Harvestin;/ Corn. 
225 
much fielding before it is fit for the stack and safe from risk of 
heating. 
But as the object of cultivation is to aid nature to produce the 
greatest possible supply of bread and meat for man, it is surely 
unwise to sacrifice by mismanagement any of the elements that 
go towards forming this supply ; and it therefore must be right 
to cut down the crop dry, tie it up dry, and shock it up securely, 
that it may remain internally dry, however wet the season may 
be, until it be fit, or until the fine weather comes, that is always 
given in due season for securing the crops of the farm. We all 
know that the best hay is made in dry, sunless weather, which 
shows that the sun deteriorates its quality; we also know that 
every shower extracts from it some of its flavour and nourish- 
ment ; yet how often do we manage our straw or grain crops as 
if there was no value in straw worthy of our consideration ! After 
travelling through all Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the 
greater part of the continent of Europe, I have come to the con- 
t:lusion that if there is any unfailing criterion of a backward state of 
agriculture, it is the quantity of land mown for hay to be con- 
sumed on the farm. All enlightened men know that the value 
of well-got hay for fodder is not more than three times that of 
well-saved straw. For instance, if we value hay at 60s. per ton 
and straw at 20s., and put one beast to winter on the hay and 
another on the straw, with 40s. worth of oilcake or meal, there 
is little doubt which will do the best, and produce the most and 
best manure. 
For the convenience of autumn cultivation, all crops should 
be cut low and shocked up in straight parallel rows, pretty wide 
apart, so as to allow cultivation to proceed, even though the 
weather should retard the carting of the crop. It is well known 
that bagged, mown, and machine-cut corn does not bind so 
closely in the sheaf as when reaped, therefore the wind and air 
more rapidly extract the moisture out of the grain and straw of 
the former than the latter : also that wet does not so readilv 
penetrate the former as the latter ; consequently all those crops 
that are bagged, mown, or machine-cut are sooner fit for carting 
than reaped ones. 
The best situation for stacks is an exposed one, open to both 
sun and air ; and they should not be set too close together, that 
wind and sun may the more freely operate upon them ; also that 
in case of a fire it may not spread from one to the other ; also 
that the engine and thresher may be set down on the lee side 
while thrashing out the grain. The best position for stacks is 
by the side of a good hard road, and if they are long stacks or 
reeks, the ends ought to stand north and south, that the sun may 
VOL. XXIII. Q 
