WIN 



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315 



rally, a set of fanners attached to 

 tbem. From the inequality of mo- 

 tion, however, attendant on those 

 machines, it is thought best in 

 general to have them separate. A 

 simple winnowing machine, in- 

 vented by John James, 3d. is men- 

 tioned as belonging to the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural Society, and 

 deposited in their hall at Brighton. 



WINTER, one of the four quar- 

 ters of the year. 



According to some, winter be- 

 gins at the time when the sun's dis- 

 tance from the zenith of the place 

 is greatest, and ends at the vernal 

 equinox. But it is more usually 

 considered as including December, 

 January, and February. Notwith- 

 standing the cold of winter, it is 

 proved by astronomers, that the 

 sun is nearer to the earth in win- 

 ter than in summer. The reason 

 of the cold is the increased obli- 

 quity of the rays of the sun, toge- 

 ther with the increased length of 

 the nights. 



Winter is the season when the 

 days are shortest : But the short- 

 ness of the days is little regretted 

 by our farmers, as they have then 

 the most leisure, or are least hur- 

 ried in their business. For, in this 

 country, the ground is so continu- 

 ally frozen in winter, that none of 

 the operations of tillage can be 

 performed. The good husband- 

 man, however, is not idle ; his 

 year's stock of wood is to be 

 procured, and his stock must 

 be daily and carefully tended : 

 Stones which have been piled may 

 in the easiest manner be removed 

 on sleds to the places where they 

 are wanted, for fencing or other 



uses. Such of the produce of his 

 farm as he can spare may be car- 

 ried to market ; which may be more 

 easily done than at any other sea- 

 son. See the article Employment, 



WINTER GRAIN, see the arti- 

 cles Wheat and Rye. 



WITHE, a twig or shoot of tough 

 wood, used instead of a rope, to 

 tie things together, &c. 



Young shoots of walnut wood 

 are proper for withes ; those of 

 birch, and of some kinds of willow, 

 answer well enough. Withes in 

 fences will last only two years at 

 the longest ; and some of them are 

 apt to fail sooner. Those which 

 are cut in autumn, after the leaves 

 are fallen, will last considerably 

 longer than those which are cut in 

 the spring or summer. If they lie 

 for a day or two exposed to the 

 sun, after they are cut, they grow 

 tougher, and are more easily twist- 

 ed. Steeping them in salt water 

 will render them more durable. 



WOAD, called by botanists Isa- 

 lis saliva, vel latifolia. The leaves 

 of this plant are cut off in their full 

 sap, sweated in heaps, and ground 

 to a paste, made up into balls and 

 dried, to be used in dying blue. 



The following description of 

 woad, and the manner of cultivat- 

 ing it, are from Miller's Gardener's 

 Dictionary. 



The common woad, {Isatis Tine- 

 toria,) is a biennial plant, with a 

 fusiform, fibrous root. Stem up- 

 right, round, smooth, woody at 

 bottom, branched at top. Root- 

 leaves ovate lanceolate, on long 

 foot-stalks, down which they run a 

 little. Stem-leaves alternate, quite 

 entire, embracing, smooth, from 



