Harvest i II f/ in a Bad Season. 
215 
6 inch wall ; many sheaves being found among the trees of a 
half-grown plantation. Being on the spot and seeing the ha\oc 
matle in the corn, I at once tried the experiment whether the 
sheaf would do best with the bottom or the top put to windward. 
When the butt-end met the wind the sheaf was instantly blown 
away at the rate of 3 to 5 miles an hour, whilst the top end or 
ears seemed to present a sort of inclined plane to the wind and to 
get more firmly fixed the longer it stayed. 
9. Carefully watch the Corn. — It is often said that a farmer 
should see every field at least once a day, but in a wet harvest 
he should see every cornfield at least three times a day. To 
those who have not done this vigilantly, it is almost incredible 
how quickly in the months of October and November two or 
three hours of a drying wind will put thoroughly ripe corn into 
a fit state for leading ; but whilst watching the corn, do not 
forget to consult the barometer and the weather tables, — not that 
these are always to be implicitly trusted, but still a great deal is 
to be learned from both, as well as from the shepherd, the swallov,-, 
and the use of your own eyes and ears. 
As a wet harvest is always a late one prepare your staddles (or 
stathels or brandreths, brandreys, or by whatever name the place 
for the stack is called) in the field, if the homestead be above 
half a mile from it. Most people think a brandreth the best 
plan at all times, and it seems reasonable that it should be so ; 
but 1 have tried the following plan against a really good brandreth, 
and I confess that whether as regards dryness or freedom from 
vermin, I could not say that the brandreth deserved any pre- 
ference. Let the ground of course be perfectly dry ; cut a grip 
9 or 10 inches deep all around the stack bottom, about a foot 
from it, and take care that at the lowest point you have a clear 
opening or watercourse, and throw the cuttings into the middle 
so as to make the bottom convex. Then put a layer of straw, as 
much as would be a very good bedding for a tired horse ; upon 
that build your stack, and if you have not tried it, you will be 
surprised to see how little you lose from damp or vermin. I 
name this as an easy method of being ready for action. I should 
rather build on the bare ground so prepared even without straw, 
than wait a quarter of an hour, if my corn were ready in a wet 
season. As an expedient, I have sometimes used layers of straw" 
in the stack, but I do not think much of it ; I have also sometimes, 
with good effect, placed hurdles in the middle of the stack to 
create thorough ventilation ; but neither then have I here fountl 
much advantage, because though more wind gets in in one place, 
there is undue pressure in another. 
I have also tried drying corn in a room into which hot air was 
forced by a blowing machine ; and on a small scale I have tried 
