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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



THE MODERN MOWING MACHINE MAKES FEWER MEN NECESSARY. 



breakfast in haying time than at every 

 other season, because he believes that 

 the more he eats or, as he would prob- 

 ably express it, the more he can stow 

 away in his jacket, the more work he 

 can do. In the hayfield men are bet- 

 ter natured and yet more excitable. A 

 jovial laugh accompanies the ringing 

 of the whetstones on the scythes, yet 

 there is always an undercurrent that 

 sets in steadily toward a fight. The 

 men are keyed to such a pitch and are 

 so suspicious, that a joke or a good- 

 natured sally may easily be miscon- 

 strued as an insult. 



The hayfield is a battle ground 

 where man strives against the forces 

 of nature, and does it with military 

 precision. He marches onward stead- 

 ily in battle array to the music of the 

 swishing scythes in the dewy grass. 

 Woe to the man that fails to keep step 

 and strike. He is in danger from all 

 his mates. Only the leader is safe 

 from the challenge of the man ahead. 

 Woe to the man that loses his place 

 by an inch. The ends must be firmly 

 held. If he advances a little too fast 

 he is accused of trying to get out of 

 his place. If he lags a little, the one 



REMINISCENCES. 



"Now just look at that, will yer? Hay isn't what it was eighty years ago. When I uster stir hay 

 when T wnz a boy. it wuz tall'r'n my head." 



