MAKING VETCH HAY 123 



practice, though, one likes to put a little hustle into 

 hay carting, so that, except in the case of the small 

 farmer, master of his own time and work, slow 

 stack-building does not seem to be very feasible. 



When slow stack-building is necessary, the best 

 way of carrying it out is to build two stacks at the 

 same time, working alternative days on each. 



Where this is not possible, and the hay has got so 

 dry that the after-heating cannot be very great, a 

 load of green stuff should be cut, the outside moisture 

 allowed to dry off, and about 1 cwt. of the green stuff 

 mixed through every load of the hay in order to start 

 re-heating. 



THE USE OF SALT 



The ideal way of stacking vetch hay is to bring in 

 the stuff dry, but a little green, and to stack it in this 

 condition. That is, as the farmer puts it, " let it 

 heat from its own moisture." 



There is, however, a danger of overheating on this 

 system, unless precautions are taken, and the 

 necessary precautions are to sprinkle salt through 

 the stuff while stacking. Use about 14 lbs. of 

 common agricultural salt to every ton of stuff, 

 sprinkling a little salt every time a fresh load is put 

 on the stack. 



Salt is an antiseptic, and, therefore, prevents 

 bacteria from working too rapidly, and the 

 temperature rising too high. It might also be 

 mentioned that whilst a useful temperature to obtain 

 in the stack i3 120° F., there is no danger if the heat 

 rises to 140° F. when salt has been used, although, if 

 preventible, the stack should not rise past 120° F. 



The right thing to do, when it rises over 120° F., 

 is to ram more stuff on at once, which has the effect 



