HEATING OP HAT-RICKS. 153 



find it advantageous to choose a browner description 

 of hay, but yet perfectly free from the two evils of 

 mouldiuess, and of being mow-burnt. 



Where there is danger, in spite of all precautions, 

 that the hay will heat too much, ventilation is often 

 secured by means of funnels in the interior of the rick : 

 but it is better to avoid this if possible. Much of the 

 hay round these openings is spoilt by mouldiness, unless 

 a thorough current of air is admitted into the rick, 

 and in this case it is still in danger of fire. The rick, 

 having been allowed to settle for some days, is examined 

 as to its disposition to heat, by plunging the handle of 

 a rake in here and there. When in good condition, the 

 loose ends of the hay are pulled off from the sides and 

 ends of the rick, and thatching is commenced. 



When funnels are adopted, the best method of making 

 them seems to be as follows : A channel or gutter, a 

 foot wide and deep, is cut lengthwise in the ground on 

 which the riek is to stand; then two other similar 

 channels are cut across, and all three channels are 

 covered in with fagots, except in the places where two 

 chimneys are introduced. These chimneys are like the 

 common hay funnels, except that they go full home to 

 the earth, and being drawn up as the rick advances, they 

 leave a free current of air through the openings which 

 are in communication with the channels beneath. Thus, 

 whatever may be the direction of the wind, the current 

 of air through the rick is uninterrupted. 



It is a goodly sight to observe a well-made rick under 

 the hands of the thatcher. Up to that time there had 

 been risk and danger, every hour, of the spoiling of the 

 crop by the heavy rains which not seldom fall in the 

 hay-making season. But now, all is safe : the substan- 

 tial hay-stack, properly secured, and in such good con- 

 dition as to render further anxiety needless, stands a 

 cheering object not only to its owner, but to all who are 

 interested in farming affairs, or in the well-being of 

 cattle. As we are naturally anxious to secure agreeable, 



