CHAP, va KAY STACKS. 841 



ought not to be given to any animals. An admixture of salt may 

 correct its bad properties to a certain extent but, as a matter of 

 prudence, it should be used in small quantities at a time, to give an 

 aromatic flavour to other hay which is not particularly palatable. 



The square or oblong forms of stack are most convenient, as the hay 

 can be more easily cut from them, either to form trusses for the 

 market or for consumption, care being taken to cut it off perpen- 

 dicularly and on the opposite quarter to that whence most bad weather 

 may be expected ; they also admit the air more full}'. Whatever their 

 shape, they should be so formed as to spread gradually outwards as 

 they ascend, such a mode of formation tending more effectually to 

 secure them against moisture, and requiring less framework than when 

 they are built up square from the bottom. When the bottom of the 

 stack is thus shorter and narrower than the eaves, the rain falling from 

 the thatch will clear the sides of the rick. " The roof must be steep 

 enough to shoot off rain and snow, but it injures the upper portion of 

 the hay to go higher. Roughly stated, the top of the rick measured 

 across under the eaves should be about one and a half or two feet more 

 than from the eave to the ridge. This gives almost an equilateral 

 triangle. 



"Ricks may occasionally be seen standing on the bare ground where 

 floods are not unknown. It is unwise to erect them on such spots, for 

 they absorb moisture almost as readily as a lump of sugar placed in 

 water. Some injury will probably ensue from the damp ground, and 

 the whole bulk of hay may be made mouldy by a flood." The resort 

 to stone or iron staddles will often pa} r even in a single year. Faggots 

 of wood form a sweet and efficient foundation. 



" Rick-cloths cost mone} 7 , but the}' are of great service in protecting 

 partially made ricks when hay-carting is suddenly interrupted by rain. 

 Indeed, rick-cloths save all anxiety about thatching, for the task can 

 be deferred until the stack has settled, and it is consequently safe to 

 put the roof on. 



" The practice of making ventilating shafts in the centre of a rick by 

 pulling up a sackful of hay as the work proceeds need only be resorted 

 to in catching weather, when it is impossible to put the hay together 

 in first-rate order. No doubt the contrivance has prevented many 

 ricks from firing, but it restricts the partial fermentation which takes 

 place in a solid stack, and this is an important influence in the pro- 

 duction of a fragrant sample of hay. A much better method of treating 

 grass about the dryness of which there is a doubt, is to place layers of 

 dry straw between thicker layers of hay. The straw will absorb the 

 excessive moisture, and with it many of the valuable juices of the 

 clovers, which will greatly enhance the feeding value. This plan is 

 not available for hay which is intended to be sold, but it will make 

 capital fodder for home consumption." 



Coarse grasses, as well as sedges and rushes, are sometimes used for 

 thatching, and a saving of straw is thereby effected. One of the 

 commonest materials emplo} T ed for this purpose is the largest British 

 species of grass, the great reed (Phragmites communis), which grows 



