154 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



of grain with a delicate skin, and which consequently sprout 

 freely. In changeable and stormy weather all sheaves should 

 be tied as soon as the corn is cut, whether it be by hand 

 or delivered from the machine, and it should remain stand- 

 ing until it is fit to cut and tie, as thus during unsettled 

 weather it is ready to bind sooner than when flat on the 

 ground. When corn has become what is termed 'dead 

 ripe,' it is as well (provided there is no grass mixed with 

 the straw) to cut, tie, and stack, in the same day. There 

 are reasons favourable to this practice, which are first, 

 economy, as the expense of putting the corn into shock is 

 saved, and also corn which has * overstood ' has its ears so 

 crooked down that it is impossible to make a shock secure 

 from wind and weather. In the usual way, that is when 

 a few days are allowed between cutting and carting, I con- 

 sider mown corn tied into sheaf may sometimes be fit to 

 stack before that which has been reaped; owing to its be- 

 ing looser and more open in the straw, more air is admitted 

 through it in the field and also in the stack, an advantage 

 when it has been put together not in a very first-rate con- 

 dition. On the other hand, sheaves that have been reaped 

 settle down closer together when carted, producing a much 

 firmer stack, and better adapted for the purpose of being 

 shorn after the harvest work has been completed ; also its 

 appearance is somewhat neater. A well-made and firm 

 rick is desirable where rats exist in .any quantity, as I have 

 found it to be a sufficient guard against any number of 

 them when properly constructed and shorn before any of 

 these vermin have made their holes into or under it. 

 Whether the rick is constructed on a staddle or on the 

 ground is of little consequence when treated in a proper 

 manner, as far as rats and mice are concerned. The trim- 

 ming should be performed somewhat after this manner. 

 From the eave (which every stack of sheaved corn should 

 have, to carry the rain falling on the roof away from the 

 sides) downwards, to within about four or five feet from 

 the ground, the uneven ends of the sheaves on the outside 

 may be cut oif sufficient to give a neat appearance, with a 



