The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-09-23
n.norEcrINa rHE srAeaSs.

TINT We may look for continued rain
t storms III Minnesota at or about the
close Of harvest and where these
rains arc accompanied By fierce driy--
ing winds, there arc but few stacks
that can resist them. We have, our
sell, this year protected our grain by
building long, large, Kicks. and COW
ering the tops with vide boards. as
described in former issue. While
this has efectuallY protected our
grain during all the terrible storms
we have passed through, it is open to
several objections. Il is slow and
awkward work for the men to put up
these covers on the stacks. the boards
being heavy and unwieldy. The ex-
penss for the lumber is considerable !;
and the lumber itself is apt to be
destroyed OF wasted before the next
harvest. ss.sz
We find in the English papers adj
vertisements and engravings repre-
senting the merits of various contriv-
ances, necessary in that wet climate,
for the protection of the stacks. The
favorite seems to be sort Of tent
cover Of duck, fastened at each side
BY ropes and pegs to the earth, and
drawn tightly over the stack; others
rest across ridge pole supported by
crotched uprights, so that t no work
ofstacking can go on beheath them.
Why cannot our farmers adopt
something of this kind. They can
buy the stuff for about IL cents per
square yard, and give it one or two
coats of oil and paint, doing the work
themselves. The covers for hum
bred or two acres would thus cost but
a trifing sum- Cords could be at
tached which could be tied to stakes
driven into the stack or into the
ground. These covers could, after
threshing, be folded up and laid away
under cover, and thus cared for, they
would last ten Or fifteen years. This
2 year they would have been worth ten
times their cost. ~
Wesclip from an exchange another
method Of making the duck water
proof: ~
The best way Of preparing such
cloth IS by the process adopted for
the TUNES Of the French soldiers dur
ing the. Crimean war. It is as fol-
lows: Take 81 lbs. alum and dis
solve in ten gallons boiling water !;
then in a separate vessel dissolve the
same quantity of sugar Of lead in ten
gallons of water, and mix the two So
lutions. The cloth is now we'll han
died in this liquid, until every part
OF it is penetrated then it is squeez-
ed and dried in the air, or in warm
apartment, then washed in cold wa
ter and dried again, when it is fit for
use. If necessary, the cloth may be
dipped in the liquid and dried twice
before being washed. The liquor
appears curdled when the alum and
lead solutions are mixed together.
This is the result of double decompo-
sition, the sulphate OF lead, which is
an insoluble salt, being formed. The
sulphate of lead is taken up in the
pores Of the cloth, and it is unaffected
by rain or moisture, and yet it does
not render the cloth air tight. Such
cloth is also partially non-infamable.
A solution of alum itself will render
cloth, prepared as described, partially
waterproof, but it is not so good as
the sulphate Of lead. Such cloth
sheds rain like the feathers on the
back of a duck.
We trust our farmer friends will
. study up this question. Let US hear
the experience cf those who have ex-
perimented in this direction.
: In England we understand that
such seasons as we have passed
through, (and they are extraordinary
wish u.s. are quite common and one
Of the great problems of successful
farming is to get the grain under
cover as soon as cut. Sheds are built
on many farms under which the
grain is stacked:-Anti- MonopoHst.
T. THE CHEESE INDUSTRY.