It is to be hoped, that with the assistance of the facts 

 and observations above detailed, no farmer will find any 

 dniiculty in arranging his crops, so as to produce profit 

 to himself, without injuring the fertility of his farm, or 

 diminishing that great source of national prosperity and 

 subsistence. 



9. HARVESTING GRAIN. 



This is a point on which it is not proposed to dwell at 

 any considerable length, but merely to detail any pecu- 

 liarities in the Husbandry of Scotland, in regard, i. To 

 cutting down ; 1. To carrying in ; or, 3. To stacking the 

 crop. 



i. In Scotland, the crop is almost universally cut down 

 by the sickle or hook, the scythe being very rarely used ; 

 and notwithstanding the liberal premiums offered by a 

 respectable and public -spirited Institution, the Dalkeith 

 Farming Society, no reaping machine has yet been in- 

 vented, likely to answer the object in view. Indeed it is 

 almost necessary to cut down with the sickle, where 

 threshing-mills are in use, for the grain must either be 

 regularly bound, where that operation is performed, or it 

 must pass twice through the mill. 



In many of the more fertile districts, bands from the 

 Highlands, both male and female, flock down to reap the 

 crops, receiving a certain sum per day, and their victuals, 

 for the work they perform. In the Carse of Gowrie, the 

 harvest was formerly performed by men and women 

 hired expressly for that purpose ; the men at a guinea, 

 and the women 153. for the harvest ; during which time 



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