THE FAERY YEAR 



scythe in the day of hot sun. Plenty of villagers 

 are at work in the harvest fields to-day who, in their 

 time, have used both sickle and scythe. Even with 

 the sickle they could cut between one and two acres 

 a day. A mighty mower would cut with his scythe 

 two acres of oats between dawn and sundown, and 

 be ready for two more to-morrow. 



Wheat was another thing. A glance at a heavy 

 crop gives an idea of its resistance to the scythe ; 

 but even of wheat, whole fields went down in the 

 day before three or four good men. Now a great 

 part of this immense endurance and thoroughness 

 has either been dissipated or turned into other fields 

 of action. Whether, in the long run, the change 

 prove good for the manhood of the country, who 

 can tell for sure ? But the saving in time and 

 strength is clear a field of corn which four strong 

 mowers would hardly cut in two days will go down 

 in one day before the machine and four horses, 

 with a driver. So to-day we have the fleetness of 

 machinery for cutting, binding, and raising aloft the 

 corn, joined with the steady endurance of the toilers 

 for loading the wain and building the stack. It 

 certainly seems an ideal union of qualities for physical 

 toil. 



The Memory of a Butterfly 



A picturesque sight, for one resting on the broad 

 belt of turf and thyme by the lonely branch road, 



202 



