462 



BLACKHiVWK COUNTY, IOWA. 



HAY STACKER. 





The above cut is the plan of the stacker ; been in use twelve 

 years. The three red elm poles are thirty-five feet long by seven 

 or eight inches in diameter at the large end (telegraph poles 

 will do first rate), using a three-quarter inch iron rod forty-five 

 feet long, from the cross-bar, seven feet long, to single pole, as 

 a track, and a three-eighth guy wire at each end anchored to a 

 boulder and tightened by a screw where stationary, to move 

 use- post. . The weight runs np and down this guy to return 

 the fork and carrier, and the two other guys, number 9 fence 

 wire, at each end, act as braces. 



The entire cost of the outfit, including rope, fork, poles, 

 etc., need rarely reach thirty dollars. 



The fork works directly between the load and the stack, 

 carrying its burden the entire length of the latter, and dropping 

 it anywhere through the center of the stack, so the builder can 

 evenly distribute it; it follows that the stack, when finished, 

 will be hardest packed in the center, and in settling the out- 

 sides fall much lower, forming a complete water shed. 



In stacking in this manner, the stacker needs no help, 

 and it is much easier than the old way, and four times faster. 



The same remarks hold true when filling barns and sheds. 



DRAINING. 



I have had considerable observation and practical experi- 



