ON MEASURE-WORK. 251 



20 to 30 quarters of wheat (reaped), from 15 to 25 of mown 

 wheat, and about the same quantity of barley as of mown 

 wheat in a day. The annoyance of shifting- the macliine, 

 with the loss of time to the horses and men, renders the 

 practice of hiring" by the day both inconvenient and expen- 

 sive. However, as many large formers are beginning- to 

 have horse-power machines, it is to be hoped that we shall 

 soon see the good exam])le of tin-ashing by steam-power 

 which has been set by the northern farmers, followed by 

 their brethren of the east. 



1. Thi-aslung irhcat by the flail is much practised by 

 the farmers who supply the London market with straw, the 

 g-enerality of machines being found to break the straw. In 

 Suflblk tiie price for thrashing- and dressing- reajied wheat 

 costs from 2.s'. M. to 3.s'. a quarter — should the wheat yield 

 well, a man will thrash out a quarter in a day. With the 

 common land-dressing- machines, 15 quarters may be twice 

 winnowed and put into sacks by two men in a day. 



2. Thrashhuj harhnj. — With us a much larger proportion 

 of barley is thrashed by hand than of wheat, for it is often 

 done as cheap by hand as it is by our present system of 

 hiring- machines. Allowing- one of these to thrash 20 quar- 

 ters of barley in a day of 10 hours, the following- will be a 

 rough calculation of the cost : — 



s. d. 



Hire of machine 12 



Board of man 1 



Six horses 15 



Six men at 20^ 10 



Four boys aXM 2 8 



Dressing 20 quarters at 'Id 3 4 



Total 44 



The average expense of thrashing" and dressing- 40 quarters 

 of barley of the same description is 40.S., or 4,?. cheaper than 

 the machine, which will nevertheless have the advantage of 

 despatch. The rate })er quai'ter fur thrashing- and dressing- 

 varies from 1.'^. Qd. to 2x. a quarter. I have known two men 

 to thrash and dress on an average 15 quarters a week ; at 

 20<^/. a quarter they earned 25.s-. weekly. When barley is 

 harvested in large barns, 2^/. or 3^/. a quarter is given extra 

 for that laid in the middlestead or thrashing-floor. 



Oats are thrashed from l.w to l.s-. 4^/. a quarter; beans and 

 peas from Is. to Is. Gd. The quantity thrashed varies from 

 1^ to 2 quarters per day. 



