The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-06-04

IuIllDSI VI IIlS1l VIII nave IdU low
wet places in the middle of good
fields have removed these obsta-
Giles to good farming by simply
blasting out drainage d i h S
through the use of dynamite. In
Lee County the other day, c. M.
Rose and c. P. Bradley drained
six acres by this means and are
pleased with the results. 1t would
have taken them several days 10
have drained the area using the
ordinary methods of shovel a d
spade even had the labor been
available.
o. P Monkey of Peden in AL
leghany County had an excellent
concrete trench silo about 20 feet
long and over eight feet deep. He
found that when he opened his silo
for feeding last winter that he
could not feed enough Of the silage
at one time to keep the material
from spelling. So he has remedied
the situation this season by SIM
ply building two concrete parti-
tons which in effect give him
three small upright silos. He is
feeding from the top and opens
one of the uprights at a time. A
door in each partition makes feed
ing more convenient after the first
silo has been emptied. Mr.. Mox-
ley says it pays to study situa-
ton, size it up, and then take
such action as will save steps
later.
Roy Goodman, farm agent OF
Cabarrus County, tells an interest
ing story about J. l.. Patterson of
Concord, Route 3, who lost about
so tons of good hay last season
because of unfavorable weather
conditions at curing time Nothing
discourages farmer SO much,
Roy says, as to have a fine crop
Of hay lying on the ground day
after day with spring rains max
ing it impossible to cure ard house
it. Not only does the hay lose col
or but it also loses much of it's
feeding value. Mr.. Patterson,
therefore, decided that he would
install a hay drying system in his
barn loft. Farm Agent Goodman
secured the aid of c. L.. McCas.
Ian, extension engineer at State
College, and they laid out the sys-
tenn in Mr. Patterson's IS by 80
feet barn loft Builders paper was
first placed on the original plank
floor then a tight floor was laid
over this. A shelter was built for
the fan and motor and the air
ducts were built to lead into the
barn. From these main air ducts
lateral ducts were placed each
five feet and the entire system
was ready by midApril.
Thinking the whole thing was
ready, Mr. Patterson cut 10 acres
of good alfalfa and made plans
for putting it in the barn. He
found then that his small horse
power mo tor was not large
enough to operate the fan as #
should be but he did have a fuel
power unit connected with his
woodsaw and hay baler SO this
was transferred to the barn loft
and connected with the fan. Mr..
Patterson took care to run the ex-
haust pipe to the outside so as
to eliminate any chances Of fire
and then he began to haul in the
hay from his 10 acres of alfalfa.
They hay was spread out over the
driving ducts to about 3 or feet
deep all over the loft floor. The
next morning, hay from seven
more acres was added and then
it rained. But seven more acres
and then other acres were add
ed until the whole barn was COW
cred to a depth of about seven
feet Some changes were suggest
ed later by which the depth could
be increased to nine # of hay
at one time But the beauty Of
the whole thing is that the hay
drier works. 1t has saved cattle
feed that might have been ruined
by the incessant spring rains and
| Mr.. Patterson is so pleased that