Chap. 67.] HAT- MAKING. 91 



the second Lay-harvest, for fear lest the blade should be torn 

 up by the roots, or be trodden down and stunted in its growth. 

 Meadow land will grow old in time, and it requires to be reno- 

 vated every now and then, by sowing upon it a crop of beans, 

 or else rape or millet, after which it should be sown the next 

 year with corn, and then left for hay the third. Care, too, 

 should be taken, every time the grass is cut, to pass the sickle 

 over the ground, and so cut the aftermath which the mowers 

 have left behind ; for it is a very bad plan to leave any of the 

 grass and let it shed its seed there. The best crop for meadow 

 land is trefoil,-^ and the next best is grass ;^^ nummulns-* is 

 the very worst of all, as it bears a pod which is particularly 

 injurious; equisaetis,^^ too, which derives its name from its 

 resemblance to horse-hair, is of a noxious character. The pro- 

 per time for mowing grass is when the ear begins to shed its 

 blossom and to grow strong : care must be taken to cut it 

 before it becomes dry and parched. "Don't mow j^our hay 

 too late," says Cato r^ ''but cut it before the seed is ripe." 

 Some persons turn the water upon it the day before mowing, 

 where it is practicable to do so. It is the best plan to cut hay 

 in the night while the dews are falling.^^ In some parts of 

 Italy the mowing is not done till after harvest. 



This operation, too, was a very expensive one in ancient 

 times. In those days the only whetstones"^ known were 

 those of Crete and other places beyond sea, and thej^ only used 

 oil to sharpen the scythe with. For this purpose the mower 

 moved along, with a horn, to hold the oil, fastened to his 

 thigh. Italy has since furnished us with whetstones which are 

 used with water, and give an edge to the iron quite equal to 

 that imparted by the file ; these water- whetstones, however, 

 turn green very quickly. Of the scythe^^ there are two va- 



^- The varieties now known as Trifolium pratense, Trifolium rubens 

 and Trifolium repens. 



23 '^ Gramen." Under this head, as Fee says, he probably includes the 

 gramineous plants, known as Alopecurus, Phleura, Poa, Festuca, &c. 



2* Probably the Lysimachia nuramularia of Linnaeus, which has a ten- 

 dency to corrode the lips of the sheep that pasture on it. 



2^ Known to us as "horse-tail;" varieties of whi^h are the EquiseLum 

 fluviatile and the Equisetura palustre of Linnseus. 



26 De Re Bust. c. 53. 27 gee Virgil's Georg. i. 289. 



2^ As to whetstones, for further information, see B. xxvi. c. 47. 



29 The word " falx," "sickle" or "scythe," is \ised here as denoting 

 an implement for mowing, and not reaping. 



