194 



FIELD CROPS 



butts and the shocks built well to avoid as much as possible 

 the danger of blowing over in stormc. Much of the value 

 of the crop depends on the way it is shocked, for poor shock- 

 ing exposes the grain to the weather and causes it to be 

 greatly damaged in color and quality by hard rains. It 

 really makes little difference whether the long or the round 

 shock is built, if the shock is properly set up and capped. 



Oats are often put into shocks without capping, but this 

 exposes all the grain to the weather, when nearly all could be 

 protected by putting a little more time into the operation. 

 The cap consists of one or two bundles laid on the top of the 



shock to form a 

 protecting cover. 

 These bundles 

 should be firmly 

 placed and so laid 

 that they will 

 protect as large a 

 part as possible 

 of the heads of 

 the bundles in 

 the shock. If two 

 bundles are used 



in capping, the head of one should overlap the head of the 

 other. The long shock is to be preferred for grain that is 

 not fully ripe or that contains a. considerable proportion of 

 weeds, because it allows a better circulation of air and 

 dries out better than the round shock. 



236. Stacking. It is usually advisable to stack oats, 

 though thrashing from the shock is a very common practice 

 in some sections. If good weather for several weeks after 

 harvest could be assured, and a thrashing machine could 

 always be obtained when desired, there would be little 



Fig. 68. A setting of well-built stacks of grain. 



