132 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUEE 



pretty maidens danced along, merrily singing: 



''Harvest home, harvest home, 

 We have plowed, we have sowed, 

 We have reaped, we have mowed. 

 We have brought home every load, 

 Hip, hip, hip, harvest home." 



The Sickle. We have said that many years ago 

 wheat was cut with a reap hook, or sickle, held in 

 one hand (Fig. 69). A large part of the world's 

 crop is still cut in that way among the peasants of 

 Russia, China, and Japan. With a sickle a good 

 worker can cut about an acre a day. 



The Scythe or Cradle. The Romans thought they 

 could cut more if they had a longer blade and used 

 both hands, so they invented the scythe. This 

 allowed the grain to fall over when it was cut and 

 some clever man placed wooden fingers above the 

 scythe to catch the grain and help to lay it straight 

 for binding. This was called the cradle. It is still 

 in use in many places in our country for cutting 

 small patches of oats and wheat (Figs. 71 and 72). 



Animal Power. But the cradle used only hand 

 power, and men needed horse power to save both 

 time and money. The first machine to use animal 

 power was a wheat-header used in France about the 

 time of Christ. It was a two-wheeled cart, pushed 

 by -an ox yoked behind. On the front edge of the 

 cart were sharp fingers, or teeth, like a big comb, to 

 catch the heads of wheat and pull them off and rake 

 them into the cart. This machine later disappeared. 



