102 



'Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



Fia. 98. Filling, with a swinging stacker, a hay barn equipped with a sliding roof door. 



By these methods hay may be placed in a mow or shed with much 

 greater ease, speed and economy than by means of pitchforks. It is well 

 to use large pulleys and ropes and to keep the carriers and pulleys well 

 oiled, for trouble with the apparatus when putting up hay may delay 

 a number of men, whose "time" goes on while the trouble is adjusted. 

 (See pages 317 to 323.) 



In filling hay sheds it is the practice with some to let the space be- 

 tween two poles serve as a compartment or section, and to fill each com- 

 partment separately before going ahead with the next. With others it is 

 a common custom to spread the first cutting all over the floor of the 

 shed, and to place each succeeding cutting on top of its predecessor. By 

 the time the second cutting is ready for storage the first cutting of hay 

 becomes well settled, and so on, the shed thus being filled to its fullest 

 capacity with well-settled hay. 



HAY SHEDS. 



Hay sheds are made for protection against precipitation and sun- 

 shine; hence it is necessary only to make them strong, so that the wind 

 will not blow them down, and make the roofs and a part of the sides 

 water-tight. The reported average length of hay sheds is about 71 feet, 

 varying from 60 to 100 feet; the average width is 34 feet, varying from 

 20 to 60 feet; and the average height to the eaves is 19 feet, varying 

 from 14 to 22 feet. In a general way, it may be said that the average 

 shed is about 70 feet long, 34 feet wide, and 20 feet high at the eaves. 

 Such a shed will hold about 125 tons of alfalfa hay, on a basis, estimated 

 from the reports received, that a ton of alfalfa occupies in the neighbor- 

 hood of 381 cubic feet. The cost of this average shed is estimated at 

 $484. The reports indicate a variation in capacity, of the different sheds 

 reported on, of from 75 to 300 tons, and a variation in cost of from $200 

 to $1200. 



