John N. De Lamater

“ Two stakes, one eight and the other ten rods away, and in line with the center of foundation, will sometimes assist the stacker in keeping his stack well balanced, for at a glance he can tell whether the center is in line with the stakes. A man may build, as his fancy dictates, either round, elliptical or square, but in all, the same general principles must be observed—the lower part of the stack built straight up; put in a bulge which settles down around and nearly conceals the lower part, leaving the center of the bulge high; filling the middle to support the center of the top. ”

“ Usually at harvest the country is full of good stackers, and if, between that time and threshing, there is little or no rain, they live through and there is a good supply next year; but if, between stacking and threshing, a protracted rain occurs, vast multitudes are drowned, so that, at threshing time, but few good stackers are found alive. ”

“ With some, the idea seems to prevail, that the middle of the stack should be kept full from the ground up. With the center high enough to protect the stack after it is settled, it is impossible to lay out or even build straight up, for the outside sheaves are constantly slipping out, and the process of building rendered slow and tiresome, and when the stack is completed and settled, it will usually be found that the center has gone down so much and the outside so little, that the buts of the sheaves stick up and form excellent conductors to wet the stack. ”