1 Dec., 1898. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 405 
is said to shrivel after bagging, as it has not been allowed to mature on the 
straw, and has nothing to draw upon to buildit up afterwards. ‘These are, ‘of 
course, individual opinions, which we give for what they are worth. The proof 
of their correctness can be substantiated or disproved, as the stripper is now 
actually at work in the district. 
We had several conversations with farmers of experience on the subject 
of stacking and of thatching stacks, and were rather surprised to learn from 
several old wheatgrowers that they held strongly by stacking on the ground 
and with absence of thatching. One grower said : “ A properly built stack need 
not necessarily be thatched; but if a farmer could afford to wait some time 
before getting his grain threshed, then it would hold better in the stack, and 
thatching might be of some use.” Certain cereals are better for being in the 
stalk, and therefore should be stacked. - 
As to the matter of building foundations, one farmer, who has had a great 
deal of experience in stack-building, declares that it is a great mistake to lay 
any foundation, and certainly not one raised on piles of stone, brick, or wood. 
Tf the stack is at all damp when made, or if moisture should get into it during 
wet weather, then the stack will heat to combustion point, a current of air is 
set up beneath it, and the loss of the stack by fire follows. His idea is to 
build on the.ground, dig a trench round the stack, and to build up the roof in 
such a way that no thatch is required. He declares that he has never lost a 
bushel of grain by this practice during all the years he has been farming. We 
have already pointed out that, no matter how the first or bottom layers are put 
into a stack built on the ground, moisture must arise by capillary attraction, 
and that moisture can only pass to the atmosphere in one way—z.e., through 
the stack. It needs but to look at the horizon on any of our present hot days 
to see the moisture evaporated from the soil passing into space, and the 
conclusion must be arrived at that, no matter how apparently dry the surface 
of the soil may be, this moisture must pass out, and so affect the grain in the 
stack, even if no rain came in through the roof. A novel kind of foundation 
will be laid down this season at the Hermitage, which will ensure ventilation 
by very ingenious means. If one stack were built on this-and another on the 
ground, an excellent object lesson would be afforded. 
Before leaving Warwick, we noticed some very fine crops of onions grown 
in the neighbourhood of the town. Further out, a crop of about five acres had 
partially failed owing to the alkali above mentioned. 
As harvesting will be universal before this article appears, we will indulge 
in no individual forecasts as to yield. As a whole, the Queensland crop may 
yield between 600,000 and 700,000 bushels, but this will be made clearer in a 
few weeks from now, when the thresher has got on withits work. Meanwhile 
we will conclude this article with the advice of Mr. G. Crisp, miller, of 
Toowoomba, to the Downs farmers :—Say early in January put a little land 
under wheat; we then get good rains, and it will bloom in May before the 
frosts come on, and will be ready to harvest in June. We always have fine 
weather at that time of the year. If frosts come on after the wheat is out of 
bloom it will not hurt it. It ihis could be carried out it would regulate prices 
very much, and I think the second sowing would have less risk in the way of 
rust and thunderstorms than the May-sown wheat. 
WHEN TO CUT WHEAT. 
Amona the many new ideas which have been adopted by the present 
generation of farmers, is that of early cutting ; and it is a common observation 
that wheat, at least, cannot be cut too green. This is manifestly incorrect, but 
the true meaning is that wheat should be cut comparatively green. ‘There are 
those who ride a hobby to death, and who, not content with moderation, go 
too far, and cut before the crop is mature. A few remarks upon the subject 
of wheat-ripening may be useful at the present time, as calculated to encourage 
discussion and moderate practice. 
