> Haystacks like this are found nowhere else on earth.
There is no need to sensationalize. This is not unique to Romania. Just search for pictures with "haystacks in eastern europe". First hit is from Glojene, Bulgaria; next from Valbone Valley National Park, Albania.
Wooden frames with cross-braces so that air can somewhat circulate within the construction and help it dry, keep the first level somewhat off the ground because that's where most of the moisture is, comb the result to align surface level straws vertically, so that any rain runs off.
I helped make plenty of these accursed things during childhood/early teens summers in Latvian countryside. Mind-numbingly boring for a kid, with added benefit of sunburn and insect bites. The only major difference was that no one would climb on top of them, we'd build them only as high as the pitchforks would reach from the ground.
Now I'm curious, is there any place in world that does (did?) their hay stacking in a radically different fashion?
Wikimedia seems to have a list of haystack images by country at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Haystacks_by_cou... and what do you know, Swiss actually do it differently! Building around a central pole, rather than a more elaborate frame https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Haystacks_in_Swi...
Probably. Guess I'm not old enough to have ever witnessed manual baling then! That's a TIL for me :)
More importantly, a bale won't stay dry inside if it's rained on. So you need to store them in barns.
Hesjing means to create long temporary fence-like structures and then lifting the gross onto it.
If done correctly so the water can easily run off it can then survive a rainfall or two unlike what happens if you dry it flat.
This was actually important ant least in costal climates back before motorized fans made drying it indoors an alternative.
(Brings me back, woke up from the huge fan many days in the summer holiday. I also remember learning to start it, there was a delta/y switcher on it but I have now forgotten which configuration was for spinning it up and which was for steady state.)
"unique to romania" = BS
"the spark over a very dry haystack." = BS
"Suspicious fathers would often pitchfork the stacks to ensure their daughters’ modesty (amongst other things) remained intact." = BS
Anyone who handled an actual romanian pitchfork [1] knows that thing can be deadly if used carelessly.
[1] https://gomagcdn.ro/domains/amenajariacvatice.ro/files/produ...
The funny coincidence is that I am from Romania and I just helped my grandfather with raising the hay on the haystack yesterday evening but we started a new stack so we are not at the top yet.