I~0 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF chilp. FII. 



cut with the sickle, bound in sheaves, and stock- 

 ed in the same manner as oats. It is more dif- 

 ficult to dry, and more easily spoiled in the stack 

 than oats, and therefore requires to stand longer 

 in the field. 



In rainy harvests, the farmer is sometimes un- 

 der the necessity of bringing his corns to the 

 barn-yard, before they be completely dry. In 

 this situation they run a great risk of being da- 

 maged in the stack ; to prevent which, several 

 expedients have been devised. Some times a 

 sack stuffed with straw, or a sheaf of thatch of 

 about 15 inches diameter, is drawn up the mid- 

 dle, from the bottom to the top, gradually, as 

 the stack is a-building. Some, again, fasten to- 

 gether three pieces of wood of the thickness of 

 rafters^ and sufficiently long, in a triangular form, 

 with lath. This they place in the middle, and 

 build the stack around it. In both these me- 

 thods, if the stack be set on the ground, a com- 

 munication is kept open at the bottom for the 

 admission of the external air ; and thus the heat 

 and moisture are carried off, and the grain pre- 

 vented from suffering material damage. 



8t/j, Produce. This must vary in .barley as 

 well as every other kind of grain, according to 

 to climate, and to the quality and preparation 

 of the ground. In some instances, 1 2 bolls and 

 upwards will be produced from an acre ; and in 

 others not above four bolls. The average may 

 be 6-^- bolls per acre ; consequently the whole 

 barley produced in the county may amount to 

 1 30,000 bolls. The best barley weighs from 

 17 to 19 or 20 stone Dutch Weight per boll. 



