STACK

Corn in the sheaf piled up in a circular or rectangular figure, brought to a point or ridge at top, and afterwards thatched to protect it from the influence of the weather, and more especially from rains. The term is also sometimes applied to hay piled up in the same manner; which, however, in most places, is called a rick. The foundation of a corn stack is commonly made on a platform of wood or Iron, raised on props to protect it from the moisture of the soil, and also from rats and mice; in which respect stacks of corn differ from ricks of hay, which are built always on the ground. [s. 1164]