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STACKING OR RICKING HAY There is no particular skill re- 

 quired in making stacks. A pole about twelve or fifteen feet long should 

 be planted firmly in the ground. Around this a platform for the foun- 

 dation of the stack should be built. This should be ten or twelve inches 

 high and as broad as the proposed diameter of the stack. The bottom of 

 the stack or rick should cover this platform completely and for the 

 height of six or eight feet the stack should be broadened out so as to 

 throw any rain that may fall upon it outside of its base. The most con- 

 venient size of stack for a majority of farmers is one that will contain 

 four or five wagon loads of hay, a quantity that may be hauled up in a 

 day or conveniently accommodated in the stock barn. When a stack is 

 once broken the whole of it must be carried to shelter or it is liable to 

 be caught and injured by rain. In stacking, the hay should be com- 

 pacted around the pole and practice alone will teach one how to preserve 

 the symmetry of the stack and give to it the lines of beauty and utility. 

 The handrake must be used in combing down the sides of the stack. 



A rick may be made of any required length with a width at the base 

 of from 12 to 15 feet. This width should be gradually increased to the 

 height of seven feet or more. No poles are necessary in the making of 

 a rick, but a good substantial platform for the hay to rest upon is nec- 

 essary. The width of the rick after the height of seven or eight feet 

 should be gradually contracted like the roof of a house. The rake should 

 be freely used in combing the sides. It is necessary when first put up to 

 secure the top against strong winds by passing grass ropes over the rick 

 and fastening them to the ground on each side. These ropes must be 

 put at intervals of six or eight feet throughout the entire length of the 

 rick. After the hay has been well settled, the ropes may be dispensed 

 with. 



The use of hay knives, which have recently been introduced, enables 

 the farmer to haul away just such quantites of hay from his rick as he 

 may desire. With these knives a vertical section is cut from one end 

 cleanly and evenly from the top to the bottom of the rick. The introduc- 

 tion of hay knives has made the rick more popular than the stack. 



Every large hay-grower now bales his hay. The most popular size for 

 a bale is one that will weigh 100 pounds. A bale of this size is more easily 

 handled, and thus adds value to the hay. There are many persons who 

 make a business of baling hay, going from farm to farm like those en- 

 gaged in threshing wheat. They charge a certain price for baling and 

 furnishing the wire, regulated somewhat by the prices of hay. Every 

 farmer who raises more timothy hay than is necessary to meet the re- 

 quirements of his own farm should bale it before carrying it to market. 

 The farmers in every thickly settled community would do well to sow 

 timothy enough to justify them in buying a baling press, which in the 

 marketing of 800 or 400 acres of hay will pay for itself in a single year. 

 The press could also be used in baling clover hay and wheat straw, the 

 latter being worth when baled, four dollars per ton or more. 

 A FEW PRECAUTIONS (1) Do not sow without testing before- 

 hand the power of germination in the seed. 



