10 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 425 



The Homemade Moisture Tester 



The following description of the materials needed and the procedure to follow 

 in using the tester is taken from United States Department of Agriculture Leaflet 

 238. 



1. A piece of 2-inch pipe, 12 inches long, open at both ends. Four rows of 

 3/16-inch holes should be drilled in the pipe, 10 holes to the row, and the rows 

 should be equally distant apart. Starting ^ inch from one end of the pipe, drill 

 the holes in each row J^ inch apart from center to center. Smooth off the burrs 

 made by the drill on the inside of the pipe. 



2. A round hardwood plunger 14 inches long beveled like a cold chisel on 

 one end and flat on the other. It should fit the inside of the pipe snugly yet move 

 freely. 



3. A 2 X 4 lever 4j^ feet long. Use the lever flatwise, with the beveled end 

 under a beveled block nailed to the wall. Stand the testing pipe on a flat surface 

 (wooden block or cement floor) near the wall, so the top of the plunger will fit in 

 a small groove on the under side of the lever 1 foot from the edge of the block on 

 the wall. 



4. The material to be tested should be chopped with the silage cutter — not 

 by hand. Set the cutter for ^4-inch lengths, if possible. Press the material 

 firmly into the testing pipe 6 inches deep, but do not tamp or press hard enough 

 to squeeze out juice. 



TOP VIEW 



"i" 



U' 



-TEN Vi6-lfJCH MOlEE 

 PER ROW SPACED 

 1/2 INCH ON CENTERS 



J. A. 



SIDE VIEV 

 2-INCH T£^ Pipe 



Figure 1 — Home-made tester for determining moisture content of grass silage. 



In testing any kind of crop, either to find out whether it is too wet or too dry, 

 use the weight specified in table 1. Hang the weight at the 4-foot mark on the 

 lever and leave it for 1 minute for all tests. 



If any juice whatever is expressed from any hole in the testing pipe by the 

 weights shown on the "too wet" column (table 1), the moisture content of the 

 crop material is approximately 68 percent or higher. If no juice is expressed by 

 the weights in the "too dry" column, the moisture content is lower than approx- 

 imately 58 percent. 



In case a load has too much or too little moisture at the time of the test run it 

 into the silo anyway, and then try to have subsequent loads nearer to the desired 

 moisture content. 



