HAYMAKING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1954, 15 January 1885, Page 2

HAYMAKING.

The following paper was read at a meeting ot tho Southbridge Farmers' Club by Mr John Ronnie :— Mr President and Gentlemen. — Haymaking is a briuch of firming which, as vet, has not received much attention in Sow Zealand, probably on account of our mild climate, where Btock struggle I tlnou 6 'h the winter without much hand j feeding. But now , with the low prices ruling for coin, mil the improvement in the price of moat, the daya of artificial feeding are at hand, when more attention will be given to the growing of roots, the saving of grass for hay, the filling of ailos, and the cutting of straw into eh iff for the feeding of stock in the winter season. In tiavtliini; through this district in the month of August, or up to the middle of September it was no uncommon sight to bee a heap of duty straw, where the stiaw stack ius long since fallen and been trodden over and covered with manure, and the poor shivering beasts are boring into the heap to get the last bit of dry straw to keep them from starving. They •ire reduced to the lowest condition, and it takes two or three month? of the be»t grass in summer to restore them to condition again. It is nearly as bad with sheep ; you will see then on runups, sludging through the mud drag? 111 1 in wet, and dying with voour, win ■! n little hay and shelter would keep them heilthy. All profit that comes from stop* being fattened is lenved from the fo^d over and above that which is neees^irv to sustain life, md in a feeding ammil that weighs no note at the end ot t/ie season than at its beginning the food consumpd has icon wholly wasted. •c , the farmer dalives no profit from *t, which shows tho necessity ofpir>\uhng a full supply of food all the year round. The quantity of food needed by stock * arii s, even amoi.g a. urn il< of the same ige and bree'l, ami it necessarily varies to a greater extent amongst animals of different biemis. It ii sufficiently cortect, howevei, for a calculation to reckon on a sheep consuming 281b of green food, aid a bullock or a cow 1501b. At this rate a bullouk or a cow consumes as much as five sheep. The latter will re- • juiie 10,2201b, or nearly five tons apiece, and the former 51,730!b, or nearly 25 tons of green food for its yearly maintenance. On this basis, and allow ing for waste, I have reckoned on a crop of turnips of IS tons to the acre keeping 200 for a week, and with the addition ot .^oolb of hay a day to keep the tame number of sheep .i little over a fortnight. Now I have shown you how highly I val ' h y, i will proceed to show how with the r.id ot machinery and the latest ipplianu-s for the gathering and utacking hay can be smoked expeditionary and at i moderate cost. It is not necessary for me to say here when to cut, but it i» best to cut on tiie gieen «id«, when it will stand more wet or weather. After mow•ng I rake it iuto rows while still greeu, m<l if rain comes I let <t alone till perfectly dry on the top, and put the horse take over all the ground again, and then turn the row right over. If carting any distance I use the hay loader— a machine onaievohing frame with curved teeth phcing the hay on an endless web, which convejs it to the top of the load. When stacking iv tho field in w hich the hay is cut I use sweeps for gathering to the stack. The sweep is a large wooden rake, with the long teeth slipping on the ground, same as the pea rake, with a swing gate at each end to keep the hay from being scattered over the field. It is drawn by two hoises ridden l>y boys ; the boys, upon arnving at the end of a row of hay in the field, turn their horses, one on each side of the hay row. so an to pull the rake with the points of its teeth running under the hay until full, when they bring it along to the elevator, right up to which they make their horses draw it, when they turn right about and return for another load, and that is where the swing on the end of the sweep comes in, as it turns with the horses and the rake is complete w hichever way it is draw n. I Two men then folk the hay into an elevator w Inch is driven by horse power. In stacking with the elevator the hay is put right into the middle of the stack, so that w hen the stack settles it leaves the centre highest instead of sagged and hollow. With the exception of one man on the stack and two to feed the elevator, the work is all done by boys, ond the cost after it leaves the mow er doea not exceed a -'• Hing a ton. When hay can be saved at »o cheap a rate it is sui prising to see «o much grass going to wa-t a at the present time. The cost of making a sweep is only £3 or £4 at the most, and the time saved makes the farmer almost independant of the weather. Nor- westers need not *ha feared, as you can work in any wind, aud it helps to dry the hay quicker : in norwest weather it can be stacked very green, provided it has not got wet and salt is used freely. There is nothing deteriorates hay so much as the usual practice in this piovince of leaving it out for weeks exposed to all weathers, getting sunburnt with too much exposure or so badly « eathered by showers of rain as to be reduced in its value to no better, and sometimes worse, than io much itraw. Whereas if stacked quickly all tho valuable properties of the gnus aie secured in the hay, and if a liberal quantity of salt is used it prevents the hay fiom heating, keeps it moist and. aweet, and is Letter relished by stock, aud if the hoggets get a regular supply they will never be troubled with lung-worm or scour,