THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 397 



tin ne to place the sheaves more erect, nntil the straws 

 the last course incline at an angle of abont forty-five 

 degrees. Bind the tops of these securely to the pole. 

 Then make a large bundle of long rye straw, wet it 

 thoroughly, so that it will keep in place better ; and hav- 

 ing bound it with one band, at about one- third the dis- 

 tance from the top to the butts, slip it down over the top 

 of the stake, and bind the top with several bands, as 

 represented in the illustration. Spread out the butts 

 evenly, and rake them down straight. A stack made 

 according to the foregoing directions will turn heavy 

 showers almost as well as a shingle roof, and the water 

 will all fall clear of the bottom of the stack 



Further Suggestions about Stacking. 



A writer in the " Wisconsin Farmer " recorded the 

 following suggestions about building stacks : 



" In the Eastern and Middle States very little grain, 

 or even hay, is stacked out. In those regions, it is re- 

 garded as shiftless for a farmer not to have barn-room 

 enough to cover all his crops. The sentiment probably 

 grew, in part, out of the old method of thrashing all 

 the grain out by the nail, which required a barn-floor 

 and high guards on either side, to keep the grain from 

 flying over and wasting ; and partly from the small cost 

 of barns in early times. 



"But most of our farmers are from the East, and 

 never learned to build a stack, to do which, or to make 

 an axe helve, requires either a man of genius, or a good 

 deal of training. But the less a man knows about either, 

 the more apt he is to think he can do it first rate ; and 

 the consequence is, that large quantities of grain are 



