764 



Journal of Agriculture , Victoria. [10 Dec, 1912. 



practice is to cut the top out 

 of a kerosene tin and place it 

 upside down on the pile. 

 When climbing up, mice will 

 then get inside the tin, pro- 

 vided the piles are not larger 

 than specified, and it will 

 be impossible for them to 

 jump to hanging straws or 

 anything else that will carry 

 them up to a stack. The 

 floor of the stage is then built 

 on top of the tins on joists 

 laid across, and saplings, 

 rails or slabs are put on the 

 joists close enough together 

 to form a good floor, which 

 should be well nailed down. 

 This stage will last for 

 years, and will soon repay 

 the co.st in the saving of 

 waste at the bottom, which 

 is .so common in stacks built 

 on the ground, to say no- 

 thing of the damage done by 

 mice. 



A stage, 36 ft. long by 20 

 ft. wide, will be large enough 

 for a stack of hay contain- 

 ing 50 to 60 tons, according 

 to the height of the eaves, 

 which should be 12 to 15 

 ft. when first erected. It is 

 best to begin building from 

 the outside, placing the 

 sheaves with the butts to the 

 outside. Keep a straight 

 line along the edge of the 

 staging, and the sheaves clo.se 

 together side by side, until 

 the whole row right around 

 is completed. At the corners, 

 the best system is to draw 

 the heads together so that 

 only the butts are seen from 

 outside as shown in Fig. 4. 

 The next row of sheaves is 

 placed with the heads out- 

 wards on top of the first row, 

 lapping the outside sheaves 

 to within a foot of the end 

 of the butts, and so on with 

 each row of sheaves until the 



