GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS. 



245 



Carrier, manufactured by Clark & Scott of Bridgewater, New York, represents a most 

 admirable machine for this purpose. Any fork can be used with this carrier, which adjusts 

 itself to any position, so that it makes no difference whether 

 the load stands under the track or twenty feet away. It has 

 been known to unload nineteen loads of hay, weighing over a 

 ton each, in three hours, each load being pitched off at four 

 forkfuls in from two to four minutes. An accurate and 

 special test of its merits in point of time, was the unloading 

 of 2,500 pounds of hay in a little less than two minutes. 



There are so many valuable hay-forks in common use that 

 it is difficult to tell which is best. 



The following is an illustration of the Nellis Harpoon 

 Horse Hay-Fork, from the firm of Joseph Breck & Son, 

 Boston, Mass. This hay-fork is simple and readily adjusted, 

 durable and easily handled. It can be used for hay or straw&amp;gt; 

 whether damp or dry, coarse or fine, and is a desirable 

 adjunct to the haying machines. The figure at the right 

 shows the fork with the blade closed for penetrating the 

 hay; that at the left represents the same with blade open 

 for lifting the hay. Grapple hay-forks are also extensively 

 used. 



Stacking Hay. When necessary to stack hay (which 

 should be avoided if possible), it should be done with the 

 greatest care. The hay can remain in the cocks until quite a 

 quantity is ready for the purpose. Before stacking, it should 

 be turned over and that which has lain on the ground be ex 

 posed to the sun to dry out the accumulated moisture, and after 

 ward taken to the place for stacking. For small stacks, poles 

 are used at the center for support. The pole should be secured 

 in the ground and be made to stand perpendicular. The hay 

 is then packed as compactly around it as possible. 

 When finished, the top of the stack should be well covered with straw, carefully 

 arranged to shed the rain. The Noyes Field Pitching Apparatus, manufactured by the 

 Wind Engine & Pump Company, Batavia, Illinois, is an admirable arrangement for stacking 

 large quantities of hay in a single stack, which can be done with great facility. Where this 



apparatus is used, 

 stacks are frequently 

 made so large that 

 they do not require 

 the pole in the center 

 for support, the hay 

 being packed hard in 

 the middle of the 

 stack, which together 

 with its immense 

 size, prevents its lean 

 ing. As has been 

 previously stated, 



baling hay is preferable to stacking, since it prevents waste and injury to the hay from 

 exposure to the weather. 

 16 



THE NOYES GRAPPLE HAY FORK. 



