MISCELLAN * 



223 



thus obtained, add the squares together, and divide by 

 12.5. 



NUMBER OF CUBIC FEET PER TON 



So far as the writer is able to ascertain, the num- 

 ber of cubic feet of hay in a ton has been investigated 

 very little. He is now measuring the volume of a 

 large number of ricks, stacks, and mows, the hay 

 from which is to be baled. It is hoped that these data 

 may furnish a basis for determining the volume of a 

 ton of hay with some degree of accuracy. Until the 

 weight corresponding to the volumes measured are 

 known, no reliable figures can be given. The prob- 

 lem is so complex that no such satisfactory rule for 

 estimating the number of cubic feet in a ton may be 

 found as is given above for finding the volume of a 

 rick of hay. 



The volume of a ton of hay depends on several 

 factors. A stack that has stood four months is much 

 denser than one freshly built. Hence the length of 

 time a stack has stood determines, to some extent, the 

 number of cubic feet in a ton of the hay. Also a tall 

 stack settles more than a low one. The kind of hay 

 also has much to do with it. Clover hay is lighter 

 than timothy, volume for volume, and hay with stiff 

 weed stems in it does not settle down as compactly as 

 hay with no weeds in it. It is common to consider 

 512 cubic feet (an 8-foot cube) as a ton in hay stacked 

 only a few days, while 350 to 380 cubic feet of ha}' 

 that has stood two months or more will usually make 

 a ton. In developing rules for estimating the number 

 of cubic feet in a ton of hay, the points to be deter- 

 wined are (1) the rate at which hay settles after stack- 



