184 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTIOULTURE  AND  OOTTAOE  GARDENER. 
Augusb  19,  189?. 
may  be  seen  in  different  parts — good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  large 
and  small — are  to  the  intelligent  observer  a  very  interesting  study. 
Who  can  deny  that  a  group  of  well-made  stacks  (or  more 
particularly  the  round  ones  that  in  Yorkshire  are  called  pikes) 
crowning  the  hill-top  or  peeping  from  behind  the  clump  of  Scotch 
Firs,  does  not  add  very  materially  to  the  picturesqueness  of  any 
landscape  ? 
But  stacks  are  made  for  use,  not  for  ornament.  Certainly  ; 
but  it  would  be  difficult,  or  impossible  even,  to  make  a  handsome 
stack  without  at  the  same  time  making  a  good  one.  Of  course  the 
first  object  in  building  the  stack  is  the  safe  preservation  of  the 
corn  of  which  it  is  made,  therefore  the  roof  is  the  most  important 
part ;  but  the  foundation  most  be  well  looked  after.  It  is  a  good 
plan  to  build  the  stacks  every  year  on  the  same  places,  and  to 
have  those  places  raised  slightly  higher  than  the  rest  of  the 
stackyard. 
We  do  not  often  vary  the  size  of  our  stacks — at  any  rate,  as 
regards  length,  and  if  the  steddle  or  foundation  slope  gently  from 
the  middle  the  stack  may  be  made  smaller  or  narrower,  as  occasion 
requires.  A  raised  steddle  being  used,  not  so  much  straw  will  be 
necessary  as  if  the  stackyard  were  all  on  a  dead  level ;  but  in  any 
case,  dry  straw  or  other  similar  material  quite  a  foot  thick  (as 
thrown  down)  must  be  used  to  put  the  new  grain  upon.  It  is  very 
annoying  to  find  two  courses  of  sheaves  at  the  bottom  of  the  stack 
mouldy  and  rotten,  either  from  having  been  stacked  in  a  low,  badly 
drained  place  or  from  having  been  placed  upon  wet  straw.  Having 
a  good  dry  foundation  sloping  from  the  middle  we  must  take 
every  care  not  only  to  preserve  this  slope,  but  to  increase  it.  The 
first  sheaves  go  into  the  middle,  and  the  essential  point  in  making 
a  good  stack  is  to  have  the  outside  sheaves  sloping  from  the  centre 
at  such  an  angle  that  they  are  in  danger  of  slipping  off  until  an 
inner  course  has  been  placed  upon  them.  If  a  stack  be  built  on 
this  principle,  and  carried  out  gently  so  that  the  eave  overhangs 
the  base  by  a  foot  all  round,  there  is  only  the  roof  left  to  consider. 
Rough  timber,  tree  tops,  and  rough  Thorns  are  often  used  to 
make  stack  bottoms,  and  very  useful  they  are  if  there  are  no  rats 
about,  otherwise  they  are  a  great  encouragement  to  the  rat  to  make 
his  abode  in  them  ;  such  a  home,  with  plenty  of  food  above,  is  just 
what  Mr.  Rat  dearly  loves.  We  should  prefer  a  more  solid  bottom, 
such  as  is  provided  by  broken  atone  or  earth. 
Now  we  come  to  the  most  important  part  of  all,  the  roof. 
Having  carried  our  stack  to  the  square,  that  is  the  point  from 
which  we  intend  the  roof  to  spring,  we  must  begin  to  fill  in,  or  in 
other  words  to  increase  the  proportion  of  sheaves  towards  the 
middle  so  as  to  accentuate  the  outward  elope.  A  stack  when  filled 
in  ready  for  roofing  presents  rather  the  appearance  of  already 
possessing  a  fiat  roof,  but  much  more  is  required.  We  proceed  by 
laying  an  outside  course  9  inches  within  the  outer  edge  with  other 
binding  courses  upon  it  and  each  other  ;  the  next  outer  course  will 
be  brought  in  again,  and  so  on  until  the  sheaves  reach  across  the 
top,  then  a  few  sheaves  may  be  laid  lengthwise,  and  straw  on  the 
top  to  keep  all  snug.  A  good  roof  should  have  something  of  a 
shoulder,  that  is  the  pitch  should  not  be  uniform  as  in  the  roof  of  a 
building,  but  greater  near  the  eaves,  as  it  is  that  part  which  is  the 
most  likely  to  let  in  rain,  if  there  is  not  sufficient  slope. 
*  The  shape  of  the  stack  is  either  a  matter  of  taste,  or,  as  in  some 
districts,  one  that  leaves  little  or  no  choice  to  the  farmer  if  he  is 
to  save  his  crops.  In  a  fine  harvest,  when  the  grain  is  in  the 
driest  of  conditions,  we  think  there  is  nothing  to  beat  the  York- 
shire  pike.  We  have  seen  them  10  yards  in  diameter  at 
the  base,  and  12  yards  at  the  square.  A  stack  like  that,  pro¬ 
portionately  high,  will  contain  from  100  to  120  qrs.  of  Wheat, 
and  very  little  of  it  is  exposed  to  the  birds  and  the  weather  ;  but 
with  unfavourable  conditions  of  weather,  which  is  the  annual 
occurrence  in  some  northern  localities,  it  would  be  almost 
impossible  to  secure  the  crops  in  such  order  as  to  make  it  safe  to 
put  them  into  such  huge  heaps — the  stacks  must  be  smaller  or 
narrower.  Barley  and  Oats  especially,  unless  in  the  finest  condition, 
must  not  be  stacked  so  that  any  portion  is  7  feet  or  more  from  the 
outside. 
This,  to  stick  to  the  round  shape,  would  mean  a  large  number 
of  small  stacks,  and  heavy  expense  in  thatching.  We,  therefore, 
whilst  using  pikes  for  the  Wheat  in  moat  years,  find  it  safest  to 
put  the  Barley  and  Oats  into  long  narrow  stacks  about  4  yards 
wide  and  12  long.  These  we  build  end  on  to  each  other  in  close 
contiguity,  two,  three,  or  four  in  a  row.  They  can  be  all  thatched 
as  one  roof,  and  thrashed  one  at  a  time  if  required.  The  extreme 
ends  are  made  round,  and  the  roofs  the  same,  so  that  there  is  no 
gable  end.  A  gable  end  is  difficult  to  make  waterpropf  without 
sacrificing  appearances. 
We  are  quite  certain  that  for  big  heaps  there  is  no  shape  to 
equal  the  pike,  and  they  are  quite  as  easy  to  build  if  people  will 
but  have  a  try. 
WOKK  ON  THE  HOME  EABM. 
Work  amongst  the  corn  early  and  late  occupies  each  and  every  day. 
We  have  bad  a  nice  rain,  which  has  greatly  benefited  the  root  crops  and 
pastures  without  materially  injuring  the  grain  ;  probably  even  the  ripe 
Barley  would  be  the  better  for  it.  Fortunately  the  rain  fell  on  Sunday, 
so  the  harvest  was  not  hindered. 
Binders  are  making  splendid  work,  and  are  almost  universal.  Shoals 
of  men  in  vain  seeking  work  are  passing  along  the  roads,  and  would, 
no  doubt,  be  easy  to  treat  with  if  anyone  wanted  them. 
Grain  crops  on  the  whole  are  cutting  up  well,  if  anything  better  than 
our  anticipations ;  the  drought  had  given  them  an  appearance  of  lightness 
which  was  more  superficial  than  real.  Barleys  are  a  good  colour,  but 
will  be  very  thin  and  steely.  The  kindest  samples  will  come  from  the 
low-lying  lands. 
Most  of  the  corn  is  cut  about  us  but  not  much  led.  It  is  well  to  he 
careful  and  give  the  crops  plenty  of  field  room  this  season.  They  have 
finished  off  rapidly,  and  in  many  cases  were  much  greener  than  they 
looked.  The  ears  appeared  ripe  and  the  straw  yellow,  but  the  knots 
were  very  green  when  the  corn  was  cut,  and  until  the  nature  in  the 
straw  has  had  time  to  dry  up  it  is  dahgerons  to  put  it  into  a  stack. 
There  is  generally  more  heated  corn  in  a  fine  harvest  than  in  a  wet  one, 
because  farmers  will  nqt  give  the  straw  time  to  get  properly  made. 
We  are  inclined  to  leave  our  Barley  out  a  little  longer  on  the  chance 
of  more  rain  falling.  A  good  rain  on  the  stooks  would  do  the  grain 
much  more  good  than  harm.  One  rain  would  not  affect  the  colour 
much,  and  it  would  add  much  to  its  malting  qualities. 
Some  people  are  anxious  to  be  moving  the  Wheat  stubbles  as  soon  as 
the  corn  has  been  cleared  away.  This  year  they  are  so  hard  that  even 
the  spring-tooth  cultivator  will  hardly  face  them.  However,  lamb 
meat  Is  so  scarce  that  perhaps  few  will  attempt  to  work  them,  at  any 
rate  until  the  sheep  have  had  a  few  days’  run  upon  them, 
Milch  cows  have  fallen  off  much  in  the  milk,  and  fat  stock  lately 
have  hardly  held  their  own. 
SOUTH-EASTERN  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE, 
The  South-Eastern  Agricultural  College  at  Wye,  established  and 
maintained  by  the  County  Councils  of  Kent  and  Surrey,  was  visited  last 
week  by  a  large  gathering  of  representatives  of  the  agricultural  com¬ 
munity  in  both  counties,  on  the  occasion  of  a  distribution  of  prizes  and 
diplomas  by  Earl  Stanhope,  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Kent.  The  Principal, 
Mr.  A.  D.  Hall,  referred  to  the  highly  encouraging^ examination  results 
thus  early  in  the  career  of  the  college.  The  Royal 'Agricultural  Society 
had  passed  two  men,  awarding  the  gold  medal  and  life  membership  to 
Mr.  A.  Holm,  of  Betchworth,  Surrey.  The  Surveyors’  Institution  had 
passed  all  candidates  presented  for  the  first  degree.  Similar  successes 
had  attended  the  candidates  for  the  Cambridge  University  Diploma  of 
Agriculture,  and  for  the  British  Dairy  Farmers’  Association. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdbit  Squarb,  Lordon. 
Lab.  H®  13' 40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8/0"  W.;  Altitude  111  leet. 
Datb. 
9  A.M. 
In  tub  Day. 
A 
flS 
1897. 
August. 
Barometer 
at  32°, and 
Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
la 
Sun. 
'On 
Grass. 
Inohs. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inch). 
Sunday  .. ... 
8 
29-604 
65-2 
61-0 
B. 
68-1 
72-7 
69-2 
118-2 
62  0 
0-758 
Monday  .... 
9 
29-796 
65  1 
60-2 
N.W.  • 
660 
75-4 
68-6 
122-2 
67-1 
Tuesday .... 
10 
29-963 
65-3 
60-1 
N. 
66-3 
78-2 
63'8 
122-9 
48-2 
Wednesday 
11 
29  939 
67-9 
64-4 
S.W. 
66-1 
78  7 
60-4 
120-4 
63-6 
— 
Thursday  . , 
12 
30-018 
64-1 
67-2 
N.W, 
65-1 
73-0 
81-1 
126-9 
46-6 
Friday  .... 
13 
30-093 
61-7 
67-1 
S.W. 
64-8 
70-4 
48-1 
106-1 
43-9 
0-080 
Saturday  j . . 
14 
29-997 
63-2 
67-9 
W. 
64  0 
76-4 
64-2 
123-7 
80-1 
— 
29-914 
646 
69-7 
65  6 
74  4 
66-1 
119-9 
60-2 
0-808 
BEMARKS. 
8th.— Heavy  rain  from  9.30  A.M.  to  1  P.M.,  an'd  showers  after,  but  much  bright  sun  in 
afternoon. 
9th. — Overcast  early  ;  occasional  sunshine  in  morning ;  bright  afternoon. 
10th.— Bright  sunshine  all  day ;  overcast  evening. 
11th. — Q-enerally  overcast,  with  spots  of  rain,  till  6  p.M. ;  bright  evening. 
12th.— Frequently  cloudy  in  morning,  but  brilliant  early  and  after  2  P.M. 
13th.— Overcast  with  frequent  spots  of  rain  early ;  occasional  faint  sunshine  after 
11  A.H. ;  showers  in  evening,  and  rain  at  11  P.M, 
I4th. — Alternate  cloud  and  sunshine. 
Another  warm  week,  but  not  so  much  above  thq  average  as  the  previous  ones.— 
G.  J.  STMOBS. 
