GAIN IN WEIGHT IN HAY iN THE STA CK AND BARN. 
Mgr: some s of the experiments carried on to determine the rate of 
shrinkage occurring under average conditions, it was found that 
instead of a loss there was a decided gain in weight in hay in the — 
_barn and stack during several months. The results of some of ues 
experiments are as follows: 
— (22) At the Kansas station (see footnote 7, Dp. 0) a, Dagon prairi 
hay buried in a mow of hay for 4 months nfnied 0.4 per cent. 
. (23) A bag of clover hay, at the same time, gained 3.17 per cent — 
fan 45 months.  — é 
(24) Gains have also occurred when large amounts of hay were 
used in experiments. At the Utah station (see footnote 6, p. 5) : 
4,565 pounds of timothy hay was stacked on July 20, 1892. On — 
a April 21, 9 months later, the hay was weighed and fan to have 
_ gained 70 pounds, or 1.5 per cent. 
" (25) Again, at the same station (see footnote 6, p. 5), 4,090 ae 2 
: of clover was stacked on July 15, 1892, and the followiae April the — 
~ hay weighed 4,528 pounds, showing a gain of 438 pounds or 10. % 
per cent. : 
DATA NOT CONCLUSIVE. Ge 
ee In evaluating the results of these experiments two outstanding 
facts must be taken into consideration. The first is the wide and 
seemingly unexplainable variation in the percentages of loss due to 
shrinkage. The extreme loss, experiment 1, amounts to 44.2 per | 
cent. The losses found in the other experiments gradually decrease 
until a minimum loss of only 0.29 per cent is found in experiment 21. 
_ Experiments 22 to 25 show actual gains in weight, varying from 
0.4 to-10.7 per cent. In other words, the extremes show a range of 
gain and loss amounting to 55 per cent from the time the hay was 
taken from the field until it was well cured in the stack or barn. 
The second fact to be considered is the lack of data concerning th 
Manner in which the experiments were carried out. There are prac- 
tically no data on the methods used in curing the hay or the treat-_ 
ment the hay received up to the time it was removed from. the field. 
_ experiment it is necessary to note carefully every factor that may have 
a bearing on shrinkage. These are the factors that every good hay- 
maker observes and makes allowances for, more or less, when making 
tedder to accelerate curing; length of time the hay is in the swath 
~ windrow, bunch, or cock; time of day the hay is put into the barn or 
stack; and water Eomiern of the hay when stored. 
