THE WORK OF THE HARVEST FIELD AND STACKYARD. [Leuder.]

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1173, 3 January 1880, Page 2

THE WORK OF THE HARVEST FIELD AND STACKYARD. [Leuder.]

The fact that ho many who go upon the land in Victoria have not been trained to ' the practical operations of agriculture must bo our excuse for entering somewhat minutely into these details. Recently we drew attentson to the necessity of going about the work of haymaking in its varioiis processes of cutting, raking into windrows, cocking, staekbuilding and thatching in a proper manner, and the bame advice is appropriate in connection with the grain harvest now beginning. Although the stripper, which is now entering so largely into the work of grainharvesthig, renders the operation of fctooking and stacking unnecessary, yet a large I quantity of grain is still treated on the sheaf system by means of the ordinary reaping machine, and the increasing use of the reaper and binder. For grain cut in this fashion it is of importance — especially during a season which, like the present, threatens to be wet — that care shouid be given to the treatment of the crop after it is cut in the field, and in the operation of stacking afterwards. As we pointed out in our directions about haymaking, the main point in building a stack with the view of turning the rain is too keep it up in the centre as the work of building goes on, and this feature is equally important in building of grain sstacks. Beginning with the work of stooking the sheaves in the field, it may be said of it as of stacking, that danger from wet weather is better avoided by doing the work properly, so that the rain may be turned in the first place, instead of doing it improperly and depending too much upon the operation of thatching. A stook sot carefully and well from the first in the field defends the grain from both wind and rain, and whether as regards appearance or saving in the owner's pocket, compares most advantageously with the flattened, discolored and soaked sheaves which are the result of a bad system of stooking to bo seen after a storm. It is as easy and takes as little time to set up the sheaves in the stook in a proper manner as it is to set them up wrong, but the stook formed at first can never be so well set up a second time,' after the sheaves have been allowed to take the wrong set. A good man at stooking rarely require^ more than one "dab" to his pair sheaves to set them in their proper form. The first two sheaves should be set straightly up on their ends, facing one another, with their tops meeting so fairly as to form a narrow ridge, while the second, third and fourth pairs should be sot similarly to the first, but with a slight inclination from each end towards the centre of the stook. Then the fifth and s xth piirs of sheaves, while being as evenly pitted against each other as the rein un lor should lean a little more visibly towards the central pair. The stook should not all be set f om one end, but equally from both end-, one couple being pliced on the one side of the central pair, and tho other on the oppos ; te bide alternately. In the open tl'ont 1 ' on of stooking the v/orlauaii should take a sheaf under each 'inn clamping the sheaf round and about half-way between the top and the band, and should then s-_t <he two buts simultaneously to the ground, "tipping the firmly together. The saving in thus settling- up sstooks that will stand up firmly and throw the rain off is not only found in the smiller waste of £ia>n, as compared v-t i stooks blown down and scattered about the field, but the sheaves will also bo found in bettor shape for the purpose of enabling u proper stack to be built with them afterwards. As to the operation of stack building, it is well known how lie ivy is the loss that am.ni.dly ensues dunny' harvest months, owiny in some ca-es to slovenliness, and iv others to want of knowledge of how to tmild a st ick which will fiom the beginning of the woik to the end be lam-proof. Even should it be intended (as is commonly the rule in the colony) to thieh off the gi.'in without dr-1 ly after ha i vest, the de>iribi'it,y of buildiny the stack properly and c uefuliy is none the less uigent ; the threshing machine may not be able to com ' exacrly at the tune anticipated; and ma ,y ras ■it tak-s no Imm er to build the stae'e woll t 1 an it does t-> do i., ill. Then there i- the acklitional i.iei t that, while built to keep out tlu rain, the stack at the same time looks bptter in bein > neat and workmanlike. In marking- out the bed of the stack the laiMier will be guided as <o size by the rule that ten yaids long by tiv wide is estimated as a good wornab.e fixe fOlf 01 ten acies of an average crop. T c bounds miv ho formic! bv pegging do .vii saplings round tho edges," and saplin ;s, straw, or oilier material may be use t for toimiuir the remainder of the foundation. * peifectlv diy site should bo c'loscn from which the water can run naturally. The builder begins by forming .i stook of sheaves similir to those in the fi"kl, about bait-w ay along the centre of the foundation. Thi., iv a stack of the sue UK ntioned, would form a stook of five yards in length. .Around this stook the builder coo.inua-, to place the sheaves in the same t ositi >n, but with a necessarily gradually lowering angle as the outside is- approached. Ihe coi ners should be n ade round, as they stand better than I if formed squaie, and are easier done. When the outside of the toundation has b"ei) reached all lonnd, the builder muat then p oceed to lav the fiist outside course of tho sheaves, keeping the long ends of the butts- away undermost The butts of the sheaves will be found to be long on the one side and shot on the other, owing to the set they have received in the field while in stook. The first outside course being finished the builder then proceeds to lay the second round the outside, taking care that the long ends of the butts of the second course of sheaves just cover the bands of the first. In this way, paying attention to keeping- the heart of the stack well up, so that the butts of the sheaves always slope o-pntly towards the outside and the heads upwards towards the centre, the building should go regularly on. When the stack l>as reached about four or five feet from the giound the sheaves should be laid with the long sides of the butts leverscd, so as to be uppermost, for the pmpose of lettiu-r the stack out large enough in the side ; but as the point is approached at which it is iutended to form the eaves, the old svsfem of keepingthe Ions? tide of. the butts downward should be asrain returned to, as this is necessary to briny the stack in again. As the stack approaches the height at which it is intencttd to form th" eaves, the builder should lay the inside shef yes hiflfh, and i.eep the middle well-filled, t ikm? care also to tread well, so that there may be a solid foundation for the roo*. To form the eaves the builder should ly one course of sheaves round the outside, with the ends set over enough to clear the side of the stack ; then three should be laid another course on the top uf these, but kept in a little to for the beginning of the roof. Having laid*these two coujnos once round he should then proceed to the middle and lay a row of sheaves lengthwise along the centre, afterwards electing another lot stock fashion, as at the beginning, and building ro.md it ; also, as at first, until the out3ide course is reached, where the two eavo courses have be«a laid as already de^

str'bed. This being done, the same process has to b° repeated, gradually drawinr the eaves inward, and so proceeding to the finish, three repetitions of this will be sufficient, and a stack with roof built in this way will be found to v throw ordinary rain as if the stack was thatched. While the work of building is going on it will be advisable to have a rioll cloth at hand to save the exposed afc*ok from damage by cuddeu rains. Oiled calico is not expensive, and is found to answer the purpose.