356 Of Harvesting. 



the stacking of corn to great perfection. They are thus 

 formed : A triangle is first erected in the middle of the 

 frame, which forms a boss or hollow, about three feet wide : 

 a few spars of fir are nailed across the boss, so close, as* to 

 preserve the sheaves from falling into it , but when these 

 cannot be got, a straw rope is commonly used in their stead. 

 After the builder has reached the top of the boss, he places 

 on it a sack filled with straw, which, when he builds round 

 it, he pulls up, until he reaches the top of the stack. By 

 this means, crops of wheat, barley, or oats, can be harvested 

 with less exposure to the weather, and in better condition. 

 It may be proper to add, that, in very bad harvests, by 

 means of the invention of bosses, one row of sheaves of corn, 

 may be put on the stacks, " from the sickle," (placing the 

 heads of the sheaves to the centre), and may thus be effec- 

 tually secured, a great object in a wet climate ( I97 ) When 

 these sheaves are thoroughly dry, others may be added. 



Engravings are annexed, for the purpose of giving a better 

 idea, than any description could furnish, of these useful in- 

 ventions. (See Plate III). 



The harvesting of beans, being often attended with pecu- 

 liar difficulties, the improvements which have been made in 

 that operation, deserve to be more fully described. After 

 they are cut down, and put in small sheaves, not exceeding 

 from six to eight inches in diameter, they ought to be im- 

 mediately conveyed, if intended to be followed by a crop of 

 wheat, to dry in another field, otherwise the season of sowing 

 may be lost. The additional trouble and expense of their 

 removal, is amply compensated, by the difference in value, 

 between a crop of wheat, and that of any other grain. Beans, 

 on this plan, if put in an airy situation, will be sufficiently 

 dry to be stacked on cast-iron pillars, with bosses, in ten, 

 twelve, or fourteen days, according to the state of the wea- 

 ther, after they were cut, but always in less time than they 

 would be fit for stacking, if left on the soil where they were 

 raised. By the operations above detailed, namely, the cut- 

 ting off the tops of beans ; reaping them early ; convey- 

 ing them to another field to dry ; and stacking them on 

 cast-iron pillars, with bosses, the harvesting of beans may 

 be considerably accelerated, while more time is given to pre- 

 pare the soil, for the succeeding crop of wheat; advantages 

 of no common magnitude. 



Corn stacks are, in some districts, built in an oblong, in- 

 stead of a round form ; but though these oblong construe- 



