382
*
which four of his reapers are placed. The bands for wheatand rye are often made of single lengths of the straw, bywhich, of course, the sheaves are much smaller, and conse-quently become much sooner ready for being carried hometo the rick-yard.
In harvesting oats and barley, each stook is formed of tworows of five sheaves each, their butts on the ground at a shortdistance, and their tops resting obliquely upon and mutuallysupporting each other. Two other sheaves are laid on thetop, their butts meeting and somewhat elevated, while theear ends are partly divided and spread over the heads ofthe standing sheaves, and hang obliquely downwards; and,on placing these head-sheaves, the two ends of the stookabove are gently pressed towards the middle. This simple,but ingenious construction, enables the stook to stand firmagainst a considerable strength of wind, and to throw offeven heavy rains; but a stook which has once been overturn-ed by the wind, never stands so well afterwards, as the strawis partly bent and broken, and never can regain its originalstiffness.
The plan which has been described, seems to be the bestwhich can be adopted in general, for the purpose of winning,drying, or harvesting the corn and straw in good weather;and if wetted by rain, stooks will dry much faster than anyconical heaps into which the sheaves could be formed. Thestooks are usually set up, as far as the binder can judge, duenorth and south, that each side may enjoy equal benefit fromtlie sun ; or sometimes in the direction of S. S. W. and N.N. E. As the straw of wheat and rye is considerably longerthan that of barley and oats, the stooks of these grains arecomposed of two upright rows of six sheaves each, with twohead sheaves. Consequently, a stook of oats and barley con-sists of twelve sheaves, and a stook of wheat or rye containsfourteen. . In farming language two stooks are termed athreave; and in forming an estimate of their crops, farmerscount the threaves upon an acre, and judge of the produce
V