Show study methods of drying hay fast government experts work on problem of eliminating moisture prepared e d by the united states department 0 of f agriculture service to determine 1 so some of the me ch chanilal anical and economic factors involved in artificial drying of forage crops the bureau of agriculture engineering gi of the united states department part ment of agriculture hns has installed at the iberia live stock experiment peri ment farm jennerette jeanerette la an experimental hay drier methods of hauling the green material to the drier or getting it into condition to give up moisture quick quickly and of handling the dried pr products cid are a few of the problems which the engineers are studying green hay contains a great deal of moisture and add Is bulky in volume and weight to reduce the weight in handling and the cost of drying engineers are considering the cutting and of the crop in the field to eliminate elim nate the moisture as quickly as possible at the drier they are studying methods of preparation which include chopping or crushing of hay 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 chopped or crushed comes out of the drier in fine pieces and has to be 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 part ment are striving to develop machinery that will produce a qu quality aliby of product that will help offset the cost of drying agronomists are experimenting peri perl with different varieties of forage crops such as alfalfa soy beans clovers pasture grass and crota crotalaria larla to work out a cropping I 1 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 valee of artificially dried hay as compared with that of liay hay dried under natural conditions |