HAY. 



REAPING. 



(156 



plain which would have been seen by the enemy from hii counter- 

 batteries on the glacis of the bastion. It appear* that Cormontaingne 

 wished to give the ravelins a greater length of {ace than that which 

 ha* been mentioned, and that be was prevented fr<>m doing ao through 

 the opposition of his contriupornrieii. For the advantage* to be derived 

 from very aalient ravelins, see FORTIFICATION. 



Tin' only change which has since been made in the position of the 

 ravelin ia that which was proposed by Oouamard (1803), and followed 

 in the works executed by order of Napoleon about Alessandria (1807) 

 by Chasseloup de Laubat It consists in placing the work beyond the 

 glacis of the enceinte, at the foot of which glacis its ditches tennin.it.' ; 

 the covered-way and glacis before the bastions being continued unin- 

 terruptedly along the exterior of the main ditch. It thus becomes 

 impossible to breach the enciento by artillery placed anywhere on the 

 glacis of the ravelin ; and, when the direction of each face is broken, as 

 that engineer recommended, the probability of the rampart being 

 enfiladed is much diminished. It might perhaps be objected that the 

 ravelin so detached is liable to be attacked at the gorge ; but if the 

 coverod-w.iy of the ravelin be made to join that of the collateral 

 bastions, aud if its flanks or those of the redout, are disposed so as 

 to allow a fire of musketry to be kept up in the direction l.y which 

 the enemy must approach the gorge, this danger may be obviated. 



Tin- relief of the ravelin, or its elevation above the level of the 

 ground, should be two or three feet less than that of the enceinte, in 

 order that the defenders of the curtain may be able to direct a 

 plunging fire into the work when it ia occupied by the enemy. But 

 if in the interior of the ravelin there should be a redout, this last 

 ought, for the same reason, to have less relief by two or three feet 

 than tin 1 curtain ; and then, in order to afford a plunging fire from the 

 redout into tho ravelin, the latter should be two or three feet lower 

 than the former. It ought however to have a command of six or 

 seven feet over the glacis in its front, that the fire of its artillery may 

 not annoy the defenders on the banquette of its covered- way. There- 

 fore, if the command of the enceinte over the ground is 18 feet, and 

 that of the glacis is 7 feet, the differences between the heights of the 

 enceinte and redout, and of the redout and ravelin, may be 2 feet 

 successively. 

 HAY. [LIGHT.] 



HE, in Music, the name given by the Itali.ins ami French to the second 

 note of the diatonic scale, and generally throughout Europe to the 

 second of the syllables used in SOLMIZATIUN. 

 ItF.AI. ESTATE. [PROPERTY.] 



REALGAR. [ARSENIC, Compounds of tulfhur and arsenic.] 

 UEALISTS. [NOMINALISTS.] 



REAPING (or cutting corn when it is ripe) is one of the most 

 important operations of harvest. It requires many hands to' accom- 

 plish it in proper time, so that the corn which is ready for the sickle 

 may not be too ripe and shed, nor the fair weather be allowed to pass 

 before all the corn is secured in barns or stacks. The labourers who 

 are required all the year for the common purposes of husbandry 

 seldom suffice for the harvest, especially on extensive farms, and re- 

 course is usually had to the assistance of mechanics aud artisans from 

 the neighbouring towns and villages where the population is consider- 

 able, or labourers are induced by good wages to come from a distance. 

 As the harvest is later in those parts of every country which have a 

 more northern situation, or are higher above the level of the sea, bands 

 of reapers from these come to assist in the harvest of those tracts 

 whose produce is earlier. To encourage the annual return of so 

 desirable assistants, every encouragement ia given them, not only by 

 wages, but also by food and drink, and amusements after the toil of the 

 day. Thus the time of harvest is a time of rejoicing both to the 

 labourers and the master. 



The common reaping-hook, or sickle, with which the corn is usually 

 cut, is one of the oldest instruments of husbandry ; aud the goddess 

 Ceres was generally represented by the ancients with a sheaf of corn 

 and sickle in her hand. In reaping with the sickle, a portion of the 

 stems is collected with the left hand, and held fast ; while the sickle in 

 the right hand is inserted below the left, taking the stems in its semi- 

 circular blade, and cutting them through by drawing the sickle so as to 

 act as a saw, for which purpose the edge is finely serrated in a direction 

 from the point to the handle. The heads of the corn, with the upper 

 put of the straw, are then laid on the ground in quantities which may 

 readily be collected into a sheaf. Practice soon gives dexterity to the 

 reaper ; and he finds it more expeditious to cut small quantities in 

 succesion until he has filled his hand, than to attempt to cut through 

 a large handful at once. Severe wounds are often inflicted on the 

 fingers of the left hand by beginners, even to the loss of a finger ; but 

 this loon makes them cautious and expert. The division of labour is 

 introduced with advantage amongst a band of reapers. A certain 

 number cut the corn, while others follow to gather the sheaves; some 

 only preparing the bands, and others tying them and setting up the 

 sheaves into stooks or shocks, which usually consist of ten or twelve 

 sheaves. The smaller the sheaves are, the less injury the corn sustains 

 in a wet harvest ; as the moisture in a thick sheaf does not so readily 

 evaporate. Hence it is the interest of the farmer to see that tho 

 reapers do not make the sheaves too large. In many places there is a 

 regular measure for the circumference of a sheaf, which should never 

 exceed thirty inches. The bands are made by taking two small hand. 



'uls of the out corn, and crossing them just below the ears into a knot. 

 The sheaf is then pressed with the knee, and the band drawn tightly 

 around it. The ends are twisted together like a rope, and inserted 

 under the band, which effectually fastens it This operation is soon 

 learnt, and is done very rapidly. The sheaves should bo so tied that 

 there may be no danger of their falling loose when pitched into tho 

 cart or stacked, without being so tight as to prevent the moisture in 

 the straw from evaporating. They should not be tied too near the 

 ears, but rather nearer to the butt. The sheaves, when tied, are 

 placed two and two on the butt-ends, with the ears leaning against 

 each other : sometimes they are placed in a circle, all the ears being 

 together, and the buts slanting outwards ; a sheaf is then opened, by 

 inserting the hand into the middle of the ears, aud reversed over thr 

 tops of the preceding, forming a cune, and covering all tho oth< 

 while it hangs down around them. In this position they will bear 

 much rain without injury. It is a good practice to place the 

 across the furrows between the stitches or lands, so as to allow the air 

 to circulate more freely around them. In this case four or five sheaves 

 are placed in a row, leaning against as many in a parallel row ; and two 

 sheaves, being opened, are reversed over them to protect the ears. 

 Whatever be the mode adopted in reaping the corn, the same kind of 

 sheaves are formed, and set up iu shocks. 



Wherever the sickle is used for reaping, the straw is cut at a certain 

 height from the ground, and the remainder forms a long stubble, 

 which is usually mown at leisure after harvest, and carried into tho 

 yard for litter ; but iu tho neighbourhood of large towns, where straw 

 is sold at a good price, or exchanged for stable dung, it is important 

 that as much as possible of it should be cut with the corn. This has 

 introduced the practice called fagging, and sometimes bagging, the 

 origin of which provincial expression is not well known. The instru- 

 ment used for this purpose partakes of the nature of a scythe, as well 

 as of a reaping-hook. It is shaped like a sickle, but is much larger and 

 broader ; and instead of being indented like a saw, it has a sharp edge 

 like a scythe, which is renewed when blunt by means of a stone or 

 bat. The faggiug-hook cuts the straw close to the ground by a stroke 

 of the hand ; aud its curved form is only useful in collecting stray 

 stems, and holding a certain quantity of them between it and the left 

 hand of the reaper when he makes up a sheaf. A certain quantity is 

 cut towards the standing corn, the left hand pressing it down at the 

 same time. When as much U thus cut as would make half a small sheaf, 

 the reaper comes backwards, cutting in a direction at right angles to 

 the first, and rolling together the two parts, which he carries in the 

 bend of his hook and places on the band which has been prepared for 

 him. A full-sized sheaf is usually composed of two cuttings. Two 

 men will fully employ a third to make bauds for them, tie up tho 

 sheaves, and set them up. This method of reaping is laborious, on 

 account of the stooping required to cut near the ground. The 1 lain- 

 ault scythe, which has been described in most agricultural works, does 

 the work better, and with less fatigue. It is in fact a fagging-hook, 

 not quite so curved, of which the handle is longer, aud placed at an 

 angle with the plane of the blade. It requires some practice to give 

 the proper swing to it by a peculiar motion of the wrist ; but when 

 this is once acquired, a considerable saving of labour and time ia 

 effected. Many attempts have been made to bring it into use in 

 England ; but, from the obstinacy of the labourers, or the want of 

 perseverance in the masters, without much success. A better instru- 

 ment, however, on extensive farms, is the cradle-scythe, which, in the 

 hands of an expert mower, will do more work and more effectually 

 secure all the straw than any other instrument. 



The objection to the great barn-room required for so much straw is 

 obviated by the practice of stacking the corn in the open air, on pr< ipi T 

 stands to keep it dry aud out of the reach of vermin. The additional 

 trouble in threshing is not so great as that of mowing or raking the 

 etubble, which is generally deferred till half of it is lost by decomposi- 

 tion by the air and moisture. When the saving of time is considered 

 as well as the saving of expense, there seems to be no doubt that on 

 an extensive farm the scythe is far preferable to the sickle for cutting 

 every kind of grain. Barley and oats are usually mown and carried 

 without tying them into sheaves, but this is a slovenly and wasteful 

 practice : by moans of the cradle-scythe they may be mown so regu- 

 larly as to be readily tied into sheaves ; and thu additional expense 

 will be fully compensated by the saving of all the corn which, being 

 on the outside of the stack, is lost by the depredations of small birds. 



Beans are usually reaped by the sickle, the stems being too strong 

 and too wide apart to admit of the scythe. Where it can be done 

 conveniently, without the soil adhering too much to the roots, it is 

 better to pull them up, and tie them in bundles with straw bands, 

 or tar-twine, which will be found both a convenient and economical 

 method. 



Peas are generally reaped by means of two large hooks similar to 

 the fagging-hooks, one of which is held in each hand ; and the stems, 

 which are generally much interwoven, are partly cut and partly torn 

 from the roots, anil so rolled up into a small bundle laid loose in order 

 that it may dry. Tares are reaped in the same way. 



The expense of reaping corn is considerable, especially where the 

 population is scanty. In the eastern counties men are engaged for the 

 whole harvest, which, in favourable weather, is supposed to be com- 

 pleted in a month. During this time they have their usual daily 



