JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
460 
[ May 31, 1883. 
attendant expenses cost the Society the extraordinary sum of 
£2241. Now all this is bad enough, but the practical farmers 
throughout the kingdom have been seriously discouraged thereby, 
as it appears to us entirely in consequence of the exhibitors of 
their machinery not adhering to the principles and details laid 
down and acted upon with success by the originator of the system, 
Mr. Neilson, with so much skill and perseverance, for a number 
of years previously. 
We have next to notice Mr. W. Gibbs’ hay drier, as exhibited 
at the Cardiff meeting. It was sent by Mr. Fuller, and was a 
full-sized machine, price £350, which, owing to its large dimen¬ 
sions, had to be sent (the greater part of it) by road from Neston 
Park, Wiltshire, to Cardiff. The object of this machine is to open 
out the masses of wet grass introduced into it, and expose all 
portions equally to the drying action of heated air. The grass is 
forked into the higher ends of two parallel troughs, one being on 
each side of the machine, the bottoms of which have a recipro¬ 
cating action. A progressive motion towards the delivery end of 
the machine is given to the grass, partly by the inclination of the 
troughs, which is regulated by the elevators at their lower ends, 
and partly by the action of a set of tines carried on a crank-shaft 
over each trough. The two furnaces, which are fed with coke, 
and the fan for obtaining the blast of hot air, form a separate 
part of the machine carried on its own wheels. The heated air is 
drawn by the fan direct from the furnaces, and passed through a 
large tube furnished with a pyrometer and throttle valve to the 
series of air ducts, by means of which it operates on the grass 
during the whole period required for its passage along the 
troughs. 
It would seem that success in the making of good hay is 
greatly due to skilful management of the machine, and care 
should be taken (1) that the grass be brought to be dried at one 
time in a uniform condition as regards moisture; (2) that the 
temperature of the blast be sufficient to completely effect its 
purpose by passing the grass once through the troughs, and that 
the temperature be net high enough to scorch. To obtain 
uniformity of moisture, or rather of dryness, would require 
sufficient turning in the field during the operation of withering 
the grass, without which it would be most undesirable to bring 
it to the hay-drier, which is only intended to be used as an 
auxiliary to the sun and wind in the making of hay. Intelligent 
supervision and prompt action are required to regulate the heat, 
amount of the blast, and the progressive motion of the grass 
through the troughs, for which there are proper means pro¬ 
vided. 
It will be seen that the two systems advocated by Mr. Neilson 
and Mr. Gibbs start fairly in the same object of completing the 
saving of hay after it has been about half or three parts made 
in the field, and to this important fact we desire to call the 
attention of the home farmer, and ask him to forget in the future 
that any such idea as stacking or treating hay or grass in the 
wet state and be able to reduce it to good hay has ever been 
advocated, or expected to be accomplished by any of the various 
drying machinery which has yet been invented. An observation 
by Mr. Champion, the manager of the Sewage Farm at Reading, 
is very suggestive. He says : “ On behalf of Mr. Gibbs’ machine, 
give me half-made hay, and I don’t mind its being water-wet.” 
The exhibitors of fans, on the other hand, said : “We can take 
green hay if only it is dry.” The distinction between the two 
processes is thus clearly indicated. Mr. Gibbs aims at expelling 
the moisture of the hay, whether natural sap or rain-water. 
The exhaust fans are designed for the reduction of the high tem¬ 
perature, which is the result of fermentation. It appears that 
the actual result of Mr. Gibbs’ process at the Cardiff meeting 
on a stack of 18 tons of hay, which was cut on the 15th of 
September, with the exception of a few streaks of white mould, 
proved to be fairly good hay, though it was somewhat brittle to 
the touch ; however, the cattle ate it readily. The market price, 
being the offer for it, was £3 per ton. Again, the result of the 
trials at Reading of hay from Mr. Gibbs’ machine was very 
noticeable, inasmuch that while some of the hay was completely 
desiccated, so that it smelt like malt, and could be rubbed into 
powder in the hand, yet some of it emerged from the machine 
quite clammy. 
The Judges’ report gives the following information:—“Mr. 
Gibbs’ machine was tried on meadow hay, and afterwards on 
sewage Rye Grass. In the first trial, which was made under fairly 
favourable conditions, the exhibitor failed to make hay of as 
good quality as might have been made in similar weather without 
any artificial means. The result of the second trial, which upon 
sewage Rye Grass was more satisfactory, and we are of opinion 
that on sewage farms where Rye Grass has to be converted into 
hay, the machine might be a useful auxiliary, but the prime cost 
of the machine would place it beyond the reach of ordinary 
farmers, while the difficulty of removal would be a serious obstacle 
to its general use.” 
We will now give a report of experiments on the use of Philips’ 
exhaust fan in the drying and securing of hay in ricks carried 
out in a southern county, and when they were cut for inspection 
we were invited to be present and see the result. We found five 
stacks, Nos. 1, 2, and 3 being the produce of twenty acres of 
Trifolium and Italian Rye Grass, estimated to weigh 50 tons. 
The grass was cut on the 30th May and three following days. 
The weather continued wet, with more or less rain falling until 
the 12th of June, the morning of 13th being fine. Carting to the 
stack commenced at mid-day. Later in the day it again rained, 
the carting being continued for two hours in the wet. The follow¬ 
ing day carting was resumed, and the stack No. 1 was finished. 
The fan was used the next day, and continued every day for two 
hours for a fortnight. The highest temperature registered with 
Phillips’ spear thermometer was 173° on the fifth day. Stack 
No. 2 was carted on the 15th in very damp condition, and sub¬ 
jected to the same process with the fan as No. 1. Stack No. 3 was 
carted on the 16th, the hay being bright in sample, yet showing 
dampness. The fan was used on this stack for the same time— 
about an hour daily. Stack No. 4 consisted of Clover and Rye 
Grass, the produce of 18 acres estimated at 30 tons. The grass 
was cut on the 13th and 14th of June, turned over on the 16th, 
and carted to rick on the 17th and 19th. This hay was not more 
than half made, but was carted dry, and allowed to remain a 
fortnight before using the fan. It, however, had settled off 
the stand on the leeward side. The hay registered 150° when the 
fan was used, but the stack on the leeward side had got so close 
that the faD could not act so as to reduce the temperature, which 
had risen to 180°, and it was then found necessary to cut a hole in 
the leeward side to prevent the hay from taking fire. Stack No. 5, 
newly laid down pasture grass, the produce of 10 acres estimated 
at 20 tons, grass cut on the 16th and 17th of June, and carted to 
rick on the 20th and 21st, the weather threatening rain with a 
dull and damp atmosphere. Experienced men as farmers said 
that it was madness to put the hay into stack in its then condition, 
and that it required at least three days more making in the field 
before carting. The fan was worked on this stack, and continued 
for an hour and a half daily for twelve days. 
Condition of the hay.—Nos. 1 and 2 ricks were extensively 
damaged, but were worth for consumption by dairy cows at our 
estimated value, 50?. per ton on the spot. No. 3 was in every 
respect an improvement in consequence of being carted in a drier 
state, and we estimated its value at 70.?. per ton in the place. 
Stack No. 4 being carted dry, had no appearance of mould, and, 
in our opinion, if the fan had been used as soon as the stack was 
finished, instead of being allowed to settle out of shape, the quality 
of the hay would have been fiist-class without overheat, and we 
estimate the main portion of this hay as worth 90s. per ton. 
Stack No. 5.—The upper part of this stack b :ing hardly equal to 
the condition of the lower part, yet this turned out well, and we 
cannot estimate this hay at less than 90.?. per ton in the place. In 
giving our opinion on the general results of these experimental 
stacks, that as ricks No. 1 and 2 were made when the hay was 
wet, shows that although they would have been no use whatever 
as food for stock without the use of the fan had been applied, yet 
No. 3 having been carted from the same field one day later, proved 
worth 20?. per ton more value, shows that no real advantage can 
be obtained by carting hay in the wet under any circumstances 
as yet available or discovered. No. 4 teaches the lesson that if 
the full benefit is to be derived from the use of the fan it must, 
when required at all, be used the day after the stack has been 
finished, and continued as long as may be necessary. No. 5 teaches 
a valuable and important fact, that at the end of three or four 
