Book V. LABORS WITH THE CKOP. 475 



where the flail is employed. The chief advantages they possess are those of taking some- 

 thing less in thatch and labor in covering them. 



8037,. Tlie proper size of the hay-stack should probably be diiferent in some degree 

 according to the state and nature of the hay ; but a middling size is perhaps the best, as 

 from twenty to thirty loads of about one ton each, as there are inconveniences in both 

 small and large stacks, the former having too much outside, while the latter are liable to 

 take on too much heat, and at the same time permit less moisture to be preserved in the 

 hay. In small stacks the bellying forms with very narrow bottoms have often much ad- 

 vantage, and are in some districts termed sheep-stacks, probably from the slovenly prac- 

 tice of sheep having been permitted to feed at them. 



3038. Jn building every description of stack, the stem or body should be so formed as 

 to swell gradually outwards, quite up to the part termed the eaves, as by this method it 

 is more perfectly secured against the entrance of moisture, and at the same time requires 

 a less space of stand to rest upon. And when the building of them is well performed, 

 thev liave equal solidity, and stand in as firm a manner. 



3039. The stem should contain about two-thirds, and the roof one-third of the whole stack. If it be 

 built on a frame, the stem should contain less and the roof more; if on a bottom the reverse. The corners 

 of the stem should not be built too sharp ; should be carried up snug ; by which the sides will look fuller^ 

 and the swell given by the pressure will be more perceptible. 



304(). The ends of the roq/" should have a gentle projecture, answerable to the stem ; and the sides should 

 be carried up rather convex, than flat or concave. Perhaps a roof gently convex shoots off the rains pre- 

 ferably to any other.* 



3041. Where com is stacked that has not been sheaved, and in building hay-stacks it is 

 the usual practice to have a number of persons upon the stack, the corn or hay being 

 forked up and deposited on the different sides all round in a similar method ; after this 

 other parcels are laid all round on the inside of these, so as to bind them in a secure 

 manner from slipping outwards ; the operator proceeding in the same manner till the 

 whole of the middle space is perfectly filled up : when he begins another course in the 

 same method, and goes on in this mode, with course after course, till he has raised the 

 whole of the stem ; when he begins to take in for the roof, in a very gradual manner, in 

 every succeeding course until the whole is brought to a ridge or point, according to the 

 manner the stack is formed in. But for the purpose that the roofs may throw off" the 

 water in a more perfect and effectual manner, they should be made so as to have a slight 

 degree of fullness or swell about the middle of them, and not be made flat, as is too fre- 

 quently the practice with indifferent builders of stacks. 



3042. In stacking, where the corn is bound into sheaves, there is seldom more than one 

 person employed in managing the work of building the stack, except in cases where the 

 dimensions are very consideral)le ; in which cases it is found necessary to have a boy to 

 receive the sheaves from the pitcher, and hand them to the man who builds the stack. 

 In executing the work it is of the utmost importance that the centre of the stack be con- 

 stantly kept in a somewhat raised state above that of the sides, as by this means the 

 sheaves have a sloping direction outwards, by which the entrance of moisture is more 

 efi'ectually guarded against and prevented. To accomplish this in the most perfect 

 method, the workman begins in the middle of the stand or staddle, setting the sheaves to- 

 gether so as that they may incline a little against each other, placing the rest in succes- 

 sive rows against them till he comes to the outside, when he carries a course of sheaves 

 quite round, in a more sloping manner than in the preceding courses. The bottom of 

 the stack, being formed in this way, it is afterwards usual to begin at the outside, and 

 advance with different courses round the whole, placing each course a little within the 

 other, so as to bind them in an exact and careful manner, till the stacker comes to the 

 middle. And all the different courses are to be laid on in a similar manner until the 

 whole of the stem is raised and completed ; when the last outside row of sheaves is, in 

 most cases, placed a very little more out than the others, in order to form a sort of pro- 

 jection for the eaves, that the water may be thrown off" more effectually. But in cases 

 where the stems of the stacks are formed so as to project outwards in the manner already 

 noticed, this may be omitted without any bad consequences, as the water will be thrown 

 off" easily without touching the waste of the stack. And the roof is to be fonned by 

 placing the sheaves gradually a little more in and in, in every course, until it comes to a 

 ridge or point, according to the form of the stack, as has been already observed. But in 

 forming and constructing this part of the stack, great care should constantly be taken to 

 give the ear-ends of the sheaves a sufficiently sloping direction upwards, in order that 

 they may be the better secured from wetness. And to the outside should be given a 

 rounded form, in the manner that has been already noticed. 



3043. K funnel or chimney is frequently formed or left in circular stacks, especially 

 in wet districts, in order to prevent their taking on too much heat ; where these funnels 

 are not formed with the basement of timber, iron, or masonry, as already shown (2746.), 

 they are produced by tying a sheaf up in a very tight manner, and placing it in the mid- 

 dle on the foundation of the stack, pulling it up occasionally as the building of the stack 

 proceeds all round it. In setting up ricks in bad harvests, it is a practice in some places. 



