EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 287 



to draw to the barn, was placed in a separate mow in the College barn. It was 

 weighed out February 18, 1899, when it was found to have lost 776 pounds, or 

 13.8 per cent. 



In the summer of 1887, Mr. C. B. Charles, of Van Buren county, put in a barn 

 130.5 tons of timothy hay in good condition. "In the following January," he says, 

 "I baled out 100.5 tons, while the ehatf, dirt and short hay fed to my sheep from under 

 the press amounted to 1.5 tons. This indicates a shrinkage of 28.5 tons, or 21.7 per 

 cent." In this case undoubtedly the hay was riper than the lot used at the Michigan 

 Station, and was probably not as dry when put in the barn. 



Mr. H. E. Emmons, formerly a dealer in hay in Detroit, writes: "Hay, from the 

 time of putting in the mow until it is sold or baled out, shrinks not far from 20 per 

 cent. After baling each bale further shrinks from 1 to 4 pounds." 



At the Utah Station (Fourth Annual Report, p. 30), one ton of timothy hay stored 

 in the barn July 20, 1892, and weighed out April 20 following, lost 314 pounds, or 

 a little over 15 per cent. A stack containing 4,565 pounds was built out of doors 

 the same day and Aveighed again on the 21st of April following, when it showed an 

 increase to 4,635 pounds, a gain of over 1 per cent. At the same station a ton of 

 clover hay placed in the barn July 15, 1892, and removed April 20 following, lost 75 

 pounds, or 3.75 per cent. A stack of clover hay, 4,090 pounds, built July 15, was 

 again weighed April 21 following, when it had gained 10 per cent, or up to 4,528 

 pounds. 



At the ]\rissouri Station 5,678 pounds of timothy was stacked as drawn from the 

 field. '\\'hen weighed the following spring, it had shrunk to 4,972 pounds, a loss of 

 about 12.5 per cent. From the same field there was placed in the barn 4,183 pounds 

 of timothy hay, which weighed the next spring 3,893 pounds, a loss nearly 7 per cent. 

 At the same station, a stack of second growth clover, weighing in July, when put up, 

 0,514 pounds, shrank in weight to 4,548 pounds, a loss of 30 per cent, by the following 

 March. 



At the Michigan Station, on August 31 and September 1, 1896, there was placed in 

 the barn 6,110 pounds of hay made from clover sown in the spring of 1896. The 

 growth had been very succulent, but the hay was well cured. On the 6th of February 

 following, during a period of damp weather, it was taken out and weighed, and 

 found to have lost 22.6 per cent. A portion of it was musty when reweighed. 



The degree of maturity at which hay is cut, as well as the condition of the 

 weathtr, has much to do with the amount of shrinkage to be expected during curing. 

 Early cut hay contains more food value for a given weight undoubtedly, but later 

 cutting gives a larger yield per acre of cured hay. At the Pennsylvania Station 

 grass cut when nearly ripe weighed when cured and put in the barn 11 per cent more 

 than hay from an equal area cut when in the blossom. The early cut hay lost in the 

 barn on an average of 29 per cent in weight, while the late cut hay lost but 21.5 

 per cent. 



The actual amount of shrinkage during the curing varies between wide limits. 

 Clover cut at the usual time shrinks a little over half in curing into hay. In 1897, at 

 this Station, 4,091 pounds of green clover made 1,960 pounds of cured hay, a shrink- 

 age of nearly 60 per cent. It was reweighed the following November, showing a 

 farther loss of 180 pounds, or 9 per cent of the weight when put in the barn. A 

 writer in the Country Gentleman reports that 1,520 pounds of green clover made 680 

 pounds of hay, or over 44 per cent of hay. 



In July, 1897, at this Station, 1,100 poimds of clover hay containing a little 

 timothy was put in the barn directly from the windrows, being unusually dry for 

 hauling from the field. It was reweighed November 12 following, when is showed a loss 

 of but 398 pounds, or 3.6 per cent. 



Again, on the 6th of July, 1898, 5,763 pounds of Mammoth Clover hay, that had 

 been fairly well cured the day before and kept in the heap over night in tiie field, 

 and hauled to the barn at 9 a. m., was stored in one of the large bays in the Station 

 barn. The hay had been very dry when raked. On the 18th of February, 1899, the 

 hay weighed 5,117 pounds, showing a shrinkage of 646 pounds, equivalent to 11.2 

 per cent in the seven months. 



Wallace, in his book on clover, says that 100 pounds of green clover cut at the proper 

 time and well cured will make 47 pounds of hay, and that this will shrink in 20 days 

 after storing to 37 pounds. Clover cut before the usual time will shrink much more 

 than this. In June, 1896, at this Station, 1,870 pounds of half grown crimson clover 

 shrank during the process of curing to 418 pounds, making but a little over 20 per 

 cent of hay. 



