32 On Threshing out Wheat by a Roller. 



On the state of the treading yard, and weather, depends 

 altogether the success in treading. 



The yard should be 80 or 100 feet in diameter, clear of 

 stacks and fences. The soil should be close and bind- 

 ing, and free from sand and gravel. The richer it is, the 

 better will be the yard. There should be a space, exclu- 

 sive of that necessary for treading, on which wheat, hay, 

 straw, and every thing of the kind may be stacked, 

 round the yard, and close to its edge. The yard must 

 rise a little in the middle, and when first made, should 

 be well and perfectly trodden with horses. All little inequa- 

 lities should be filled up with proper dirt wheeled in, 

 and so trodden, till the whoie face of it is smooth, hard, 

 and even. Let the wheat be stacked round the yard 

 ready for treading; though previous to stacking, the 

 yard should be perfectly clear, in order that waste wheat 

 may be swept up and saved. The yard must always be 

 kept free from grass and weeds, and should be on the 

 south side of the barn ; and there ought to be no trees 

 in the neighbourhood, by which it may be shaded. At 

 any time after harvest, when the business of the farm 

 will permit, and the weather is suitable, wheat, oats, &c. 

 may be trodden out. The winter is the best season, 

 when the ground is hard frozen, and the weather is dry. 

 Wheat then treads better, and is free from dust. The 

 next day after the fall of a deep snow, I have had the 

 snow brushed off the stacks, and removed from the yard, 

 and have trodden five or six days successively with 

 great advantage. As soon as all the grain is trodden out, 

 a fence should be run round the yard to secure the stacks 

 of hay, straw, and other fodder ; and then corn-stalks, 

 leaves, potato-vines, and rubbish of every kind ought 



