10 BULLETIN 873, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
TaBLE I].—Water content of field-cured and well-cured barn and stack-cured hay: 
Field- 
cured hay. Well-cured barn or stack hay. 
Difference 
Maximum. Minimum.| Average. and 
water 
“content.”’ 
Per BAG , Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 
8. : 
mo thy(allianabySes) seeces asee aes eee se eee eee 9 6.1 11.6 22.8 
himMoyReably: COMUl DIOOMmee == ees tne Hees eee 28.9 7.0 12.8 21.9 
Timothy, late bloom to early seed........-.-=-.---..--.- 21.6 7.0 14.1 14.6 
iRedtop (altanalyses):2-.cn---5- sane 2 oie sce ee woe 2 28.0 6.8 9.8 Zoa2 
IRCAtOp, bas lOOMte 8 ote ore eee Reet SA epee oe See ee 6.8 8:0 |:o: 3 ee 
SAISTKCIGIOV GRA aek = Sonate a clae eels a cat ete Se See Pee toes ten S| sero sae 5.3 12S) |e aoe oe eee 
Malia (airanalySes). coche he. koe een ee aee ete 30.0 4.6 8.6 25.4 
Red clover (allanalySes) ==seeer ser eee eee eee see eeere 31.3 6.0 13.0 25.3 
COM PC Breese aaa ek ea cee ne Sess Bee eee eee 7.6 Ql Alea eee 
SOVaUCAN 5 See. caresses eee esas nen sees see eee eee « 20.0 6.1 8.6 13.9 
JOHNSON SPASS 2 5 Sse <i os Sass oe Bee ie wieis sSalseeines = eee Sos See eae see 1Q1k. ci eae 
BES ATIC Vase atexe ose ele eee biwtey a¥ai= ieee win) Seay tere ee ete mick oto ete 15.0 6.4 10.0 8.6 
Oa see ae eee bh Sere Rec eee se gist aces se oom 26.5 9.5 12.0 17.0 
PROV. Ga tire ers oars a2 5 nnn wiainiaig Nee eases isles Sass ns Melee sete sees sere eee peers elec mere 8.0) eee 
Wheat arc osch 2 sec ot So eee ae tocus Se ee eee ee ak eis ee See Salle. seas sessee 
Ware ITIO eee | aa te ote ore Oe ae Se SR nee See ocean fet 6.5 10.0 | 10.6 
1 Taken from U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin 22, 1901, Henry’s Feeds and Feeding, 
16th edition, and various experiment station reports. 
3 Estimated. 
SECOND FACTOR—MAXIMUM WATER CONTENT WHEN STORED. 
Available experimental data and the experience of practical hay 
makers establish the fact that there is a wide variation in the amount 
of water in hay when put into the barn and stack. This is the second 
important factor bearing upon the percentage of shrinkage in hay. 
The highest recorded percentages of water in hay when put into the 
barn and stack (see Table II) show that the average maximum for 
timothy, alfalfa, and red clover is about 30 per cent, timothy 28.9 
per cent, alfalfa 30 per cent, and red clover 31.3 per cent. It is not 
known under what conditions hay with a 30 per cent water content 
will cure out properly, or whether the safe maximum is higher or 
lower than this amount, since here again there is a lack of definite 
data that would be of utmost value to the haymaker. No syste- 
matic experiments have been made to determine the maximum water 
content that field-cured hay may have without subsequent injury 
by heating. | 
Tt is safe to assume that the three lots of clover used in experiment 
1 (p. 4) contained considerably more than 30 per cent of water. 
Their losses by shrinkage were 42.2, 44.2, and 25.7 per cent. If these 
lots when cured contained the average amount of water found in 
good barn-cured hay (13 per cent), it follows that they contained 
49.7, 51.4 and 35.3 per cent of water, respectively, when put into the 
barn. It is not known whether the hay in these experiments cured 
out properly or was spoiled because of the high water content, but in 
