The Hardest Labour 157 



tends to the utmost confines of the parish and beyond, 

 mounts the rick ; a robust young woman is appointed 

 to hand him up the sheaves. Age only adds to the 

 builder's reputation and experience ; but the tosser 

 must have youth and strength and endurance. Of 

 those who read this probably not one in twenty has 

 ever forked a stook in his life, or knows how much 

 strength it takes to toss a heavy sheaf of corn up to 

 the top of a long cart three parts loaded ; in which 

 case not one in twenty knows what is the hardest 

 work in the world. An hour of it is enough to break 

 down the stoutest amateur ; yet it is often done at 

 railroad speed. The man with the fork is proud of 

 his place ; and when the farmer, anxious to get his 

 carrying done as speedily as may be, comes in the 

 morning and says, ' Now, my lad, there'll be an extra 

 drink o' beer if the Forty-acre's in to-night,' he smiles 

 a grim smile, flings off his coat and vest, sticks his 

 little cap on the back of his head, and forks the sheaves 

 into the cart at such a rate that he overwhelms the 

 driver, drowns him, so to speak, in corn and straw, 

 and blinds the on-looker to the strain on wrist and 

 shoulder. There is knack in forking, but it is hard 

 work at the best. A great deal of energy must be 

 expended in lifting and throwing the sheaves. Stone- 

 breaking is another matter. Done by a lone old man 

 by the wayside, it seems a most wearisome, monoton- 

 ous, and tiring drudgery : in reality, it is a calling 

 wherein an apparently feeble and exhausted oldster 



