Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/475

H A Y finished only one or two days, iv contributes to dry the bole 1 1. iv constituting the chief foo I of horses and other cattle, espe- eially during the winter, different contrivances have been suggested to prevent it from being injured in, while making. And here vr cannot but recommend the Era&ice of tippling i which we already described in p. 12 of this volume ; as, from its simpli- city and facility, it is equally appli- cable to clover and other grasses. Jn the 14th vol. of the Trans- actions of the Society for the En- couragement of Arts, &c. Air. John Middli.ton, of Lambeth, gives an account of a machine to be used in the making ot hay. Jt consists of a back and two sides, or gates, each oi which is about seven feet in length. The frames, or exte- rior parts, are of oak or ash, ha t of the back being 4 inches by 4, while those of the wings are 3 inches by 3. Between all the frames are fixed deal planks 3 inches by -r, and at the end of each wing, or gate, are chains, to which the lu rses are to be fastened by means of splinter-bars. Before tliis ma- chine can be employed, the hay is to be put into rows ; the animals being harnessed, and managed by persons mounted on them, they are .slowly driven on, so that all the hay may be collected between the gates. When the machine is tilled, and the load is to be drawn to a distant place, the horses must be kept as closely together as possible. We conceive Mr.MiDDLEToN's implement will be tound useful during the ardent heat of summer, especially when there are few la- bourers, in dragging the hay toge- ther as soon as it is sufficiently H A Y [44i ■. and thus preventing it from parched. In show* 1 v we thei , it i.-> said to be still more viccablej as, in case oi approach- ing rain, the ; rass may be collected immediately, formed into a stack, and sheltered from wet by a cloth, or by treading it closely together. having a ridge in the middle, and by raking it down on the outside. He observes, that during the u<t summer ot' '£)5, this machine, was particularly convenient; and that, if the boys or drivi rs be steady, and the horses tract a! le, or accustomed to the wor , ten acres of hay may be effectually secured in little more than one hour. In the 2d vol. of the Transac- tions of the same Society, Mr. Richard Toft, ot Kentish Town, describes a contrivance for secur- ing hay-ricks from rain, while they are raising; for which he was re- warded with a silver medal. It con- sists of 2-10 yards of coarse cloth, called duck, prepared with tar and oil; three scaffold-poles, two of which are upright, the third ii thicker in the middle than at the ends, being intended for a ridge ; two double blocks ; four pedestals, and about one hundred weight of tarred rope : beside these article^, there is a reel, or windlass, toge- ther with pullies, and iron work, &e. the w hole expence of Which amounts to about 28l. The pe- destals are to be placed four feet in the ground, for the reception of the poles. The width of the cloth is required to be greater than its length, as it is to be raised by the ridge-pole, for the admission of air : and as die stacks are generally- wider in the middle than at the bottom, the cloth is divided into two parts, that it may be the more easily folded over the pole. When a rick