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outwards, tier upon tier, until a load is made. A rope is then thrown 

 across the cart from each corner behind and secured in front to the 

 shafts, unless the distance is so short from the stook to the stack to 

 render this unnecessary. If the stack is likely to remain for some 

 time, it is better to lay down a stool or bed of straw or rushes or 

 brush for the sheaves to stand on, when permanent stools are not 

 erected. The stack may be of any shape, cylindrical, square, or 

 oblong. The chief thing in stacking is to see that the centre is kept 

 well up, that is, that the sheaves, placed stubble ends out, all point 

 downwards and outwards from the centre. If a heavy fall of rain 

 should occur before thatching, the moisture runs off much more 

 readily if the stack is built this way, than if it is hollow in the centre. 

 If the stack is to remain for any great length of time it is better to 

 thatch with straw or rushes, but if it is intended to convert it into 

 chaff without much delay this is not necessary. A layer or two of 

 coarse salt between the sheaves will assist greatly in conserving the 

 attractive green colour so fancied by the buyer, and adds also to the 

 flavour of the chaff. When hay is a regular annual crop, the farmer 

 will find it pay best to go in for a hay shed as soon as he can 

 possibly afford it. A hay shed in Australia is simply a light 

 galvanised iron roof thrown over a series of high uprights, and of 

 any size that may be desired. With a hay shed the farmer is com- 

 paratively safe against the accidents of weather and the vagaries of 

 the market. They are not expensive to erect, and their original cost 

 is returned many times over in the course of a few years. 



If the crop is cut with the scythe or the mower it must be raked 

 up into rows and then put together with forks into cocks. When 

 dry enough these are carted away and made into a stack. As good 

 a looking sample of chaff cannot be made from loose hay as when 

 it is bound in sheaves, but if the crop is cut at the right time and 

 properly cared for, all other things being equal, the nutritive value 

 of the feed is just as high, though the market value will be a few 

 shillings lower. The rake gathers up a good deal of rubbish,, 

 especially on newly cleared ground, that is, of course, left on the 

 ground when the reaper and binder is used. In the moister districts 

 of the colony, where rain sometimes occurs during harvest, if it is 

 thought there is any danger of hay heating in the stack, it can be 

 obviated by placing a boss or trestle in the middle of the stack and 

 building round it, laying down a good bed or stool of logs or brush 

 first so that the air can get under the stack and have access to the 

 centre. The boss may be either in the shape of a triangular tree- 

 guard, or conical, or like a saddler's horse for oblong stacks, and 

 made out of rough logs and any kind of scrap boards that will hold 

 it together. 



Chaff cutting is a very simple operation when the hay is in 

 sheaves, and with anything like ordinary care a good sample of 

 chaff can be turned out. When, however, the stack is of loose hay 

 it requires some little skill to feed the machine properly. A hay 



