44 



THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 



in trimming corners of lawns. The laborer usually 

 grasps a handful of the wheat in his left hand and 

 cuts it with the sickle held in his right. The cut 

 wheat is then laid in well arranged bunches to be 

 bound later, usually by women or children. This 

 method is slow and difficult and is now employed 



Courtesy International Harvester Co. 

 FIG. 23. Harvesting wheat with a sickle. 



only in very remote places. The cradle, an imple- 

 ment somewhat less primitive, is used in cutting 

 the wheat of larger fields in the same regions 

 where the sickle is in use, and also in some of the 

 more hilly sections of our own country. It re- 

 sembles a scythe but has arms above the cutting 



