32 N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station [Sta. Bull. 273 



a dew or rain, the side delivery rake is again used to turn the windrow 

 over, shaking out the hay and leaving it in such loose condition that 

 the air gets through readily. Only a small area in the windrow is ex- 

 posed to bleaching by the sun. 



The best time to cut seems to be early in the afternoon. The 

 ground as well as the hay is dry and curing in preparation for raking 

 takes place more rapidly. The hay is raked before night, stirred out 

 with tlie side delivery in the morning and hauled beginning at least by 

 afternoon. If a loader is used no further handling is necessary, but 

 if hand pitched, time will be saved by bunching with the dump rake. 



However, necessary dependence on the weather makes haying al- 

 most "catch as catch can" series of operations, and whetlier one 

 cuts hay morning or afternoon will depend on the amount to be cut and 

 how it is cared for after cutting. Long drying in the field involves 

 much hard work and produces a poorer quality of hay with greater loss 

 from shattering in the field and too high a labor cost. 



Because of the greater ease of loading a low wagon in the field, low 

 flat racks are helpful, once the hay is ready to haul, particularly where 

 unloading is done by fork or sling. 



Many older barns are bank barns located in such fashion that the 

 drive floor is in the peak. In such barns it is possible to unload hay 

 without special hay-unloading equipment. The hay is pitched off by 

 hand since all the hay storage space is below the level of the wagon. This 

 type of construction is expensive to build and wasteful of space. The 

 cross-floor-drive type of barn is cheaper to construct and more of the 

 space is used for hay storage. 



The peak type of barn, however, requires less labor per acre and 

 per ton in unloading than does the main-floor drive. There is no scaf- 

 fold to pitch onto and otf from, and no high beams to pitch over. 

 (Table 29) 



Table 29. Labor requirements unloading by hand in barns with peak drives 



and ivith main floor drives. 



Method of No. of Acres Tons Hours Hours Hours per 



unloading records per farm per farm per acre per ton ton hauling 



In peak drives 23 60.0 100.8 1.66 2.78 1.89 



Main floor drives 52 36.3 49.2 2.53 3.43 2.51 



The usual type of barn with the long main-floor drive is extremely 

 wasteful of space and building costs are high. Since this is the type 

 most commonly found some attempt to reduce the labor requirements in 

 unloading should be made. One change is the use of a grapple fork 

 in place of the harpoon, particularly in connection with grass hay. 



Some barns have been equipped with a hay slide consisting of 

 smooth poles or boards supported on the purloin plate at one end and 

 on the tie beams beside the drive at the other end. When the fork is 

 dumped on this, the hay slides into the mow. If the hay is dropped 

 well to the back of the mow from the slide it comes out much easier dur- 

 ing the feeding season, since the higher part of the mow is then under 



