Show study methods of drying hay fast government experts work on problem of eliminating moisture prepared ared by the united states staten department ot of service to determine some of the mechanical and economic factors involved in artificial drying of forage crops the bureau bf agricultural engineering of the united states department of agriculture has installed at the iberia live stock experiment farm jeanerette la an experimental hay bay drier methods of hauling the green material to the drier of getting it into condition to give up moisture quickly and of handling the dried product are a few of the problems which the engl engineers are studying green hay contains a great deal of moisture and Is bulky in volume and weight to reduce the weight in hauling and the cost of drying engineers are considering the cutting and wilting of the crop n the field to eliminate the moisture as quickly as possible ble at the drier they are studying methods of preparation which include chopping ng or crushing of hay bay or both they are also determining the maximum temperature pera ture at which drying can take place without injury to the product hay that Is 14 chopped or crushed comes out of the drier in fine pieces and has to b sacked or baled for marketing the baling process requires special equipment according to the engineers hay Is a crop of relatively low market value and driers at present are expensive engineers of the department are striving to develop machinery that will produce a quality of product that will help offset the cost of drying agronomists are experimenting with different varieties of forage crops such as alfalfa soy beans clovers pasture grass and crotalaria crota larlo to work out a cropping system that will enable the owners of drying equipment to operate it over a long period of the year feeding trials are being made to ascertain the nutritive value of artificially dried hay as compared with that of hay bay dried under natural natura 1 conditions |