4,; 8 Cultivation of Grafs Land. Advantages of Barns for 



But a ftage of this fort which appears to be better contrived, and which is more 

 iimplc and cheap, is defcribed by Mr. Young in his excellent Report of the Agri 

 culture of the County of Suffolk. It is fuggeftcd that this ftage may alfo be em 

 ployed for nailing up weather-boarding, painting the outfides of buildings, plaf- 

 tering of walls, and fevcral other purpofes of the fame kind. This ftage may 

 be fecn in plate in the firft volume. 



After the work of (tacking has been completed, and the Hack is pulled and top 

 ped up, it is left till ithas fvveated, and is perfectly fettled, which is moftly the cafe 

 in a week or ten days ; the roof mould then be covered by a good coat of thatch, or 

 fccured by means of a ft raw rope, extended along the caves acrofs the ends and on 

 cither fide juft below the ridge. This rope is ufually fecured by means of pegs. The 

 roof mould be dry when the thatch is put on, to prevent the hay from becoming 

 mouldy. It is of great confequence that this fort of work be well performed, the 

 farmer mould of courfc always have attention to it, as labourers are often apt to 

 Jlight it. 



Jt is a point not perfectly decided among agricultors, whether hay keeps better 

 in ftacks in the open air or in barns for the purpofe. It is the opinion of moft 

 farmers in the fouthern diftricts of the kingdom, that the firft mode has the ad 

 vantage in fo far as refpects the quality of the hay.&quot; 



In many of the more northern parts of the ifiand the hay is, however, fecured in 

 the barn, and has appeared in all the examinations we have made, equally good 

 and fweet with fuch as has been preferved in ftacks in the open air. And the 

 trials of Mr. Middleton, as ftated in the Middlefex Report, feem to fupport the 

 fame fuppofition, as in fecuring hay in his barn, without clearing it from the 

 quartering on the fides, he found on cutting and binding it up, that it was equally 

 good in quality with that from the ftack-yard, and as perfectly free from duft. 

 The hay was made without rain, and that which was the leaft made put in the 

 barn. 



Barns areobfervcd to have other advantages, being &quot; extremely ufeful and con 

 venient during a catching and unfettled hay-harveft, and alfo at other feafons of 

 the year. In wet and windy weather they afford an opportunity of cutting, weigh 

 ing and binding hay, none of which operations could at fuch a time be performed 

 out of doors. All the farmers who were confulted on the fubjcct &amp;lt;f agreed, that 

 hay might be put together earlier, even by a day, in a barn than it would be fafe 

 ro do it in a ftack.&quot; 



