Alfalfa in Kansas. 461 



MEASURING HAY. 



By A. M. TEN EYCK, in Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 155. 



The rules for measuring hay in the stack may vary according to the 

 length of time the hay has been stacked, the kind and quality of the hay, 

 and also according to the character of the stack. With alfalfa hay which 

 has been stacked for thirty days it is usual to compute an 8-foot cube, 

 or 512 cubic feet, as a ton. When the hay has been stacked five or six 

 months a 7^ -foot cube, or 422 cubic feet, is usually calculated for a ton. 

 In old, fully-settled stacks it is usual to allow a 7-foot cube, 343 cubic feet, 

 for a ton; or sometimes, in very large stacks or mows, only 216 cubic feet, 

 a 6-foot cube, are allowed per ton in weight. 



The volume of mow is readily secured by multiplying together the 

 length, width and height. There are different methods for measuring hay 

 in the stack, depending upon the shape of the stack and also upon its size. 

 With a long stack or rick the usual method is to throw a line over the 

 stack, measuring the distance in feet from the bottom of the stack on one 

 side to the bottom on the other ; add to this the average width of the stack 

 in feet, divide this sum by 4 (which gives one side of the square), and 

 multiply the quotient by itself, and this product by the length of the stack 

 in feet. This will give the number of cubic feet in the stack, which may 

 be divided by 512, 422, or 343 (the number of cubic feet in a ton), in 

 order to find the number of tons. For small, low ricks the rule is to sub- 

 tract the width from the "over," divide by 2, multiply by the width, and 

 multiply the product by the length, dividing the result by the number of 

 cubic feet in a ton. 



There is no established rule for measuring round stacks, but this one 

 will approximate the contents of a stack of ordinary conical form: Find 

 the circumference at or above the base or "bulge," at a height that will 

 average the base from there to the ground ; find the vertical height of the 

 measured circumference from the ground, and the slant height from the 

 measured circumference to the top of the stack, taking all measurements 

 in feet. Multiply the circumference by itself and divide by 100 and 

 multiply by 8, then multiply the result by the height of the base, plus one- 

 third of the slant height of top. The hay in a round stack is usually less 

 compact than in a rectangular stack, hence a greater number of feet 

 should be allowed for a ton, with well-settled hay probably 512 cubic feet. 



The rules given may also be used in measuring any kind of hay, or 

 cane or kafir fodder, but with cane or kafir only approximate results may 

 be secured by stack measurements, because the fodder is apt to vary 

 greatly in weight according to the moisture it contains. 



