WHEAT. 91 



bam. It will even stand through a shower not very 

 severe, in this way, with little injury, if followed by 

 Sun and clear air ; but it is evident that heavy or 

 long-continued rain, by the thorough soaking the 

 sheaves must receive, can scarcely be otherwise 

 than prejudicial to the quality of the wheat ; and it 

 is by getting in wheat before the centre of the sheaf 

 is dry after wetting, that more of it is injured in this 

 country than in any other way. Another, and, per- 

 haps, all things considered, the safest way, is to put 

 up the wheat the day it^is cut ; and, if rain is appre- 

 hended, as fast as it is cut and collected, to place it 

 in stacks containing from eight to ten shocks each, 

 the sheaves built in compactly with their heads to 

 the middle, the butts declining outward, and the stack 

 topped with a sheaf so arranged as to cover the 

 cone of heads, and throw off the rain in every direc- 

 tion. Wheat so put up, and well managed, 'nay 

 stand for weeks without injury, aud wait the pleas- 

 ure of the owner for gathering into the barn ; and 

 the green stuff with which the butts may be filled 

 will be effectually dried, and thus prevented from in- 

 juring the wheat, as it would have done had it been 

 housed before curing. Experience here, however, 

 is the surest guide, as the seasons differ in different 

 places ; and what might be followed in one place with 

 safety, would be ruinous in another. Thus, in nor- 

 thern latitudes, far more care is required than in 

 southern ones ; and while the grain of the north of 

 Europe can with difficulty be saved at all, nothing is 

 more secure from injury by the weather than the 

 harvests of Spain and Italy ; and the same remarks 

 are true, though to a less extent, on this Continent. 

 It should, however, be remembered, that experience, 

 both here and abroad, shows that, while other meth- 

 ods of securing may be safe, stacking in the field, 

 when the stacks are properly put up, is certainly so, 

 and should generally be followed for that reason. 



