From four to seven hours were needed to make the grass into hay, but the time varied according as the grass was dry or green and damp when mown.

Once in the haymaker it dried so fast that you could often see a cloud of steam rising from the scuttles in the glass roof, which had to be left partly open to make a draft from below.
Of course, we used artificial heat only in wet or cloudy weather.

When the sun came out brightly we depended on solar heat.

Perhaps half a day served to make a "charge" of grass into hay, if we turned it and shook it well in the loft.

Passing the grass through the haymaker required no more work than making hay in the field in good weather.
In subsequent seasons when the sun shone nearly every day during haying time we used it less.