4
—Lancaster Farming. Saturday, July 1, 1961
FROM WHERE WE STAND -
”The Barn’s On Fire!!”
One of the 'most sickening sights- on
earth is a cloud of smoke rising over a
barn full of crops and catt,e. All too
many farmers will see a lifetime of in
vestment go up in smoke this summer
because high-moisture hay was put in
the barn.
Spontaneous combustion in a hay
mow can be a threat as long as 10
weeks after harvest, farm safety spec
ialists estimate.
The probability of fire depends on
the amount of hay and depth in the
mow, how tight it is .packed, outdoor
temperature and humidity, and most
important the amount of moisture in
the hay itself, the experts say.
Ordinary hay in the presence of air
will ignite at a temperature of 400 to
500 degrees. If conditions are favor
able, this rise may occur in a few days
in a mow of'high moisture hay;
-Another form of spontaneous com
bustion may occur over a longer peri
od when temperature has not been
very high. When hay remains away
from air at a temperature of 130 de
grees or above, its carbon assumes a
finely divided form which readily com
bines with oxygen in the air at ordin
ary air temperatures. When carbon is
in this state it will burst into flame on
coming into contact with the air even
at normal air temperatures. Such burn
ing may occur weeks or months after
the hay has been stored and even
though no temperature over 130 de
grees has been observed.
Since the chief cause of spontan
eous heating of hay is the presence of
excessive moisture, it is essential that
no hay is put into storage until it is
dry enough to keep without heating.
Baled hay should never be stored
with more than 20 per cent moisture,
while chopped hay should not contain
more than 22 per cent and loose hay
not over 25 per cent.
Some farmers will tell you that salt
on the moist hay will prevent fire. Salt
does help somewhat by absorbing
moisture, but enough salt to prevent
fire would make the hay unfit for feed.
Since the chief cause of spontan
eous heating is the presence of excess
ive moisture in the hay, and since the
presence of excessive moisture is us
ually caused by incomplete curing be
fore storage, we would suggest to far
mers that they not be in too great a
hurry to put the hay in the barn.
If the farmer can not convince him
self the hay is in condition to go in
storage, he had better leave it in the
field. It is better to lose one cutting
County Farm Production
Worth Nearly $9O Million
Lancaster County’s farm production grossed almost $9O
million last year, breaking a 1 previous records by $1,374,-
300, figures released this week show
The previous high of $BB,- this commodity in the top
443,200 realized in 1959 was rank, for the third consecu
topped by the $89,817,500 live year. Although the aver
figure for 1960. age Price per hundredweight
Lancaster County contm- down somewhat from
ued to be far ahead of all th * Previous year, increased
other counties in the s ale volum ? mad * «P the + differ-
Milk was the leadmg ance - Lancaster County pro
money maker for garden 492 rmlion pounds of
spot farmers. The $24,157- mllk durin S the y gar -
000 reportedly received put Corn continued to be the
number one crop in the stale
and Lancaster county led the
parade in corn production
with 91,000 acres being har
vested for grain worth 7.-
763,000.
After two years of rough
sledding, eggs -egained the
number two spot in total in
come production. Lancaster
continued to lead all coun
ties in the state with its $23.-
093,000 value for eggs pro
duced.
Lancaster Farming
Lancaster County's Own Farm
Weekly
P O Box. 1324
Lancaster, Penna
Offices:
53 North Duke St
La.r.c.r-stcr, Penna
Phono - Lan'’ ister
EXpiess 4-0047
Jack U« en, Editor
Hubert G Campbell, Adeems ng
Director Business Manager
Established November 4 IJj3
Pul.l shed eicry Saturday by
Lancaster Farming-, Imicastei, Pa
Entered a- 2nd ela--s matter at
Laneaat' r, I’ i under Act of Mar
3, IS7S additional entry at Mo' nt
Joy Pa
Subs, riplir n RaKH per ' c r
three yeaib Single copy Puce
b cents
Pa Newspaper Pub'ish
era Ass-cation. National Editorial
Association
than to jeopardize the entire crop, and
the bam as well.
And after the hay has been stored,
it is wise to make sure there are no
roof leaks over the hay mow. Moisture
added after storage can cause heating
just as surely as moisture hauled into
the barn with the hay.
After the fanner has satisfied him
self the hay is cured enough and has
stored it in the bam, how does he
know if his crop is safe'ffom spontan
eous combustion? Odors, vapors or
smoke rising from the mow are indica
tors that all is not well, but the best
way to check the condition of hay in
storage is to take its temperature.
A simple device or probe for obtain
ing hay mow temperatures can be
made of five-eighth inch pipe. For con
venience the profee can be made in
three or five foot sections and joined
The bottom should be
sharpened so that it can be forced
easily into the hay. A slot in the side
of the bottom section will allow a ther
mometer to come to hay temperature
very quickly.
For'Convenience the top section
may be fitted with a pipe tee and han
dles attached to allow easy insertion in
the hay. A hole can be drilled in the
t& so that a glass thermometer on a
string can be lowered into the probe.
Safety engineers suggest placing
boards over the surface of the hay if
heating has been going on for several
days since pockets of burning hay
sometimes develop beneath the surface
and may cave in if a man’s weight is
put on the surface of the hay.
Any temperature much above that
of the outside air should -be watf' u -'d
carefully for rapid rises. Usually
readings up to 140 degrees are consid
ered safe, but anything above 150 de
grees is considered very dangerous. If
the temperature in the mow goes a
bove 175 degrees it is time to call the
fire department and make arrange
ments for firemen to stand by while
the hay is removed.
If the hay has heated only a few
days, removal should not prove too dif
ficult even at temperatures up to 200
degrees, but if the hay has been in
storage several weeks, some of the car
bon in the finely-divided state may be
nresent and constitute a real hazard.
Such hay when removed from the
barn should be piled far enough away
f>’om the barn to cause no trouble if it
should burst into flame.
The sight of a bam fire is one we
can well do without this summer.
At least that’s how it looks from
where we stand
Tobacco value declined
from $15,412,000 in 1959 to
$13,495,000 last year but
Lancaster County still pro
duced over 90 per cent of
the state’s tobacco
Value of commodities in
the SR9 817,000 are as fol
lows Milk, $24,157,000; Eggs
$23,093,000; Tobacco $13,-
495.000; Corn, $10,293,500;
Hay, $6,112,700; Poultry $6,-
097,500; Wheat, $3,220 200;
Potatoes, $1,645,600; Barley,
$882,600; Oats, $289,400; Ap
ples, $266,000; and Peaches,
$265,000.
HARVEST GRAIN
The right time to combine
small grams is when the
moisture is not over 14 per
cent, according to Elmer Pif
er, Penn State extens on ag
ronomist. All county agricul
tural agents have a simple
moisture test to use as an
aid to determ ne the proper
time to combine small grains.
A registered Guernsey
cow Penn Del Actors Fors
ty Maid, owned by R. F. and
L. A Witmer, Willow Street,
Pa, has completed an official
DHIR production record of
14,050 lbs. of milk and 675
pounds of fat on two times
daily for 305 days as a five
year-old.
Mother of Jesus
lesson for July 2,, 1961
PICTURES of Jesus’ Mother
* Mary are nearly always of two T E »
sorts._ One shows her as Queen of T „. pn .T y Sh . otllcr '«i
Heaven, standing on a cloud per- . mr Jr , a Vfol >'»
haps. The other shows her holding . , . ’ Ilic, -hcr
thf baby Jesus. Now the Bible S* J »
says nothing at all about her being . ~ . s Part
Queen of Heaven ? nd ° n tb ® part of an adJ
wuecn oi neaven, for j esus v , as Qn th 1
r.st» tiH “ s : “» s L “ 1 " Sj
i, u t "subject to” or “obeduJ
.should pray to Jos( ; ph and Mary dl l
. r t ,° reason to f atlC y that v,h ( „l
plc/i-S ”SS lelt h ™° ,0 ““ Ul> hl! 3
pictures of Mary llfe of obedience to God I
on a cloud. All had to unlearn ul J'|
n cy J ec Jhe learned at home Think O ,J
chai,ctci and attitudes ajJ
Dr, Foreman This Is surely ml
not * Header. W, a? £3 oSSI
Z f J y ’ m , any ing lay behind this 9 £1
to the opposite extreme of neglect- * nrenared to sav *.l
Ing her memory and failing to famiivkl
appreciate aR she was and did. on Tim.’J
Mary Th* Ctrl bovjodido suppose that in I
_ . . life' and character wo {3
rue motherhood if more than reflection of the influents B
bringing a child into the world mother in whose home til
and holding it- up, to ba photo- tor thirty yeais I
graphed or painted. Motherhood I
is a lifetime thing. It begins, ac- W#W*iyp*f I
tually, years before the child- is The last picture we till
bom. Only fee right kind of pei- Mary In the New Testanil
son can be fee right kind of one of an upper room m B
mother. Young women in Pales- lem, where she was one o/B
ting, v, ere betrothed (engaged) at prayer-group. The one qiß
what wa would think a very early we most often hear of Mifl
age. Mary may not have been prayer, the * ’Magnificat;B
much over sixteen when Jesus in many climches every sB
was born. We din teeffom fee What people ere remembsß
story that she wSs poor. We know i* a key to what they jrtl
that she lived in a village which many people in this woB
had never been known for any- remembered, long aftenuß
thing good. Yet God" chToie Ithis their prayers 9 Mary wasß
particular girl to be the mother of person. Some people caß
the world’s Savior. Already as a beautiful prayers but ufl
girl God looked oil he/„ with favor, much account v, ben a jobiß
as the angef said. Already as a done. Othei s are very pn|
girl she was famlllar'with the but are meicly stammemi
Scriptures, as her song testifies, they talk to God. Maiyihej
Already as a girl she must have 111 ,st have been a person!
been notably good. \Vould_jmy prayers v. the floweret!
ordinary man in Jos'eph’s strange of wonderful service Prsvrj
circiunstances, have believed the serving, her iife was woie
angel of his dream’ It was be- the gaiment she made fe,
cause Mary was the kind of girl “seamless throughout” :
Now Is The Time . ♦ .
TO OPERATE COMBINE SL>
Small giam harvest is approach
many bushels of barley and wheat will be combu
also, many bushels of gram will be left m the fit'
unless the combine operator has his machine pro!
justed and drives slow enough. This summer the
of barley and wheat is very rank and there will
of bulk to go through the combine; in recent y<
amounts of volunteer growth of gram in the
that much of the crop is not in the bin Farm owa
insist that the combine operators drive slow enow
the grain out of the chaff.
MAX
TO GRAZE SUDAN .GRASS—Livestock producers
planted sudan grass for summer pasture <' ire
against grazing the new growth until it is at l east
inches tall, this is usually about 6 weeks alter P*‘
animals consume the new growth when it is nu ,cll
this stage of development, there may be some daw
prussic acid poisoning. Also, during the rom aindt
summer if there is extreme dry weather (di ough
sudan gra.s s t ops growing, and then we get ram
is rapid new growth, the animals should be k e P
area until the'new growth gets to the above h C;gn
TO ALLOW ALFALFA TO BLOSSOM—L^ 1118
authorities urge all produceis to permit one of
of alfaifa to come into full bloSftx. Since U* e ir ‘
so rank and heavy, most growers prefer to let 0
later cuttings blossom. This practice helps 1°
the root system of the alfalfa plant and prolong
tive Me period.
y
s
TO USE CAUTION IN CORN SPRAYING—'
D on com over 18 inches tall without the use
zles could be inviting serious damage Alter
sprayed, it becomes quite stiff and brittle f° r {
if tliere should be strong winds during this
the stalks may break off at the ground Jt
tors are urged torsfcray the corn when 6 to Im
possible, and to use drop nozzles on the taller
-if’ •;
she was, that Joseph com,
tmue to believe la her %
are not always old p CO]) [ 1
may be veiy young j t , (|
served the title "Blessed
women” while she Was *
girl. A good mother J
start being good onlj w
first child "is bom. l!l
The Woman
Think rapidly over son 15 ,
wo know about Mai> )j le
who gicw as her son g, e !
wisdom and stature and *
with God and man ” \v. ,
a Y MAX SMITH
TO CULTIVATE AT A DISTAi
yield from many stalks of corn is
when the roots are sheared off
cultivation. All operators should
structed to stay away from the
order to prevent damage to tin
This is very important and mai
are. damaged each year As the eoi
gest larger, the cultivator should
farther away.