10 per cent. How
much lover hay shrinkS from the time
oi storing as cured hay until the FOL.
lowing spring depends. 81 course, on
Is condition when put in NJ the
Michigan station the ,hrnkagc has
run all the way from II per cent. to 90
per cent Where the clover hay is fair
Is dry when stored the >hrinkagt may
hc expected to be about ~ per cent
No experiments have yet been tried
with alfalfa hay although enough work
has been done to show that the first
crop will shrink more than either OF
the other two where three crops are
CIT IN = ,ca,"u 1t i interesting to
n"'v al" that the composition OF the
alfalfa hay varies between successive
CROP, Although the per cent 81 pro-
tr'ur may bc q, high in the third crop
a. ;hc first, an examination oi that
pr"'ciuc show, that in the third crop a
much larger hare 81 It !, IN the form
81 aH.dc,