Seeding, Breaking, and Haying 



such means is not pleasant to the thoughtful 

 mind ; but the weather was delightful, and it was 

 joy to let the eye wander over the expanse of 

 prairie scrub and bluff, now growing green, and 

 broken here and there by the patches of grain 

 in darker shade than the prevailing colour. 



June brought those pests the mosquitoes again, 

 and as there had been little or no rain since the 

 disappearance of winter with its last snowfall, 

 the crops that had been growing so rapidly began 

 to look rather wilted. Folks were not quite 

 so hopeful as they had been, and the few pes- 

 simists amongst our neighbours began to make 

 themselves heard. 



In the first week of July, however, came some 

 splendid showers, and though there was some 

 thunder, our district was spared the dreaded 

 hail, so the barometer of our hopes began to rise 

 again. We arranged for haying with our friends 

 on No. 9, much as in the previous season, but 

 this year they used what is called a " sweep " 

 to lighten the labour. 



As the " sweep," like other implements and 

 methods from the West, is finding a place in 

 British agriculture, illustrating, by the way, how 

 small the world is growing, it may interest some 

 readers if I try to describe it. 



Our neighbour Pierre, having had experience 



taSi 



