Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1912 — BALE THE HAY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BALE THE HAY

By G. H. Alford, I H C Service Bureau, i Atlanta, Ga.

Baled hay is much more valuable as a feed than loose hay, even when the loose hay is well housed. Loose hay carries a great quantity of dust and often gives the farm animals a severe cough while baled hay does not. Baled hay takes up about one-fifth as much room as loose hay and for this reason the entire crop of baled hay can usually be stored under cover ■while loose hay must be exposed to the weather in stocks and ricks. Baling breaks up coarse hay so that the stock will eat it more readily and there is no waste in feeding baled hay. Baled* hay is always ready for the market. It is convenient and satisfactory to handle in every way. It can be' hauled by team or shipped by railroad. Much of the tops and sides of stacks is spoiled by the weather. Loose hay becomes dusty and musty. Baling hay keeps out the dust and preserves the hay. Baled hay retains much of the sweet hay odor that stock relish. There’s a freshness and appetizing quality and feed value in baled hay that is never to be found in loose hay.

We should bale our hay whether we feed it on our own farms or sell it. Of course, the market demand is for baled hay—and for baled hay only and for this reason baling is the only way to be sure of having a market for it. The growing of hay and especially leguminous hay as cowpea, soy bean, peanut and lespedeza will rapidly increase the fertility of our soils, make the raising of good live stock profitable and add very much to the income on the farms.

We can buy a one-horse pull-power hay press or we can buy a motor hay press. For the small farmer who hales his own hay, the one-horse pullpower hay .press will prove very satisfactory and economical. With it he can bale his hay at the time most convenient and with a small amount, of help. For the farmer who grows large quantities of hay or for the farmer who bales hay for his neighbors the two-horse pull-power or the motor bay press is necessary. Of course, no man can tell the exact capacity of any hay press as this depends to a considerable extent upon the kind and quality of hay being baled, the skill of the operators, and the speed of the team. However under ordinary conditions a 14x18 twohorse pull-power hay press will bale about 8 tons per day, a 14x18 press operated with a 3-horse power engine will bale about 12 tons per. day, a 16x18 press with a 4-horse power engine about 14 tons per day, and a 17x22 press wdth 6-horse power engine 16 tons per day. We should purchase a hay press that has been designed for convenience. There should be a considerable

distance between the sweep and the feeding table. Both of these points should be located at the extreme end of the press so that the baling chamber may be set well into the interior of the shed or barn and ample room be had for the revolution of the sweep to be made outside the shed or barn. Another advantage of the arrangement of such a press is that the bale chamber may be set between two stacks and fed from both stacks without resetting the press. The close arrangement of feeding table and sweep will not allow sufficient space for the sweep to describe the circle necessary to operate the press.

The reach bed should be very narrow and should not be more than four or five inches high to enable the horses to walk over it without the least trouble. When operating presses that have a high step-over, the horses will generally slow down, hesitate, and offer stumble at this point which is annoying 'to the man, wearing on the horses, and slackens the speed of the press. The power construction of the press should be such that when the horses reach the stepover, they are pulling practically no load. Qne stroke should be completed before they reach the step-over and the load of the next stroke should not begin Until the low narrow stepover has been passed. The' bale chamber shoyld be very low so that it is an easy matter to reach across and tie the bale. This saves much time and trouble as, in tying the bale, it is necessary to go around the bale chamber to the opposite side. The press should be constructed principally 'f steel and high grade iron and should be strong and durable. The two-horse pull-power press and the motor baling press should have a self-feed attachment as it increases the capacity of the press and at the same time reduces the work of feeding the press. The hay press is a mjney maker and a money saver and should be used on every farm.

The Motor Baler in Operation.