88 LUCERNE CULTURE. 



Storing Lucerne under Cover. 



TV/fR RICHARD GAVIN, the father of lucerne farming in the- 

 * * * Cape Colony, wrote to the first edition of this work his expe- 

 riences in Lucerne Haymaking. The following - advice on storing 

 hay under cover is yet of sufficient importance to be reproduced. 

 Mr. Gavin says : 



A house is the best to store lucerne hay in, for if there is only 

 one load dry it can be stored away and no trouble to cover it for 

 fear of rain. The second best plan to store it away is to make a 

 rick about 20 feet wide, build it up as high as it can be forked from 

 the wagons, say about 14 feet high ; build it nearly perpendicular, 

 but very little wider as it g( es up .; press it as close and firm as 

 possible by walking on the top ; slope the top the same as a flat- 

 roofed house and cover with iron in a similar manner, only that it 

 is not screwed on. When the iron is on, place long pieces of wood 

 across the plates, then places wire across the wood and fasten 

 weights to the ends of the wires ; also place a few pieces of wood 

 across the iron to make them lie smooth. When done in this way 

 there is no fear of the wind removing the iron, although it blows , 

 strong. When the hay is required remove as many of the plates as 

 you think necessary, and cut the rick across in sections with a hay 

 knife, and there will be no waste of hay. My plan to build a hay 

 house is as follows : It may be any width ; the walls about 18 feet 

 high ; pitched roof, with no loft ; door in the end, about 10 ft. wide 

 and 9 ft. high ; large windows on lee side, having the bottom of the 

 windows about 7 feet above the ground outside, so that the hay can 

 be forked from the wagons into the house. When the hay rises 

 above the level of the bottom of the window, it can bp forked from 

 that to the top of the house with ease. When the hay is required 

 to be taken out of the house commence at the door, cut across in sec- 

 tions with hay knife as with the rick, and you will find that there 

 will be no trouble in removing the hay. In having the door very 

 large, it can be used for wagons and live stock when not required 

 for hay. The floor of the house must be high and dry. The best 

 foundation for a rick is stone. A good plan to find out whether 

 hay is heating or sweating is to take a long bar of iron with a sharp 

 point and drive it into the middle of the stack. Leave it for about 

 10 or 12 hours, then pull it out, and if it is hot and wet the hay 

 should be removed at once, as it is likely to get damaged. If it is 

 not hot or wet it is all right. If hay is required to be chaffed for 

 ostriches, it is economical to have a large chaff-cutter worked by 

 horses or mules. I have had one for years which I work with four 

 or six hcr*es or irules, and I can vouch for the great saving of" 

 labour. If h cerre is crriTed and fed to ostriches green, a farmer- 

 can keep 100 birds, whereas he would not be able to keep 20 if 

 allowed to graze on th? same land. 



