Explore "A Treatise on Grain Stacking" by John N. De Lamater on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
If convenient, make a foundation of rails, by placing three rails about four and one-half feet apart and parallel, and then add half or two thirds the length of a rail to each, and cover by laying rails crossways, and finish by laying a large rail or post in the center lengthways.
This will form a foundation large enough for ten or twelve large loads.