073 now TO MAKE THE FARM PAY 



esculent will suceeed and yield ample and relial)lc crops through- 

 nut all the northern sections of the country. — Canada Farmer. 



Stacks for Hay and Grain. — In a stack for \\Q.y or grain care 

 bliould be taken, as in the construction of a house, to have a good 

 r>undation. Great quantities of both hay and grain are annually 

 lost bv lack of attention to this matter. Sometimes the hay or 

 grain becomes frozen to the ground ; at other times water is carried 

 up far into the stack. It is often the case that the stack has no better 

 foundation than some brush, coarse weeds, poles or straw ; and 

 not unlVoquently the stack rests directly on the ground. It is no 

 wonder that farmers who commence their stacks in this manner 

 complain of great waste of hay or grain in the stack. 



In England great care is taken in providing a good foundation 

 for stacks. Ordinaril}' there is a permanent inclosure for a stack- 

 yard. The stack foundations are also permanent. Sometimes 

 stone pillars capped with broad flat stones are used, which not 

 only protect the stack from moisture but from vermin. Iron rails 

 and pillars are also used for the same purpose. 



In this country it is hardly necessary' to go to so great an 

 expense to secure a good foundation, since lumber is comparatively 

 cht-aj) and plenty here. It would ahvays be well, however, to 

 l)uild the stack on timbers or poles placed on the ends of posts 

 which should project about two feet above ground. A set of such 

 foundations would last for years. 



The shape of a stack for either hay or grain should be nearly 

 that of an Qgg, the small end up ; the bulge in a rick should 

 occupy the same position. Care should at all times be taken, in 

 stacking grain, to pack the heads of the bundles some inches 

 above the buts, so as to protect the grain from rain. For the 

 better ventilation of stacks some farmers recommend to place a 

 barrel on the foundation, gradually raising it as the stack goes up 

 This will insure a draft through the whole length of the stack. 



An excellent covering to the upper portion of the stack may 

 be made by working in a small amount of long straw or tall grass, 

 letting the endsliang over on the outside. This may be put in at 

 intervals of a few feet apart from where you begin to taper, and it 

 will Ije of much use in protecting the grain beneath. — Agri- 

 cultu rails t. 



The Farmer's Grindstone. — There is no tool so essential to the 

 farmer as a good grindstone ; and a very correct idea may e 

 formed of the management of the farm by the appearance of Lliis 

 homely but useful article. If the neighboring saw or edge tool 

 faotory has furnished one of its cast oti' " hubs," which is hung on 

 a wooden shaft and suspended in the crotch of a tree, or in a" 

 fence corner, you may rest assured that such a farm will not pro- • 

 duce four hundred bushels of potatoes, or forty bushels of wheat 

 to the acre. But such cases are rare now-a-days, as this article 

 has kept pace with the wonderful improvements in mowing 



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