HAY AND GREEN FEED 57 
replaced bulk hay upon the market. Of course all hay 
that enters commercial channels is baled, bulk hay being 
confined to the local market. Even for use upon the farm 
or ranch the hay may be baled for convenience in hauling 
and storing. As baled hay occupies only 140 to 160 cubic 
feet to the ton there is a great saving of space over hay 
sold in bulk. The standard bale weighs 70 to 250 pounds; 
the small bale, much used in the South, 70 to 100 pounds; 
the medium bale, 100 to 150 pounds, and the large bale, 
requiring two men to handle, 150 to 250 pounds. 
Any kind of hay, straw, or fodder may be baled, but 
the baled hay in commerce in the United States consists 
mostly of timothy, prairie hay, alfalfa, and grain hay, the 
latter largely confined to the Pacific coast. The classes of 
hay recognized in the East by the National Hay Associa- 
tion are timothy, clover-mixed (timothy and clover), 
clover, and prairie, with two to five grades each. For 
transportation to trans-oceanic points, especially Alaska 
and the Philippines, the hay may be double compressed. 
For this purpose hay obtained by loosening ordinary 
bales is compressed by powerful hydraulic or electric 
presses similar to those used for compressing the cylindri- 
cal bales of cotton. The resulting bale is very compact, 
the square form occupying 85 cubic feet to the ton, and 
the cylindrical bales only 55 cubic feet. (See Farmers’ 
Bulletin No. 508.) 
SOILING AND SILAGE CROPS 
74. Soiling is the system of feeding to animals in in- 
closures green forage recently cut from the growing plants. 
Silage is the system of preserving fresh green forage in 
suitable more or less air-tight receptacles. 
