THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 85 



atraw ail turned, excepting at the joints ? and is your 

 kernel become so hard, that you cannot mash it be- 

 tween your thumb and finger ? or is the straw below 

 the ear becom* so dry, that no juice can be forced 

 out by twisting it ? you may put in the sickle, if the 

 weather is fine, and cut, and bind, and shock as you 

 go, generally ; but if your stalk is very stout", and 

 your ear full and heavy, let your gavils lie until the 

 after part of the day, (thundcrgusts excepted ;) you 

 may then bind and shock, stack, or cart, with- safety, 

 provided you house your grain where it can have 

 free air, or your mows do not become too large ; in 

 this case, your grain will need more curing. The 

 advantages of beginning early upon your harvest, 

 are several. 



1. Your grain will yield more and whiter flour; 

 will waste less by shelling ; your harvesting will be 

 expedited, so as to prevent the waste of shelling, 

 by having your last cuttings become too ripe, as is 

 common when the first cuttings become fully ripe, at 

 the commencement of harvest. You will have more 

 time to attend to your turnip crops, upon your stub- 

 ble lands, before the wheat .harvest, or after the 

 wheat harvest. You will also be in readiness for 

 your wheat harvest, which you may cut and manage, 

 as in your rye harvest. If you take the same precau- 

 tions against heat in your grain, as in your clover, by 

 having your mows ventilated underneath, with proper 

 openings up through the mow, for the circulation of 

 air, the trouble will be trifling, compared with the safe- 

 ty and benefit. When your harvest is housed, you 

 have secured the prime object of your farm; bread 

 this is truly the staff of life; the basis of good husband- 

 ry, and good living. 



If you discover a rust upon the straw of your rye, or 

 wheat, as is cominom upon lands highly manured with 

 rich compost, or yard clung, you may conclude vegeta- 

 tion is checked, -and that your grain, either begins, or 

 will soon begin, to shrink. 



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