THRESHING. 



167 



the flail, at every stroke of which the grain 

 flies out of the husk. 



It is quite impossible to put the young read- 

 er in possession of this, or other manual arts, 

 in general, by mere words ; nor will the con- 

 tinued sight of the operation give the notion 

 which is to be acquired by practice. The use 

 of the flail, apparently so easy to the mere 

 observer, seems almost impossible to those 



