264 FARM CROPS 



beaten in from the sides, causing the grain to 

 sprout, in many cases to rot, and in all cases to be 

 severely damaged. Now this is bad and the evil 

 should be corrected. 



The method in stacking wheat or oats or other 

 small grain is to make a stack that will not take 

 water. The shape or the size is not of much con- 

 sequence. The real art is to lay the bundles so 

 skillfully that the rains will be kept out. Two gen- 

 eral ideas prevail in laying the bundles : One is 

 to start at the center and work from the center to 

 the outer edge ; the other is to work from the outer 

 edge to the center. It does not make much dif- 

 ference which is followed, providing the center is 

 kept high enough, that the drain, if there be any, 

 may be down and out. 



A good, old-tried method is to bring the stack up 

 to some 4 or 5 feet in the center; lay down two or 

 three bundles, so as to get a good pitch before 

 working the outer edge. The idea from now on is 

 to keep the center high and the outer edge low. 

 The outward bundles can be given a little less pitch 

 than those further in. Do not try to have the bun- 

 dles so close together on the outer edge of the 

 stack; give them plenty of room, so that when a 

 stack settles the outer edge will settle and the cen- 

 ter remain solid. In case the outer edge starts to 

 slip, it can be quickly tied by working at the center 

 and then from it toward the edge. By so doing the 

 slip will be checked at once. 



Another method of stacking is to stand the bun- 

 dles up on their butts in the center of the stack. 

 Press the bundles inward until the bottom is as 

 large as needed, when the bundles should be laid 

 down with the butts outward. Now a course on 



