1S4 



FARMERS' REGISTER— REAPING WITH THE SCYTHE. 



formance of its work, will always present an ob- 

 struction to the perlection of its construction; 

 though many greater mechanical difficulties have 

 ah-eady been surmounted by our ingenious artisans. 

 An insurmountable difficulty will sometimes be 

 found to the use of reaping-machines in the 

 state of the growing coi'ns. A portion of it may 

 be standing erect, or only a little swa3'ed, while 

 others may be twisted and laid flat in every possi- 

 ble direction. High winds and heavy rains may 

 ravel and beat down a whole crop in a single day. 

 With the corn in that state it will be impossible 

 to derive much assistance from the I'eapmg-ma- 

 chine; Fortunately a laid crop is not of very fre- 

 quent occurrence, tiiou^gh, to a partial extent, por- 

 tions of laid corn will be found on every farm in 

 every season. To reap three-fourths, or even 

 ons-'half, of the crop with efficient reaping-ma- 

 chines will insure a considerable saving, though 

 the laid portions may have to be reaped with the 

 sickle. 



Until tire appearance of an efficient reaping- 

 machine, much saving of money may be effected 

 in reaping by the substitution of the scythe for the 

 sickle. The scythe has long been in use in agri- 

 culture, and powerful as the implement is in the 

 hands of the laborer, in comparison with the sickle, 

 it is surprising it has not been more used at har- 

 vest-work in this coiuitry. It is used in France 

 and Switzerland, in many parts of England, and 

 in Aberdeenshire. The IlainauU, scythe takes xip 

 an intermediate position between the scythe and 

 the sickle. The scytiie can only be wielded by 

 Btout men, and whatever work is perflarmed by it 

 requires the assistance of laborers besides the 

 mower. These circumstances have no doubt had 

 the effect of restricting the use of the scythe. On 

 the other hand, every boy and girl, as well as 

 grown up person, can assist at harvest- work with 

 the sickle. # * # * * 



The land must be prepared by rolling for tlie 

 use of the scythe. Clods and stones soon blunt 

 and break the edge of the scythe: the roller should 

 be heavy. All stones which are not compressed 

 into the soil by the weight of the roller should be 

 removed, and this is easily accom])lished by 

 mounting a box on the frame work, into which 

 the man who drives the horses can throw the 

 Etones if they are few in number, or should tliey 

 be numerous, another person can follow the 

 roller and lift thetn up. The stones can be dis- 

 posed of at the ends of the field. The best time 

 to carry off these lavjre stones is when the field is 

 preparmg for tlae crop \,liich is to be rolled. Roll- 

 ing the wliole crop impose., it ig true, additional 

 labor m spring; but it is absoluwiy ^gggggm-y^^rhen 

 the scythe is to be employed in rec^i,^o>, "Wheat 

 is generally rolled at any rate after the'^ass-sceds 

 are sown in it in spring, and most pe^iv^jg pj.g_ 

 fer rolling the barley after it is sown, in orcWi- to 

 make as smooth a surface as possible for the braird 

 of that kind of grain, so that the additior^al labor 

 only consists in rolling the oats. It is alwav,-g ad- 

 vantageous to roll oats early in a dry season to 

 prevent the ground becoming too dry, for of -41 

 the cuhnileious crops the oat is most affected by 

 drought. 



Tlie scythe employed in reaping corn requires 

 more nicety in the construction of its several parts 

 than one for common purposes. The blade should 

 be of patent steel, strengthened by aj)late of iron 



along the back, and its temper should not be too 

 hard, which can be determined by examining 

 closely the edge of the blade, and observing that 

 it is smooth and not serrated. A good mewer al- 

 ways prefers a long blade, more than four feet in 

 length. The shank or sned should always be 

 straight and not curved. • The curved may seem 

 m.ore convenient in form to the hand, but as the 

 line c." draught must always be straight, the 

 straight «ned always gives the greatest command 

 over the scythe. A Avell.dried young larch tree, 

 barked and "reduced by the plane to the desired 

 thickness, with a" natural slight curve outwards at 

 the root end of the tree for receiving the blade in 

 a proper position, makes the best sned for reaping. 

 When painted, such an one will last lor many 

 years. A hone of fine sand to preserve a fine 

 edge, and a fine sandstone to whet the edge of the 

 scythe occasionally, are necessary ajipertenances. 

 To gather the corn and lay it down in a regular 

 swath when cut, a simple apparatus called a rake 

 or cradle is attached to the scythe. This rake, as 

 its name implies, consists of three long teeth, di- 

 minishing in length from the uppermost to the un- 

 dermost,^ fastened to an upright stem, and 

 strengthened by two rods passing through them 

 parallel to the stem. It should he wholly made 

 of the finest ash, and as light and slim as the 

 strength of the wood permits. The upper tooth 

 should be two feet or a little more in length, and 

 that of the other two, each three inches shorter 

 than tlie one above it; and all of them curved simi- 

 larly to the back of the blade of the scj'the. The 

 stem of the rake is driven into a socket of iron, 

 but not fastened to it with a nail; the socket has a 

 wedge-shaped toe kneed at right angles to it, in 

 the direction of the teeth of the rake. It is fasten- 

 ed to the sned so as to stand in a perpendicular po- 

 sition when the scythe is to be used, Avith the 

 same iron ring and wedges which fasten the blade 

 and sned together. The rake stands with the 

 socket about" thirteen inches in height, and the 

 spaces between the teeth and the undermost 

 tooth and the blade of the scythe, are about four 

 inches. The adjustment of the scythe consists in 

 placing the blade in such a position as that its 

 point shall be as far from the handle by which the 

 mower supports the scythe in his right hand, as 

 the length of the blade itself, and as this han- 

 dle is from the butt end of the blade. In short, 

 the butt end, and the point of the blade, and the 

 right-hand handle, stand in the angles of an 

 equalateral triangle, the edge of the blade for 

 reaping, should not be so low set as that of the 

 scythe which gardeners use lor cutting grass 

 walks, nor so high as for the cutting of clover. 

 The left-hand handle is placed the distance of the 

 elbow to the exti-emity of the middle finger of the 

 man who is to use the scj^the from the right-hand 

 one. The right-hand handle should be curved 

 and placed on the sned, so as the scythe should be 

 suspended in a working position: both are fastened 

 in the tightest manner to the rings which slide on 

 the sned, by the shank of the rings passing en- 

 tirely through their length and rivetted. The 

 hone is hooked on with two nails at the upper ex- 

 t's<"-mity of the sned; the sned is about seven feet 

 m Vvigth, and is shod at the upper extremity witlj 

 a socVt and pike; the pike when inserted into the 

 ground &%rving to render the scythe steady in the 

 act of whfcuing. A strong cord is requisite from 



