HANDLING CATTLE ON THE RANGE 139 



of measurement is required to determine the contents 

 of a stack in tons. In the Southwest the army officers 

 purchasing hay for the army posts formerly used what 

 is known as the "Government rule," with satisfaction 

 to both sellers and buyers. After using the rule for 

 many years, both for buying and selling hay, during 

 which time- I tested out the measurements, by baling 

 from a measured stack and then weighing the bales, I 

 satisfied myself that the rule was fair and reliable, and 

 when I became a member of the Xew Mexico terri- 

 torial legislature introduced and passed a bill making 

 it the legal measurement for hay there. It has stood 

 the test of several years since then, and given general 

 satisfaction. The New Mexico rule is as follows : 



Multiply the width in feet by the over, divide this 

 product by 4 and multiply this dividend by the length. 

 This gives the contents in cubic feet. For hay that 

 has stood not over 30 days, divide by 512; 30 to 60 days, 

 by 422; over 60 days, 380, which gives the tonnage of 

 the stack. 



Example : Stack is 20 feet wide, 40 over and 60 

 long: 20X40=800; 800-^4=200; 200X60=12,000; 

 12,000^512=23^ tons. 



The principle on which this rule is based is that the 

 face of the stack represents a half of a perfect circle, 

 and while not every stack is such in its measurements, 

 the shapes differing with every stack, the average of a 

 large number of stacks will fall clearly within that prin- 

 ciple. In measuring the "over" of course care should 

 be "ised to find a fairly representative place so as to 

 obtain a fair average of the entire stack. 



