[1836 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



455 



order than that in the barn ; and ahhough the dif- 

 ference is not so great ns to afl'ecl its price, it is 

 jet pre((MTed by tiiose who are aciiuainted witli 

 the circumstance. Ft is ditlicnlt To account tbrthis, 

 for the hay is in both cases equally open to the air, 

 and that in tiie barn is put together in larger 

 quantiiies than ihat which is slacked, consequent- 

 ly ouglit to be closer, and to sweat with more ef- 

 fect ; yet the contrary is tiie fact, and the same 

 obsers-ation has been made by many farmers with 

 whom we are acquainted. The barn is however 

 roofed with tiles, which do not Ibrm a roof so im- 

 penetrable to the air as one of thatch ; neither can 

 the hay be packed so close to the roof ; thus its 

 sweating is partially prevented, and to this the de- 

 fect may probably be attributed. 



Grass, when, dried info hay, loses about three- 

 fourths of iis weight : 400 tons in the field conse- 

 quently yield oidy 100 when put inio stack ; by 

 the process of heat and evaporation it is supposed 

 to be still fiu-ther reduced about ten percent, in the 

 course of the year; and if cut for sale during the 

 summer months, the operations of cutting, trussing, 

 and carrying to market, render it so much lighter, 

 by exposure to the sun and wind, that it probably 

 loses Irom five to ten per cent. more. During the 

 winter, this latter species of waste will be avoided, 

 and from this circumstance, together with others 

 which relate to price and conveyance, farmers 

 who do not consume their hay upon the premises, 

 may determine ihe season at which it will be most 

 advisable to dispose of the crop. Upon good 

 land, a load and a half of meadow-hay is thought 

 a good average : in fine seasons, and with plenty 

 of manure, two loads are fi'equently made ; but 

 three loads or perhaps tons, when cut out of the 

 stack, form the largest crop ever produced upon 

 soils of the very richest quality. 



Hay is sold in London, and generally through- 

 out the southern markets, by the load, containing 

 36 trusses, each weighing 60 lbs., until Michael- 

 mas, and 56 lbs. after that period, or IS cwt. to the 

 load. In many country places it is, however, esti- 

 mated by the ton : at Edinburgh it is disposed of 

 by the stone of 24 lbs. avoirdupois, delivered in 

 bulk ; for neither in Scotland nor in Ireland, is it 

 trussed lor market. ***** 



The measurement of hay in the stack, fc)r the 

 purpose of ascertaining its weight, is made by 

 multiplying the length, breadth,'and height, into 

 each other; and if it has been allowed to settle in 

 the stack during the winter, ten solid yards of 

 meadow hay, in crood condition, will generally 

 weigh about one ton. The number of yards de- 

 pending, however, partly upon the old or young 

 state in which the grass was cut before it was 

 made into hay, and partly upon the dry or moist 

 condition in which it was stacked, as well as upon 

 the length, of time which it has lain — all these cir- 

 cumstances should be minutely examined ; lor if 

 it is in a very large stack of more than a year old, 

 nine, and in some cases eight ytirds will make a 

 ton ; clover, lying somewhat lighter in Ihe stack, 

 Avill generally take eleven or" twelve yards to 

 make a ton ; and sometimes, when it has been 

 stacked very dry, thirteen may be required ; but 

 the average of the last year's clover may be as- 

 sumed at twelve yards.* 



The expenses nf making hay consisting chiefly 

 of labor, vary, of course, in different places. 

 Those in the district around London being the 

 highest, we shall state according to the last esti- 

 mate, as they may be reduced according to the 

 rates in other pans, and are as follows: — 



Mowing varies from four to six shillings per 

 acre, according to the crop ; but the general price 

 is five. Making, including the wages of all the 

 laborers employed in tedding, carting and stacking 

 — but exclusive of" any charge for horse labor, 

 which being performed by the fiirm teams is not 

 included — is from ten to fifteen shillings, as the 

 weather proves dry or wet, and the crop light or 

 heavy; but it may commonly be got in from fen 

 to twelve. Men and women will, upon an ave- 

 rage, drink about lour quarts nf beer each per day, 

 at 6d. per gallon — say, about 2s. an acre tor beer: 

 but, when the days are hot, the men at the stacks 

 and with the carls have a more liberal supply 

 to induce them to get on. These charges there- 

 fore amount to — 



Mowing, say per acre 

 Making, do. 

 Beer, do. 



5s. 

 10 

 2 



r * Bayldon on Rents and Tillages, 3rd edit. p. 159. 

 The mode of calculation is as follows : — Supposing 



On an average of soils and years the crop may 

 be about one load and a riuarter of meadow-hay 

 per acre when cut ii-om the stack ; consequently, 

 the expenses upon a load will be as follows, viz. 



Four-fifths of the above sum - - 13s. 6d. 

 Thatcdiing, about 2s. per load ; but, as the 



straw will make bedding for cattle when 



it comes iVom the stack, say 

 Binding for market _ _ _ 



Toll-bars and carter _ _ . 



Salesman for selling - _ _ 



And if held over until the following day, 7s. 6d. 



the stack to be ten yards long at the bottom, and ele- 

 ven at the oaves ; lour and a half wide at the bottom, 

 and five and a half at the eaves; and presiuning it to 

 be four yards in height to the eaves, and to rise three 

 yards to the point of the roof: in order to find the coa- 

 tents, the dimensions are summed up thus — 



Medium length lOj yards 

 Do. breadth 5 



52A 



Do. height 5 including J of the rise of the roof. 



10) 2621 := 26i, or 29 1-6 loads. 



If the stack swells out considerably towards the 

 eaves, the height — if taken against the sides — will ap- 

 pear to be greater than it is in reality ; it should there- 

 lore be measured by a pole set up perpendicularly to 

 the eaves. When it is required to measure an irregu- 

 larly-fornicd stack, the contents may be found by giv- 

 ing and talving proportionate quantities of the separate 

 parts, or by measuring or computing it in dilferent di- 

 visions. If round, a more complex calculation is ne- 

 cessary, and can he hardly ascertained with accuracy 

 without having recourse to geometry. Mr. Bayldon, 

 however, mentions a simple method, which consists in 

 measuring the circumference at the bottom, and at re- 

 gular distances up to the eaves, which must be added to- 

 gether, and divided by their joint number for a mean 

 circumference ; the square of which must then be mul- 

 tiplied by the decimal -07958, and this product by the 

 height up to the eaves, and-one third of the rise of the 

 roof, added together, and this divided by 27 (thecaicu- 

 lation being made in feet) will give the product in de- 

 cimal yards. 



