HOW TO STORE GRAIN WITHOUT A BARN OR SACKS.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 139, 29 March 1873, Page 2

HOW TO STORE GRAIN WITHOUT A BARN OR SACKS.

The following letter of Mr E. W. Hitcliin to tlie Adelaide Observer may bo serviceable to some of our farmers :—: — " In conversation with me lately a man was deploring the circumstances of his brother, located in one of the Northern agricultural areas, who, while blessed in a heavy wheat crop, neither had bam nor other storage building, nor could he arrange for carting a product to a shipping place, because both bags and teams were wanting. 1 told him that in other countries with climates akm to ours, gram wa3 almost uniformly stored iv pits, whence it was drawn in good condition, accidents exeepted, after the lapse of very long periods. And for the benefit of those interested in cheap, tolerably secure, and readily prepared places of gram deposit (avoidance of forced sales, Le ), I promised to ' write to the paper' — hence this letter. Of course some judgment is necesary to act on the following sketch of the process, and I need scarcely add. that more risk would be run in localities infested with rats, wombats, or rabbits, than elsewhere. Not to lengthen this communication I give the description separately. Pits are used for saving grain in many countries, but time does not permit my looking up what I have read on the «übject. I believe, how over, that two widely dis^ similar regions may be safely instanced as places where the practice prevails — Algeria, very hot ; and Poland, ice-bound in winter. In Algeria the Arabs have only to guard agaiust weather and vermin risks, but the earth's storage is their best security against the danger of destruction or capture of their corn by hostile tribes The Arabs thore store their wheat, either clean or in chaff, in large holes in the ground called ' silos.' These silos, as made by them aro large holes in the ground, about six feet in diameter, and a good deal resembling those used in many parts of this colony for burning lime, only they are made larger below, or pitcher-shaped. As the soil is sine to retain some dampness when first opened, the hole should be half-filled with straw, boughs, and weeds, and set on fire. This will not only dry the soil but harden it if of a clayey nature, and make it nearly impenetrable to rats and mice. Tbe atore-houae when filled up is covered with a dome-shaped covering of straw and earth to turn the wet. In this country tbe pit or ' silo' should he sunk if possible m clay, or where a clayey surface protects any subsoil, rather than gravel or limestone ; it should be on level land in preference to sloping ; clear away from trees and watercourses, and, as a safeguard, sufficient catch-drains should guard it from the approach of any thunderstorm waters. It might be in any shape which the peculiarities of the position might render expedient ; but perhaps a convenient shape would Be trenches 20 feet by 30 feet long (according to the extent of orop) dug out six feet wide and six feet deep, well burned with rubbish, and then the a\ heat might be shot into one end of it as it comes from the stripping-inachine ; the length of the trench being carefully covered with a layer of chaifor straw, so as to keep the w heat from lumps of dirt. By this plan tho w hole of the cleaning aud baggmg-up might be delayed till any tune convenient to the farmer and euitablv for the market"