DRYING BY HOT AIR FROM FURNACE. 297 



feet square and made of good conimon unbleached muslin. At 

 eacli corner is an eyelet for pegs to run through into the sides of 

 the hay cock, or'stout cords may be fastened to the corners and 

 long enough to reach to the pegs which stick in the ground. 

 In fair weather the caps need not be used, but when rain threat- 

 ens a man will sleep better with his hay covered, unless per- 

 chance, as is related in the Country Gentletymn, some stranger 

 wakes him up to tell him there are a lot of white cows in his 

 meadow. 



Drying by Hot Air from a Furnace or the Use of a Fan. 

 — W. A. Gibbs, of Essex, England, has patented a contrivance 

 for driving hot air from a furnace among the half-made hay as it 

 is tossed by revolving forks in a long trough. This is some- 

 times valuable in Great Britain and Ireland, where they are sub- 

 ject to rains, especially for curing aftermath when the sun is low 

 and the days short. 



Morton'' s Crops of the Farm gives another plan which seems 

 likely to come into more general use. It consists in providing 

 a horizontal shaft, either under the ground on which the rick is 

 built, or, by means of suitable boarding, within the lower layer 

 of the rick itself, and connecting with it, one or more upright 

 shafts into the body of the rick. A fan is used at the outer end 

 of the main shaft, and draws the air through the whole body of 

 the hay with sufficient rapidity at once to keei3 the temperature 

 within safe limits. In this way partially cured hay can be fin- 

 ished before stacking. 



Stacking Hay. — It is almost impossible to give rules in writ- 

 ing which shall be of much use. The best way for a person to 

 learn is to become a pupil of a good stacker. 



The foundation should be made on boards or some timbers to 



keep the hay from absorbing moisture from the ground. The 



middle should always be kept highest; it should be evenly trod 



down on all sides ; the hay should be pitched onto the stack 



38 



