32 BULLETIN 353, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
TaBLE XIII.— Moisture conteni of baled oat hay and moisture lost in air drying at Chico, 
Cal., in 1914. 
Weight. Moisture. 
Sample. Orig- P 
July | July | July | July | Aug. | Aug. | Aug. | Oven | inal mae 
1. 10. 20. 27: 4, 19. 24. dry. sam- | grvi 
ple ying: 
Ounces. |Ounces. |Ounces. | Ounces. |Ounces.|Ounces.|Ounces.|Ounces.| Per ct. | Per ct 
INORG lee ee ee AA 5345200) |443525.1) GAZ aiO eee eal eee ae eee eee 39.0 12.4 4.0 
INON5O2 eee eee 44.5 | 43.00} 438.25 Z SITS 0 We cee | ee |S ne 39.0 12.4 4.5 
INOS O63 See ae eae ees 7 Ws Beta ye| bases: Day da yol teste: 30 Oat ge: 2G Wa Sone 39.0 12.4 4.5 
INOS GAS eee oe ae 44.5 43.25 43.50 ZH oc] Deere eseree 39.5 11.3 3.2 
INO: DOS soos So ee 44 eH AQ SOM <A2 G55 |p TAD DD imma Sate nie pao see 39.0 12.4 5.1 
Average....... 44°51) 425903) 43515" | 2560 | ee ele eee ee 39.1 12.2 4.3 
INE SOLE eee ee |e meee | nen Taper | Seg erste | ess eran 44.5 | 43.25] 43.00 39.5 11.3 3.2 
IN ORDO Dee Se eS ps Pres era a | ee eres ere oa 44.5 | 43.00] 43.00 39.5 11.3 3.2 
INGE ae cers erase (oe eta a eae aS I) eerie eb ne a 44-5 | 43.251) 43.25 40.0 10.0 4.0 
INOS 594csen: See ee, |G | See eae lemeasiou: 44.5 | 48.00] 43.00 39.5 11.3 3.2 
INOS 5G Deen ie one oA Oe Pei nee eel AE eee aL ee 44.5] 438.25] 43.25 39.5 11-3 4.0 
Thesamples described in Table XIII were taken from bales 566 to 570, 
used for the investigations recorded in Table XIV. This hay was baled 
on June 1, and the samples taken one month later had 12.2 per cent 
of moisture, while the five samples taken two months after baling 
averaged only 11 per cent of moisture. The weather during July 
and August was unusually dry and hot, so that the loss of 1.2 per 
cent of moisture from July 1 to August 4 is not excessive, even for 
baled hay. The 44.5-ounce samples which were inclosed in cotton 
bags and suspended under a shelter where the air could circulate 
freely about them lost in the same period an average of 4.3 per cent 
of moisture. This loss probably left the samples practically air dry, 
since the samples taken from the bales August 4 lost only 3.5 per cent 
during the period from August 4 to August 24. 
SHRINKAGE OF HAY AFTER STORING AND VARIATION IN WEIGHT DUE 
TO CHANGES IN ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY. 
In order to determine just what shrinkage in weight might be 
expected in baled hay and also the effect which radical changes in 
atmospheric humidity might have on this weight, four bales of oat 
hay were weighed at intervals during the season from June 1 to De- 
cember 1, 1913, and five bales during the season from June 1, 1914, to 
February 25, 1915, at Chico, Cal. The record of these weights is 
given in Table XIV. 
