FARMERS' REGISTER— HARVEST MANAGEMENT. 



67 



its point ill the best manner. Some ol' tlie most 

 carelul placed over the jieak a cap-sheal; but this 

 additional trouble added very little s'ecurity to a 

 shock not properly roofed. A cover like this can- 

 not prevent a lieavy rain, nor even a slow soaking 

 rain, li'oni penetrating, although moderate rains 

 may be partly thrown off, by the inclined portion 

 of the slieavTs, and the water which penetrates 

 may dry betbre it sprouts the wheat. In the latter 

 circumstance consists the salety of bad shocks — 

 Jbr tiiey let the water out, by evaporation, as rea- 

 dily as they let it come in, by the tendency of its 

 weight: and in our hot and sunny climate, wheat 

 will not soon sprout, that is exposed to the ac- 

 cess ol" sun and air, as well as to rain. Every 

 wetting however, is injurious, though not con- 

 tinued long enough to start the sprout. 



The principle upon which a shock is properly 

 covered is altogether ditierent Irom that of the 

 foregoing plan, and is similar to that of covering 

 a roof with shingles. The foundation is begun 

 with three or lour sheaves set up so as to form a 

 little cone — that is, the buts on the ground set out 

 so as to make a base broad enough lor them to 

 stand when the heads are brought together, (as 

 they should be) to a point. Other sheaves are 

 set u]) in the breaks of the first, placed lirmly on 

 the earth, and the heads inclined to the central 

 point. This brings the base to a small circle, and 

 the heap to a conical form. The builder (and 

 there should be only one to a shock, to secure good 

 and equal work,) now continues to add to this, by 

 placing other sheaves on the ground and against 

 the breaks between the preceding course, and thus 

 going round the circular heap, until the ibunda- 

 tion is large enough. The but of every sheaf 

 should be well pressed to the earth, when jilaced, 

 and its top pressed to the central \)oint, with in- 

 creased Ibrce, as the size of the heap will bear the 

 pressure without danger of its being moved. 

 When the foundation is finished, instead of being 

 fiat topped, it rises to a central point, and its 

 whole profile is somewhat in the shape of the 

 old liishioned Dutch or "hipped" roots of houses — 

 the sides of the sheaves forming the lower slopes, 

 and the heads, the upper. 



For covering the shocks the smaller sheaves 

 should be reserved, and none very large there ad- 

 mitted. The first course of the cover is made by 

 striking some of the stubble ends of the straw 

 upon the band of the outer sheaves of the foun- 

 dation, so that some straws go within the band, 

 and thus hold the sheaf where placed. The cir- 

 cle is completed by sheaves so placed, the buts 

 close to each other, and the heads leaning inwards 

 towards the middle of the shock. A second course 

 is carried around in like manner rising on the first, 

 and resting on and within the bands of its sheaves. 

 The point is now nearly reached and formed; and 

 what it wants, is given by using the smallest 

 sheaves. The heads of the last only are exposed, 

 and they will be generally not more than four or 

 five sheaves: and these are protected rmd secured 

 in their places, by a cap, formed of a large ,sheaf 

 turned with the but upward, and the heads so 

 spread open as to hang over and all around the 

 sides of the peak. 



If I have succeeded in making mj'' description 

 intelligible, it will be seen that such a shock is 

 completely shingled with sheaves, and that the 

 straw of each course overhangs and protects the 



heads of all below. Of course it is not meiuit to 

 be understood that such a covering is perl(.'ct: but 

 if rain gets in at any oi>ening, the course of 

 sheaves below will tend to throw it out at the 

 eaves. Indeed, if the body of the shock has been 

 well put up, and retains its position tolerably well, 

 it will require unusual bad weather to produce any 

 noticeable damage. 



Now, JMr. Editor, it may be said that I have 

 used many words about a small matter, and to ex- 

 plain Avhat every good manager knows as well, or 

 better than the writer. Admitting all this, my la- 

 bor may be useful to very many other persons — 

 and every one who may thereby learn to save 

 even one or two shocks of wheat in the approach- 

 ing harvest, which would otherwise be lost, will 

 be at least a gainer of as much as the cost of his 

 year's subscription to the Farmers' Register. 



3Iay 22d, 1834. Q. 



For the Farmers' Rcgistei'. 

 The following remarks for the Register were 

 written about twelve months ago, but being mis- 

 laid until alter harvest, it was then thought more 

 timely to publish them just before that season. 



HARVEST 3IA1VAGEBIEIXT. 



The communication under this head in the first 

 No. of the Farmers' Register, contains too much 

 interesting inlbrmation, not to have attracted ge- 

 neral attention; but while it contains many useful 

 details, which are at once recognized as sound and 

 sensible by every practical farmer, your respecta^ 

 ble correspondent, is laboring under one important 

 error; and as it is an error generally prevalent in 

 lower Virginia, as well as other districts, and I 

 believe extensively mischievous; I feel myself call- 

 ed upon by the interest of our common vocation, 

 to give the full benefit of a corrective, tested by 

 several years experience, to your correspondent, 

 as well as all the other readers of the Register. 

 The error to which I allude, is the custom, defend- 

 ed in "Harvest Management," of giving ardent 

 s]:)irits to our laborers. 



This practice is sustainable upon no grounds, 

 more defensible than mere custom. The argu- 

 ment once used, that ardent spirits imparted 

 strength, has been laid aside with other vulgar 

 errors. Medical science has noAv established as 

 an axiom, that preternatural excitements are fol- 

 lowed by proportional degrees of debility, and that 

 the system in a state of collapse, is more liable to 

 diseases. Of eighty, the whole number of the 

 medical facult}^ of Boston, seventy-five have con- 

 curred in the opinion, that the use of ardent spirits 

 is not only unnecessary but injurious, and I be- 

 lieve very nearly, if not an equal proportion of 

 the medical faculty of other cities who have been 

 consulted, have come to the same conclusion. In 

 short, wherever impartial and enlightened inves- 

 tigation has been directed to the subject, in the 

 course of the great reformation, now happily per- 

 vading almost every part of our country; the result 

 has been the exposure of the absurdity of the once 

 received opinions on this head, attributing the most 

 opposite and contradictoiy eflecfs to the same be- 

 witching cause. 



To the lights of science, have been lately added 

 the practical discoveries upon this subject, of the 

 American Temperance Societies, embodying in 

 their reports a mass of evidence and facts, which 



