CARE OF GRAIN IN STACK

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1469, 29 January 1887, Page 2

CARE OF GRAIN IN STACK

(Canterbury Times.) The treatment of grain m the stack Is one of the weak points of colonial agriculture. A loose style cf management is oharaoteristio of farming m all new countries; but m moat other new countries m which wheat ia largely grown there is leas liability to sudden changes of weather than is the oaae In New Zealand, and therefore greater liberties can be taken with it. New Zealand wheat has acquired a reputation m the London market for presenting a greater diversity of sample than the wheat of almoßt any other country, and this, it- is needless to say, tolls badly against it. There ia always an element of uncertainty about the quality of New Zealand wheat which makes purchasers shy m dealing with it. It is rarely indeed that the produce of a harvest ia dry and sound throughout, for although we occasionally experience harvest weather which enables the graia to be brought to the stack m perfect condition, tho chances are that some of it will be ditmvv] !uf to threshing by reason of rain falling on unprotected or badly built staoks. Tho work of threshing atwoys extends well Into the autumn, m some seasons it is not finished till the winter is well advanced, and stacks built on the bare ground and left nnthatohed inevitably take some dama^o loth at top and bottom If it were possible to keep the damaged and the sound grain quite separate tho mischief would not be so great, but it is not possible ; for however much care is taken during threshing, tho unsound grains get mixed through the entire sample. In former years, when harvesting was a more laborious occupation nnd labor scarcer nnd dearer than it is now, there was Borne excuse fur this lax and Wasteful style of management, but now the case k different, and farmers should take better care of their grain. Some of them do, but most of them keep on m the old slovenly fashion. The grain is dumped down on the bare around without bedding, no matter whether it is wet or dry, and when tho stack is finished it receives no further uttention, and must take its chance of the weather. A well-built stack will not take m much water at the top, though it may stand m heavy rain without thatch ; but it will receive some damage, and there will be a sufficient number of sprouted grains to affect the sample. The sprouted grains will not show so much if the stick is perFectly dry when threshed, but it Dften hnppona that the roofs are not dry, nor anywhere near it when, threshed, md the result is a proportion of damp grain m the bags whioh it is difficult to know what to do with And then with regard to the bottom, if the Btaok is without beddinsr, the moisture is bound to draw np, and if the stack stands for any length of tine, there is a load or so of sheaves gtfbd for nothing but pig feed. Even if the stack stands only for a few weeks, and the ground is pretty dry, some moiiture ia sure to draw np, sufficient at all events to soften tho grain. Many farmers eooffat the idea of adapting the EngUah fashion of having a man ready to go on thatching as soon as a staok is finished ; but this is really the wisest and most economical course m the long rnn. The thatch can be got ready before harvest, and it does not take a handy man long to put it on, A very small quantity of grain payt for the expensj of thatching, and there need be no' time lost m waiting for the top to dry during threshing, if the jweathee 1« catchy and broken. Straw- is plentiful enough on most frrms., and it only involves a little labor, and no oost of material, to make the stack secure both At top md bottom,