Cultivation of Grafs Land. Advantages of Barns for Hay. 



In artfwer to objections made on the grounds of the praftice not repaying the 

 cxpenfe of large barns, it is remarked by the fame writer, that it is &quot; in direct 

 oppofition to the opinions of the beft hay farmers in the country, and contrary to 

 his own experience, for in the dryeft feafons barns are a faving of four or five 

 Shillings an acre ; and in wet feafons, the ready afiiftance which they afford 

 in fpeedily fecuring the hay, has been known to make a difference in price of 

 twenty millings per load on a fmall number of loads.&quot; 



There are other advantages in the ufe of barns for this purpofe, as there is not 

 only lefs litter and wafte, but in merely hay diftricts, a great faving in draw, 

 which is now an expenfive article in many places, efpecially near large towns. 



But without having recourfe to the erection of expenfive barns, many of the 

 conveniences and advantages of them, efpecially thofe of faving the labour and 

 expenfes of thatching, may be obtained by the ufe of covered meds, raifed on 

 pillars or pofts, and open on all the fides. Thefe may be constructed in a cheap 

 manner by having the roofs made with thin feather-edge boards, well payed over 

 on the outfide with tar or paint. Thefe are light, cheap, and will laft a great 

 length of time by care in keeping them well painted.* 



On fome hay farms the dependence is chiefly upon the file of the article, which 

 is conveyed to the market after being cut by a knife, and bound up into 

 truffes weighing fifty-fix pounds each, thirty-fix of which form a load, or about 

 eighteen hundred weight : but when fold frefh from the field, twenty hundred 

 weight conftitutes the load. f When the hay has been prcfcrved in a perfectly 



* The expenfes of mowing and making the hay in the firlt method, currying, ftacking, thatching, 

 and other neceflary operations, are thus ftated by the author of the Report of Middlefex : 



Erpenses per acre. . s. d. 



Mowing 3s. beer6d. - 03 6 



Making and ftacking - y 



Pulling the flack, and laying the hay pulled out upon the ftack t&amp;gt; 



Horfes, harnefs, and carts 020 



Straw for thatch, 3s. thatcher and labourer 6d. &quot; &quot;* &quot; 3 6 



Total expcnfe per acre in the flack-yard is 1,9 o,r &quot;20s* 



Since the period this ftatement was made,1798, the expenfes haveincreafed very confiderably. 

 It is added that tf If the hay be put into barns, the laO. charge of 3s. Gd. will not of conrfe be 

 incurred ; moft of the third, and part of the fecond, will alfo be fuved ; fo that the whole expcnfe in 

 this cafe will not exceed 15s. per acre.&quot; 



t Synopfis of Husbandry. 



