1164 



Agriculture Abroad. 



[Mar., 



nutritive grasses and clovers require most care in conversion 

 into hay. Tn heating, too, the losses fall on the water-soluble 

 material, i.e., that part of the hay of best feeding value. 



Points to be noted in Making and Stacking Hay. — The practical 

 points of most interest to the farmer arising out of the results 

 of these researches are: — 



(1) In making hay, the better the quality of the forage dealt 

 with the more care is necessary in curing the hay and 

 building the stack in order to avoid undue heating. 



(2) The heating of a stack is not due entirely to the presence 

 of moisture. As is shown above, the amount of water- 

 soluble material present plays a very important part. Of 

 two stacks built under similar conditions, one of poor 

 grass and one of good quality grass, the good quality 

 stack may easily overheat, whereas the poor grass stack 

 may not, although the same amount of moisture may be 

 present in both. It also follows that rain-washed hay, 

 when made up into a stack, rarely overheats, even when 

 got under unfavourable conditions. 



(3) In hay making, the chief aim of the farmer should be 

 to cure the hay at the lowest possible temperature. High 

 temperatures in the stacks mean considerable loss of 

 nutritive value in the resulting hay. 



(4) The temperature of the stack will give a very useful 

 indication of the possibility of overheating, and will also 

 help to indicate the necessity of taking precautionary 

 measures. A temperature of 70°C. (158°F.) is the 

 warning point, and a temperature of 90°C. (194°F.) 

 marks the critical point; immediate precautionary 

 measures are indicated when the stack heats to this 

 extent. A temperature of 110°C. (230°F.) indicates 

 the explosive point ; opening the stack at this stage will 

 probably lead to immediate firing. 



(5) Inefficient methods of ventilation of the stack are worse 

 than useless. The main aim in stack building and in. 

 preventing overheating should be consolidation not 

 ventilation in cases where the hay is got in good 

 condition. 



