SORTING CONVERTED MATERIx^L. 295 



[In the fuel supplied to tlie British army at C'hakrata in Northeni 

 India, the stacks are 21 feet long x oh feet high and 2 feet Avide; this 

 is supposed to contain 200 cubic feet, 1 foot in length and h foot in 

 heiglit being allowed for shrinkage. — Tii.] 



The stacks should not be too high, especially on sloping 

 ground and with coarse split roots or heavy wood, aud the height 

 should not usually exceed 5 feet ; high stacks only increase 

 labour, and are liable to fall. 



The usual size of brushwood-faggots is, with the exception 

 of fascines, of the same girth and length as an ordinary split 

 billet. 



(b) Piling the Stacks. — In selecting the site of a stack, damp 

 places must be avoided, and a ridge is preferable, if available. 



As a rule, two sufficiently long stakes are driven vertically into 

 the ground at the same distance apart as the length of the stack. 

 In order to hold the pile of wood firmly it is better to have at 

 each end of the stack two stakes, which must be strong and 

 driven by mallets deeply enough into holes made in the ground 

 by crowbars. Opposite stakes may be tied by withes or strings, 

 passing through the piled wood to prevent it from forcing them 

 apart, or side-supports may be applied to the stakes. 



On an incline the distance between the stakes must be 

 measured horizontally and the top of the stack should be 

 parallel to the incline. It is better not to substitute a standing 

 tree for one pair of the stakes, as the roots will prevent there being 

 a level base for the stack, and irregularities in the height of the 

 latter may follow. 



In stacking wood, the workman should pack it as closely 



