2 9 I 



might be improved upon. At present a certain sum per bag is paid 

 for the threshing, the thresher being relieved from all trouble as to 

 finding men and supplying food. The farmer has to collect a large 

 staff of men for a few days and make arrangements for supplying 

 them with food. The American system seems much more con- 

 venient. A certain charge is made for threshing, and the owner of 

 the machine carries out the whole work, paying men's wages, 

 catering for his workmen, and relieving the farmer of a great deal 

 of anxiety. A gang of men travel with the machine, carrying a cook, 

 a portable kitchen, and all requisites with them. The worry of 

 gathering up men and providing them with food is one of the 

 farmer's greatest troubles in the colonies, and the American system 

 might be adopted with advantage. 



If grain has to be stored on the farm, it may be done in bulk 

 if there is a suitable building to hold it, or, if not, in sacks. The 

 chief thing is to protect the grain against the ravages of mice. Two 

 methods of stacking sacks (from the Australasian Fanner] are given 

 herewith : In stacking sacks the most important consideration is 

 to protect the grain from mice. There are two ways of securing 

 this end. The first one is to leave space for the cats to run all 

 through the stack, and the other is to leave no spaces through which 

 the mice can penetrate. According to the first plan, the first tier 

 of bags is laid about a foot apart, and the next tier, which is laid 

 transversely on top, is also made up of bags about a foot apart. By 

 thus leaving a space between all the bags the cats can creep about 

 in every direction, keeping the mice from the grain. The other 

 system is quite as effective, and equally practicable. A layer of 

 sacks is placed in position close together, and chaff from the 

 thresher or winnower is spread over, being pressed tightly into all 

 the spaces. After laying the next tier, more chaff is put on, being 

 rammed into every space, and the process is continued until the 

 stack is built. The whole is then covered with chaff and straw, 

 and the mice are unable to make their way into the sacks. In the 

 dry districts sacks can be stacked in this way in the field with safety 

 for a considerable time. When stored in the field, sacks should be kept 

 well off the ground and covered with a thick layer of chaff or straw. 



It the farmer is a man of capital, he can with the greatest 

 advantage build himself a mice and rat-proof barn. Such a building 

 must be on piles, the floor about two feet above the surface of the 

 ground. On the top of each pile is placed a good- sized square of 

 flat iron, say two feet by two feet, and if nothing is allowed to 

 lean up against the walls, and there are no steps leading into the 

 structure, it will be found to be vermin proof, for the simple reason 

 that rats and mice cannot walk upside down like flies, and they 

 would have to do this to get in. 



The reaper and binder is the best machine for harvesting the 

 oat crop. The stripper is sometimes used in the dry districts, but 

 it is very wasteful. The same remarks apply to barley and rye. 



