THE WHEAT CULTUKIST. 385 



thing to recommend its adoption over the Yankee mode, 

 as a much larger number of sheaves can be mowed in a 

 given space, and they can also be mowed more conve- 

 niently ; and when the sheaves are removed from the 

 mow they can be taken up more readily than when they 

 are mowed in the style just alluded to. 



Another consideration of no little importance is to 

 work always, except the bottom course, from the back 

 side of the mow to the front. In practice this will be 

 seen to be more convenient than to work from the front 

 to the back side of the mow. 



It may seem trivial to expatiate on such minor topics. 

 But laborers who are always seeking the easiest and 

 most expeditious way to perform every laborious opera- 

 tion, appreciate such little details in giving directions 

 for saving labor. When a mow is first commenced, 

 however, the first course should be laid on the front side 

 of the mow, instead of the back side. The object is to 

 save all the loose grain. If the mower begins his work 

 on th'e further side of the barn, or bay, all the loose grain 

 that falls from the sheaves, both when mowing the bun- 

 dles and when pitching them off the mow, will fall to 

 the floor. But if sheaves be mowed as directed, and be 

 taken up, when they are pitched off, without turning 

 them over, the loose grain will all be carried along with 

 the sheaves, instead of being left, perhaps, where it can- 

 not easily be collected. Every observing farmer will 

 perceive all the advantages which have been stated, and 

 some others also, by working from the back side of the 

 mow to the front side, after the bottom has been cov- 

 ered with one course of sheaves. 



One suggestion further, which few persons ever think 

 of, is this : The mow, for example, is forty feet long. 



17 



