The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-07-01

The hay crop. even when the labor
| supply is normal, causes more worry,
| anxiety, and disappointment than any
| other crop. The time for harvesting
is comparatively short. Other crops
require attention at the same time
And the weather is to be reckOned
with. This year, when farm labor all
over the country is very scarce, the
difficulties of haymaking will be much
greater, and larger quantities of hay
will be lost than usual-unless labor
saving methods are more generally
employed.
A great deal of labor is wasted ev-
| cry year during hay harvest, say spe-
| cialists of the United States depart
ment of agriculture, not because of
| actual idleness on the part OF the
workers, but because labor is expended
unnecessarily on operations that do
not utilize it to the best advantage.
If an old method can be superseded by
| a new one that will enable the same
number of men to accomplish more
work in the same length of time, or
| fewer men to accomplish the same
work IN the same length of time, it
will mean more hay saved. more profit
| to the farmer and q better condition
| for the country.
Shift Burden From Man TO Horse.
Although there is a scarcity of man
labor, there are still plenty of horses
on most farms, and herein largely lies
| the solution of the problem. On farms
where considerable hay is grown meth
DDS must be adopted by which the
greater part of the heavy labor is done
by horses. This will necessitate the
general use of certain types of labor
saving machinery, some of them not
so common in the East, which have
been thoroughly tested and proved sat
| fsfactory in the western part of the
United States. The small hay grower,
| however, need not make a very heavy
| investment in new haying apparatus,
for by rearranging the working of his
crew and using a little more horse
labor for the hard work he can add
considerably to the efficiency of his
crew.
Here are some suggestions made by
the specialists for avoiding waste or
| labor in haymaking:
Do not run two or more mowers
close together. If the front mower
has any trouble that causes it to stop,
all of the mowers usually wait while
repairs are made on one. There is
| tendency, also, for drivers to waste
too much time talking when they stop
occasionally to let the teams rest. A
good practice when two or more ma
chimes are used is for each driver to
lay off a "Iand" for himself and work
independently, so there will be no, in
reference from other machines.
Side Delivery Rake Is Best.
Do not turn hay by hand. 1t is too
costly. The cheapest and most eff
cient way of stirring hay in the wind
row is with a twO-horse tedder. One
man will do more work than II men
stirring with hand forks. It is not
even necessary to have a man TO run
the tedder A boy big enough to drive
team will do just as much work.
A one-hOrse rake operated by
man makes raking very costly. a
| two-hoFse sulky rake is better, but the
side-delivery rake is best. When cur
ing is done in the swath and a hay
| loader is used, the crew can start
taking the hay from the windrow as
soon as the side delivery has made one
double windrow across the field. If
the suiky rake is used, the crew will
have TO wait until the rake has gone
several times across the field. In this
matter the extent of the haying opera
lions has to be considered, of course.
On very small farms the use of the
side-delivery rake might not be
economy.
If the weather is clear and the hay
is in proper condition. there will be no
necessity for hay-caps or for further
labor till the hay is thoroughly cured
and ready to be hauled. But hay-caps
will pay for themselves in one year
when the weather is bad. They are
more especially needed with clover,
alfalfa and pea vines, all of which
cure slowly.
If hay is to be punched, the hand
| method is too expensive. a twO-horSe
suIky rake can bunch 80 acres or more
a day and a boy can drive it just as
well as a man. Even more labor can
be saved. however, by using the push
rake to bunch hay after it has been
raked into the windrow. 1t is a good
plan to have two men working to-
gether to round up the punches. since
more can be accomplished than when
each works alone.
It is a waste of time to pitch hay
! onto a small hayrack on a high
wheeled wagon. Use a large hayrack
on a iow-wheeled wagon.
Loading hay with pitchforks is the
hardest, slowest and most expensive
way. The men are working constant
IL. but the horses are doing nothing
most of the time. If a loader is used,
the hardest part of the work is done