Ch.XIV.] ON STACKING. 195 



round form, if of small size, admit of a more free circulation of air, and 

 are, therefore, preferable for the preservation of corn. 



In building round stacks, a sheaf is first placed upright on its butt end, 

 as nearly as possible in tlie centre ; around which other sheaves are placed 

 circularly — likewise upright — but with a small inclination of the tops inwards, 

 until the bottom of the rick is nearly filled. The stacke: then places an 

 outside layer of sheaves on their sides, with the ear-ends inwards, but 

 leaning obliquely upwards against the upright sheaves; and, pressing them 

 together with considerable force, he thus continues to lay on rows, with 

 their butts all outwards, till he has raised the outside of the rick to nearly 

 the height of the standing sheaves. He then fills up the whole of the 

 stack, in nearly the same manner — the corn-ends of the sheaves inwards, 

 with a regular slope downwards and outwards to their butts ; the centre 

 of the rick being always kept somewhat higher and less compressed than 

 the outer layers: an attention to the proper sloping of the sheaves which is 

 necessary from the foundation, but particularly so at the " intake" of the 

 " heart-gang," — as the inner layer is called* ; that part being always left more 

 open. When that is done, he sets on the " easing-gang," which is an 

 outside circular row of sheaves, having the butts projecting a few inches 

 beyond the body of the rick, and forming the eaves ; after which every suc- 

 cessive row of outside sheaves is placed gradually more inwards until the 

 roof is drawn to a narrow circle, when two or three sheaves are placed 

 upright in the centre, which they fill completely up. He then firmly binds 

 these topmost sheaves by two or three turns of the middle of a straw-rope, 

 and the assistants fasten the two ends on opposite sides, so as to secure 

 the crown from the effects of the winds. 



These circular ricks are from twelve to fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, 

 and generally about fifteen feet in height to the eaves. Barley, however, 

 should never be jmt together in such large stacks as wheat ; and the smaller 

 stacks are frequently built upon frames of the form in Fig, 1, with cast-iron 

 staddles of a foot in diameter, a set of which can be had at many foun- 

 deries for a sum not exceeding fifty shillings — 



Fi^. 1. 



To this frame an addition is not uncommonly made of an upright, triangular 

 wooden stand, in Scotland termed a " Boss," which is fixed in the centre, 

 in the manner represented in the annexed section of the stack ; and if the 

 corn be in a damp state, it assists in the prevention of its becoming heated. 

 It will be readily imagined that none but a careful fellow can be safely 

 intrusted with the building of any of these stacks ; and after that, they 

 must also be securely thatched. For this purpose, well drawn rye or 



* Gen. Rep. of Scotland, vol. i. p. 391. 



o 2 



