HARVESTING THE CROP 89 



Thrashing. There are at least three distinct ways 

 of thrashing beans. All of these are more or less 

 practiced. While there are many mechanical de- 

 vices and schemes for the operation, the work will 

 readily come within the scope of thrashing by hand, 

 by live stock, or by special machinery. The old way 

 was to pound out with a flail. Relics of this method 

 are to be found to-day in many barns throughout the 

 country. There are, too, farmers raising a number 

 of bushels annually who still use a flail in thrashing 

 their crop, claiming that the saving in uncracked 

 beans more than makes up for the extra time con- 

 sumed. They also argue that the work is done 

 any time through the winter when there is little else 

 a farmer can do. The operation is a simple one. I 

 thumped my head more than once when a boy, try- 

 ing to get the right swing. Somehow the staff and 

 the swipel would get tangled up when they were 

 raised above my head. One soon learns the knack, 

 however, and a whole volume on telling how to get 

 this proper swing would not be worth as much as 15 

 minutes actual experience. When thrashing with 

 a flail, a thick layer of beans is usually put on the 

 barn floor. After being flailed thoroughly, the beans 

 are turned over. One turning is usually sufficient. 

 This can be determined by examining pods which 

 are forked off the floor and another layer put on, 

 and the operation repeated. Finally, the beans are 

 run through a fanning mill and the job is com- 

 pleted. On a small scale, blankets or canvas may be 

 used instead of the barn floor. 



Another method of thrashing which at least has 

 the advantage of requiring less manual labor is to 

 use live stock, like horses, to tramp out the beans. 

 The layers of beans are made the same as though 



