24 Description of a temperary Riek to secure Corn 



I notice your query, whether these hurdles could not be 

 appHed to the purpose of temporarv hovels for sheep, in wet 

 weather? 1 think that iF two of them were fixL-d eight feet 

 apart, and two others placed on the top of them, covered 

 with straw, reed, rushes, heath or hirze, they would form 

 a covered hovel of eight feet square, and affnrd threat pro- 

 tection to sheep in wet weather, (partieulaily just alter be- 

 ing shorn,) and ewes in the lambing "^eason also, if some 

 that were the most forward with lamb were selected and 

 put into inclosurcs, where one end of each luucie might 

 be put against a hedge, or ag:vnst a wall, or end of a hovel. 

 These hurdles, covered in like manner also, wou J be use- 

 ful, if a number of them, proportioned to the quantity of 

 sheep, were pur in the form of a square, in any part of a 

 field, in iiot weathes, to afford shade. They would induce 

 the sheep to lie there, and answer the purpose of folding, 

 as they could easily be moved to such part of ihe rield as 

 wanted improvement, and be more at ease than when 

 creeping under hedges, to the no small detriment of their 

 wool. 



I have to report to the Society, that } have this harvest 

 made use of the hurdles on a larger scale, viz. to keep 

 raking wheat separate Irom the sheaf, and' which was too 

 damp to put in sheaf; and also in small ricks of wheat for 

 seed, to save the trouble of taking it from a larger rick, 

 before the whole was wanted to be thrashed ; and for my 

 tithe wheat, that was not sufficiently dry to put into a 

 barn. 



I had also five acres of white pease, wdiich were drilled 

 where a crop of vetches had failed, so late as the 12th of 

 May; they proved to be a very great crop, but they ripened 

 so late, and the tops of the haulm were so green, from 

 having shot out to an extraordinary length, that they were 

 not all carried till the 27th of last month. At one time I 

 almost despaired of ever getting them dry, owing to the 

 heavy dews which fell during the night, and continued 

 during most of the day, so as to atFord but a few hours to 

 dry my crop. I therefore took up six waggon loads from 

 the middle of the field, on the '■23th of last n)onth, and put 

 them on twelve gate hurdles adjoining each other, for the 

 purpose of making one roof, and set the hurdles in the 

 manner of my ricks. The first two loads were put on four 

 of these hurdles at one end, which would contain four loads 

 if necessary; the next two on the adjoining four hurdles; 

 and the other two loads on the fnnr remaining; hurdles; so 

 that though these three ricks were close to each other, yet 



being 



