Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1954-07-01
Page s

They are Fred Kramer OF
Boyd; Rote.t Parham of CIarks
rugg; Gloria King OF Clarksburg;
Ro!and Green, JT, Anita Mae
iing, Roberta Messei', Charlotte
Savage, Donald Savage and Jua
nita Adams, all of Gaithersburg
BARN FIRES
Barn fires during the haying
season emphasize the danger OF
spontaneous ignition when hay is
stored with too high moisture
content.
The moisture content of legumi
nous hays should probably not
exceed 25 percent when stored
and grasses should not contain
over 80 percent moisture, accord.
ing to A. V. Krewatch, University
of Maryland Extension agricul.
tural engineer.
Krewatch points out that the
first cutting is more likely to give
trouble than the second or third
cuttings, both from the stand.
point of the weather and the
character of the crop itself.
The highest quality of hay un-
der Maryland weather conditions
can be insured only through the
use of NOV curing system or
by batch curing with heated air,
in the agriculture engineers opin-
ion. "Baled, chopped or long hay
should be removed from the fields
at the lowest moisture content
that would still prevent shatter-
ing and loss of leaves. This
ranges from Is to 35 percent
moisture.
"Such hay is still somewhat
ropey in nature and will certainly
heat if tightly packed without
ventilation, but it retains good
color and much of the carotene
content" Now finishing is usual
ly done with an air volume of20
cubic feet or more of air per
square foot of NOW floor area.
Where more than 100 tons of
hay is harvested the heated air
batch drying system is preferred
because it speeds up the harvest
and enables the farmer to cut hay
when it is at exactly the right
stage of growth, says Krewatch.
A NOV drier permits storing of
hay with a moisture content of 80
to 40 percent, explains Krewatch.
ut insures hay having the same
quality in the NOW that ithad
when it was cut in the field. 1t
also is good insurance against
burning down a barn from spon-
taneous CONFUSION, even in rainy
weather"
He points out that hay headed
for a NOV drier can be cut earlier
in the season, when the forage
crops have a higher feed quality,
and that about 10 pjercent more
hay can be taken from the field.
The drying system design de-
ponds on the size and arrange
ment of the hay NOW. A person
making so to 60 tons or more Of
ahy may well consider such a
system, the Extension engineer
believes.
Information on NOW drying
and design of NOW drying sys-
TENS is available from the depart
ment of agricultural engineering,
University of Maryland, College
Park, Md.
DUTCH ELM
A wilt of elm commonly known
as Dutch elm disease is causing
loss of considerable number of
native elm trees this year, accord
ing to University of Maryland
plant pathologists.
The first symptom of the dis
ease is usually wilted leaves
which are rolled or cupped at the
edge. This symptom commonly
becomes noticeable in June. La
ter, the leaves turn yellow or
brown and fall before those on
healthy trees. Gradual defoliation
throughout the summer months
weakens the branches and the
trees have a sickly appearance.
Large limbs are killed and dis
eased trees gradually die. One
tree may become infected or