The Crittenden press., 1920-07-02

The hay crop. even when the labor
supply Is normal, causes more worry,
anxiety, and appointment than any
other crop. The time for harvesting
Is comparatively short. Other crops
require attention VI the same time.
And ;he weather Is 20 hc reck1ned
with This year. when farm labor all
over the country is very scarce, the
difficulties Of haynnking win be much
greater, aud 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 spc-
ciallsts Of the United States depart
ment Of agriculture, not because OF
actual ldeness on The part Of the
workers. hut because labor is expended
unnecessarily on operations that do
not utilize II 10 the best advantage.
II nm old method can he superseded by
new one that will enable the same
number of men to accomplish more
work In the same length OF time, or
fewer men 10 accomplish the same
work I'm the same length Of time, II
will mean more hay saved. more profit
10 the farmer and better condition
for the country.
Shift Burden From Man 10 Horse.
Although there IS 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
ods must be adopted by which the
greater part of the heavy labor Is done
by horses. This will necessItntc the
general use ~ certain types Of labor
saving machinery. some Of them not
80 common In the East, which have
been thoroughly tested and proved sat
isfactory In the western part Of the
United States. The small hay grower
however. need not make very heavy
investment In new haying apparatus,
for hy rpnrrnnging the working Of his
crew aud using 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:
close together. II the front mower
has any trouble that causes II To stop
all Of the mowers usually wait while
repairs ARE made on one. There Is n
tendency, also, for drivers to waste
too much time talking when they stop
occa sonnilv to let the teams rest. a
good practice when two or more ma
chimes are used Is for each driver To
lay OF 'lnnd" for himself aud work
INDEPENDENTLY. so there Will be no In
reference from other machines.
Side Delivery Rake Is Best.
DO not turn hay by hand. II Is too
costly. The cheapest and most eff
Client way Of stirring hay In the wind
row Is with n two.horse tedder. one
man will do more work than Il men
stirring with hand forks. II Is not
even necessary 10 have man To run
the tedder. A boy big enough to drive
team will do just us much work.
A one.horse rake operated by n
man makes raking very costly. A
two-horse sulky rake Is better, hut the
sIde.deIvcry rake Is hest, When cur
Ing Is done In the swath and hay
londcr Is used. the crew can start
taking the hny from the wlndrow ms
soon ms the side delivery has mnde one
double wIndrow across the field. II
the sulky rake Is used, the crew VIII
have To walt until the rake has gone
several times across the field, In this
matter the extent Of the hnylng opera
,Ions has to be considered, Of course.
on very small farms the use OF the
sIdc.dcllvery rake might not be
economy.
II the weather Is clear and the hay
IL In proper condition. there will he no
necessity for hny.cnps or for further
labor TIL the hay Il thoroughly cured
and ready 10 he hauled. hut h0y'caps
will pay for themselves In one year
when the weather is had. They are
more especially needed with clover,
alfalfa and pen vines, nll OF which
cure slowly.
II hny is 10 he hunchcd the hand
pcthod is too expensive. \ two.horse
sulky rake can bunch 20 acres or more
n day and boy can drive II lust as
well as man. Even more labor can
be- saved. however, by using the push
rake 10 bunch hay after 1t has been
rakcd into the windrow. II Is n good
plan to have two men working to-
gc,hcr to round up the lunches, since
more can be accomplished than when
each works alone,
/ II IL n waste OF time to pitch hny
onto n small hnyrack on n high
wheeled wagon Use large hayruck
on n w.whecled wagon.
Loading hNy with pitchforks Is the
hardest, slowcst and most expensive
way. The men are working constant
~, but the horses nre doing nothing
most " the time. II n loader II used,
the hardest part Of the work is done