188 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XIV. 



in bad years it is often found difficult to save it ; for, in consequence of 

 lateness and inequality in the time of sowing, it is very subject, when grown 

 on cold lands, to be caught in dripping weather. Let the state of the 

 weather be what it may, yet, owing to the brittleness of the straw, the corn 

 must however be cut down after it has reached a certain period ; as, when 

 suffered to stand longer, much loss is sustained by the breaking of the 

 heads. It is, therefore, reaped before the grain is sufficiently hardened to 

 be put in stack without long exposure in the fields ; and if put up sooner it 

 is apt to heat. Thus it often happens that it is much discoloured ai)d injured 

 before the clover, which is usually mixed with it, can be carried without 

 danger; and as its mahing quahties are in a great measure estimated by 

 the brightness of the sample, it is of the utmost importance to secure it as 

 early as the season will admit. 



The operation of cutting down the corn is performed, as we have already 

 stated, in various ways, and although some of these are considered as im- 

 provements upon the old method, they should yet be cautiously adopted : 

 indeed never, unless the farmer be himself perfectly master of the new mode, 

 and has at least some good hands who understand it ; for it changes much 

 of the usual course of work, and every innovation is more or less destructive 

 of that good humour which it is necessary to encourage among the la- 

 bourers if it is to be well performed. To carry it on in a regular manner, 

 they should be divided into separate gangs, arranged according to their 

 ability, so that each band may possess, as nearly as possible, equal powers ; 

 for, if this be not attended to, it will be found that the weak, or inexperienced, 

 will hinder the work of the expert and able-bodied. As the extra people 

 employed frequently come from a distance, it may, indeed, be at first not 

 easy to class them, but one day's observation of the manner in which they 

 perform the work will enable the overseer to place them accurately. 



The reapers are usually placed in bands of six each, many of them being 

 women, headed by the most experienced man among them ; and these are 

 followed by a man — as a bandster — to tie up the sheaves, and place tliem 

 upright, in stocks of twelve each, upon the middle of each alternate ridge. 

 The inij)lement commonly used by the reapers is a light tool with a short 

 handle, and a semicircular blade, called a " sickle." In ancient times, the 

 blade was always serrated in the manner of a saw ; but it has been lately 

 made with a stronger and broader blade, with a smooth edge divested of 

 teeth, and is termed a " cutting-hook," in which form it is said to cut the 

 grain more neatly, and closer to the ground ; but the sharpening of the 

 instrument occasions much loss of time, and, in the hands of inexperienced 

 persons, is often imperfectly done. In using either tool, the reaper takes 

 a handful of the corn in his left hand, and cuts through the straw with the 

 instrument in his right ; then places it upon a straw-band laid upon the 

 ground, and, when enough is thus laid together to form the sheaf, it is bound 

 up by the bandster. This is a much more expeditious and a neater method 

 than that used in some places — of allowing each reaper to bind liis own 

 sheaf; for the sheaves are thus made up with greater accuracy, and time 

 is not wasted in twisting straw-bands ; an operation which ought always 

 to be performed at previous leisure, and should never be allowed to inter- 

 fere with harvest work. 



On the subject oi forming the sheaves, some judicious observations have 



