The Hay Harvest

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 28 September 1927, Page 7

The Hay Harvest

Artificial Drying Method

“The difficulties of hay harvesting in conditions such as have marked the present and several recent seasons have emphasised the importance of the drying of crops by artificial methods, ’' writes ‘‘ An Agricultural Correspondent” in the “Manchester Guardian.”

‘ ‘ To this innovation in British agriculture a notable contribution is being made by Colonel Lyon, Appleton Hall, near Warrington, wlio has installed extensivb plant on his home farm and the system is being tried with methodical care and watched by experimenters concerned in conquering the elements and lowering production costs.

“It is not claimed that crop drying has passed the experimental Stage, as new problems are constantly presenting themselves, but the results so far obtained inspire confidence that the system will be made a com mercial proposition, and that the capital cost of the installation will soon be recovered in saving crops in weather such as that which delayed the recent hay harvest in England, and in securing them with a higher nutritive value than herbage cured by natural means. ’ ’

After a description of the installation and the technical processes, the correspondent adds:—

‘ ‘ Meadow hay was mown on Friday, carted in on Sunday blown for twenty-four hours, taken down from the cones on Monday and on Tuesday, scenting the air and preserving a green tint foreign to the sun-dried article, it was being pressed into bales and stored. “Experience has taught directions in which economies might be effected if the work of building the plant had to be restarted, but putting down the bill somewhere in the region of £lOO.O Colonel Lyon pointed out that he had already secured about forty tons of hay, most of which could not have been housed under the weather conditions that had prevailed since Harvest commenced, and a further important consideration was that according to analytical tests the herbage was of considerably higher nutritive value than hay made under natural condi tions.

“His view is that if hay can be saved in a condition more nearly approaching the value of summer-grass it will be possible to reduce the cake bills substantially, and make milk production a better proposition than it is at the present time.”

Experiments With Far-Reaching Results