FARMERS' REGISTER— HARVEST LABORS IN BRITAIN. 



135 



the outward rod which strengthens the teeth of 

 the rake to a nail- in the sned, a little below the 

 rij^ht-hand handle, to serve the double purpose cf 

 keeping the rake in the desired position, and- of 

 laying the corn over in swath. Thus equipped, 

 the reaping scythe-should balance itselt" exactly on 

 both sides of the right-hand handle. ... 



' The relation of these minutiie will not, we hope, 

 be considered tedious," tiir. upon the proper adjust- 

 ment of the component parts of a scythe depends 

 in a great measure the success of reaping the 

 corn neatly and quickl3% Reaphig with the scythe , 

 is hard v/ork under any circumstances,, but atten- 

 tion to minutKB relieves if of irksomeness. * * 



The best position of the corn for^, reaping with 

 the scythe, is the upright, or a little swayed, either 

 naturally, orby the wind from the mower. The 

 best direction to reap in respect to the ridges, is 

 across. The gromid is then always straight for 

 the stroke of the scythe-, and the furrows of the 

 ridges are easily cleared. In commencing to reap 

 a field of corn, a little consideration is requisite. 

 The general position of the corn over the whole 

 field must first be considered, then the quarter 

 from which the wind blows, and, lastly the direc- 

 tion of the ridges. If all are favorable, the work 

 will proceed clieerfuUy, if not, a compromise must 

 be made, with the opponent. The wind must be 

 always in the back or on the right-hand of the 

 mower. A strong wind will sometimes overrule 

 the natural position of the corn. A diagonal di- 

 rection across the ridges should always be prefer- 

 red to one along them. At whichever side of the 

 field operations are to commence, that side must 

 be entirely opened up by cutting down a breadth 

 of corn in the line of the ridges, equal to the v.diole 

 band of mowers. This cleared road-way gives 

 access either across or hi a diagonal direction over 

 the ridges.. 



To carry on the reaping in a regular manner, it 

 is necessary to classify the mowers into bands of 

 two each, according to their ability, that each 

 band may be equally dexterous. Twx) mexpe- 

 rienced or weak-bodied mowers ought not to be 

 together, as they will assuredly cause a hinderance 

 to the work, at one time or another. Let a steady 

 jgood mower take the lead of the first band, and 

 let each band keep its leader and people and place 

 of precedence ever aller, otliervvise confusion of 

 work and wrangling among the mowers will inev- 

 itably ensue. 



Every band may be arranged in this manner: 

 two. scythe-men to reap; a person, generally a wo- 

 man, to follow each scythe, to make bands and 

 take up the corn, and place it in the bands in bun- 

 <lles rea.dy to be bound up; a bandster, always a 

 man, follows the women, and binds the sheaves; 

 the two bandsters set up the corn together into 

 stooks; a woman follows the whole with a large 

 rake, and clears the ground of any lose corn, and 

 brings the rakings to the bandsters, to be bound 

 up in the sheaves or by themselves. 



Some peo]ile place three mowers in a band, and 

 in this case there will, of course, be three takers-up 

 and three bandsters, and a man to rake to the 

 three instead of a woman to rake to the two 

 scythes. There is, we believe, a saving of wages 

 by this arrangement, as the wages of women are 

 nearly as high as those of men at harvest-work. 

 But by the former an-angement, we are sure 

 there will be less loss of work and time, in case 



any accident befal the scythe, and accidents will 

 occasionally happen to scythes in- the hands of 

 the most expert mower.* "On small liirms where 

 three mowers arc able to reap the whole crop, 

 the latter arrangement may be beneficially adojit- 

 ed. 



Suppose, then, that two mowers and their peo- 

 ple Ibrm a band, and snppose there are three 

 bands engaged at harvest, they should arrange 

 themselves by these circumstances. Sixty yarda 

 is as much space of corn as a scythe can cut easily 

 at one sharpening, and tliat distance is about as 

 far as most men can cut at a breath. Twelve 

 ridges ol" five yards each, or ten ridges of six 

 yards, will thus mark the. breadth to "be -cut at 

 once. Let the loremost or leading band start first 

 to the cutting of tire sixty yards, whilst the other 

 are preparing to follow; let them then sharpen 

 their sc5'the.s, and proceed lijrward other sixty, 

 yards; and- while they are doing so, let the middle 

 band commence, and they will cut their sixty 

 yards in the same time in which the foremost band 

 will have cut their second sixty yards: let both 

 bands then sharpen their scythes at the .same time. 

 When both are ready to start again, let them con- 

 tinue to . cut onwards, each its sixty yards, while 

 the last band commences cutting its first sixty 

 yards, .which, when accomplished, all the bands 

 will be m their respective places, which they must 

 continue to occupy till the breadth of ground 

 which they occupy shall have been reaped of its 

 corn along the whole field, provided there is no ex- 

 traordinary interruption fi'om the peculiar state of 

 the corn. In this manner, the band which occu- 

 pies the advanced position Itills back, and takes up 

 the space v/hich has just been abandoned by 

 the band immediately behind it. No interference 

 can thus take place among the different bands, 

 while the one serves as a check upon the other, 

 both in the marking of the time, and the quantity 

 of corn rearmed by each. A band losing time in 

 cutting out its SLKty yards, will cause delay by pre- 

 venting tlie band in Iront of it entering its proper 

 ground. A band losing ground, by lessening the 

 width of the stroke of the scythe, will deprive the 

 one before it ofits legitimate width of stroke. Should 

 laid corn or a stronger part of the crop interjere with 

 one band more than -another, it is requisite that 

 the band beibre or behind it, should advance or 

 fallback the breadth of one ridge or more if neces- 

 sary, in order to equalise the time among them. 



To ensure good work in re aping with the scythe, 

 it is requisite to preserve a keen edge on the blade, 

 and always keep the heel of the scjihe close to 

 the ground. The keen edge is best preserved by 

 a broad "cannel" or chamfer, on the upper edge 

 of the blade, aud narrow one below, and which 

 should be sharpened by always moving the hone 

 or whetstone Irom the heel to the point, becau^se 

 the cut upon the straw is made by moving the 

 scythe from the point to the heel. Many able 

 mowers cannot preserve a keen edge on their 

 scythes, because they are not aware of the necessi- 



* In case of accidents, a hammer, a few stout nails, 

 a spare iron wedge or two, bits of cord, and pieces of 

 old hard shoe-sole leather, sliould always be ready in the 

 field; and even a roiigli file, to rub down the point of a 

 scythe, should it break against a neglected stone, till it 

 can be properly adjusted on a grindstone, may prevent 

 a considerable loss of labor. 



