312 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
er. If barn room is plenty and the grain is stored there, in 
threshing run the straw from one barn to another, if possible, or 
to another part of the same barn, so that it may be under cover. 
In harvesting it is advisable to haul as much of the grain as 
possible to the barn or stack yard, so as to have the straw con¬ 
venient for winter use. This will save time in threshing, and 
both time and labor in handling the straw, as it can be drawn 
much easier when bound than when loose. 
In stacking grain arrange the stacks so as to make it jcon- 
venient to properly preserve the straw with as little labor as 
possible. Four stacks are usually put together ; these, if of me¬ 
dium size, will make about an ordinary day’s work in thresh¬ 
ing, and the straw can all be put into one stack with little extra 
labor. Two men will be required most of the time to run the 
straw away from the machine where no attention is paid to 
preserving it; by the help of a third man it can be easily se¬ 
cured in a stack. 
A common error is to commence stacking without much 
reference to form, and to keep piling up as may be most conven¬ 
ient ; in this way the stack is usually too broad at the base 
and irregular in outline, and cannot t>e so well protected. The 
stack should be long; at right angles with the carrier, and nar¬ 
row at the bottom. As it runs up, the sides may be built out 
six or eight feet. The topping out should be commenced in 
time and should be done gradually. The hole at the end of 
the carrier should be well filled, and rounded up to the top 
of the stack to prevent the rain from working down into the 
center. Much depends upon finishing this part of the stack 
properly. The loose straw on the sides and around the stack, 
with the chaff, should be raked away, leaving the stack in 
perfect shape. When put up in this way, and well topped 
out the straw will keep without trouble, and can easily be 
handled when needed. 
If the grain is well secured, and is not needed for feed or 
the market, the threshing might be put off until late in the 
fall or early winter, thereby saving the straw from exposure 
to the fall rains. 
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