HAYMAKING MAY VANISH

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 June 1936, Page 2

HAYMAKING MAY VANISH

ARTIFICIAL DRYING STRATFORD-ON-AVON, April 29. The most revolutionary farming discovery of modern times is now reaching the final testing stages. It is based on cutting grass young and drying it artificially. Mr. Clyde Higgs, of Hatton Rock Stratford-on-Avon, today threw his land open to a public inspection of the results of the new method.

Ten years ago Dr. 11. E. Woodman, of Cambridge University, discovered that young grass had a far higher nutritive value than mature grass and i that if it were dried artificially it lost practically none of its feeding value. • Engineers then took up the problem which was to devise a drying machine that would enable the result to compete economically with concentrated feeding stuffs. Two machines have now been commercialised. The one at Hatton Rock is the Billingham drier, made by Imperial Chemical Industries. The cost of drying and baling a ton of grass by this machine is £3/17/6 inclusive of all costs. A farmer who installed one of these driers last year on a 700-acre farm stated yesterday that he has already had his money back by the saving on his cake food bill.