1348 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE. supplement. 



vessel, and in ponor.il rather ripen them first at the lower end than at tne upper end. When the upper- 

 most grain of a spike of corn ins ili npped nut. the stalk may be considered as having stood rather too 

 long, ami the reaping point to lie that when the uppermost grain is linn and plump. On the whole, the 



most Improved practii f British farmers is in favour of reaping their crops at an earlier state of 



ripeness than they have hitherto been accustomed. ( (limit. Journ. Agr„ vol. iv. p. 601 . ) 

 8349. -4995. Cutting grain crop* with a common teytht has been generally practised In Aberdeenshire 



since IHIH. The crops grown in this country are chiefly oats and barley. No change whatever is made in 

 the common grass and Clover scythe, for cutting heavy or lodged grain crops ; hut lor light si aiming crops, 

 a very simple addition Is inn ml of advantage. This consists of a small rod or shunt, nearly an inch in dia- 

 meter, Of green willow, or rowan ( mountain ash), or broom, or any other flexible and tough young wood. 

 It has its thick end twisted into the small iron rod. which aids in attaching the blade of the scythe to 

 its handle, named provincial!* the grass-nail. Its small end passes over the upper side of the blade as far 

 as the back, where it is bent upwards in an easy curve, and is brought backward, and tied with several 

 rounds of strong twine to (he handle, about fifteen inches above the blade. In cutting grain with a scythe, 

 the swathe or cut corn is laid away from the standing corn. Hvery mower is attended by a gatherer ; 

 and, as the gathering is the part of the work that women can best perform, the gatherers are generally 

 Women. The grain is left by the scythe, having the stems forming an acute angle with the line of the 

 standing corn, the root end 01 the stems pointing partly backwards and partly inwards towards the un- 

 cut part of the held. The gatherer places herself at the root end of the stems, so as to be able to stoop 

 forward nearly in the line in which they are laid ; and by a succession of lifts with her bands, placing 

 the corn on the rear over that which is more forward, stepping at the same time towards the right hand 

 herself, she gathers into one heap what she deems sufficient for a sheaf, and, having carefully separated 

 it with her right hand from the forward part of the swathe, then makes a band, in the ordinary way, of 

 a part of the gathered heap, and lays the heap upon if A hinder is also attached to every mower, who 

 is able to bind up all the sheaves cut by one scythe, ami also to set them up in shocks ; but there is no 

 novelty in his operations. The gatherer and hinder could generally, after a skilful mower, gather up all 

 the corn sufficiently clean ; but their labour would be greatly impeded, so as that they could not keep up 

 with the scythe, were the cleanest gathering strictly enforced. That is, therefore, dispensed with ; and 

 a raker, generally a woman, follows the other operators, to collect the straggling ears and straws. 

 ( Highland Soc. Trans., vol. x. p. 1S9.) The Rev. James Farquharson, speaking of this mode of reaping, 

 says, — '" In no branch of agricultural labour, not even in the substitution of the two-horse plough for 

 the one drawn by ten oxen, or of the threshing-machine for the flail, has a more valuable advance been 

 made, within our memory, from an old and inferior system to a new and better one, than in the adoption of 

 scythe-reaping. It is calculated that double the work i- dune by the scythe, which could be performed 

 in the same time by the sickle. It is also better performed ; because the straw is cut off more closely to 

 the ground, and consequently a better provision is made for cattle fodder during the winter, and lor a 

 larger quantity of manure. When the grain is over-ripe, much less is shaken out by the scythe than by 

 the sickle. Another advantage, of which the magnitude can scarcely be believed, except by those 

 who have learnt to estimate it by their own experience, is the quickness with which the mowed shock 

 winns fdrys or withers) thoroughly, and becomes fit for the stack ; a matter of the utmost importance 

 in our unsteady climate. The straws are not crushed, as they frequently are with the hand in reaping 

 with the sickle ; and the sheaf, although not more liable to break out of the band, is more elastic and open 

 to the action of the atmosphere. It is perhaps not too much to say, that a sheaf of equal weight, cut with 

 the scythe, becomes ready for the stack, under equal circumstances of weather, in half the time needed 

 by one cut with the sickle. The most pleasing advantage is the total change of the character of the 

 labour, as it affects the larger part of the workpeople. The mowers, gatherers, and rakers deem their 

 work delightful in comparison with the labour of the sickle. 

 S350. The scythe for reaping com (fig. 1179.) should have its blade (a) of the best steel, four feet long, 



strengthened by a plate of iron along the back (A). The handle 

 should be straight, because that gives the greatest command over 

 the scythe. A well-seasoned young larch tree, reduced to the 

 proper thickness, with a slight curve at the root end, for re- 

 ceiving the blade in a proper position, makes the best handle to 

 a reaping-scythe. A hone, covered with fine sand, and a fine 

 sandstone, to whet the edge of the scythe, are hooked on to the 

 handle at c, near its upper extremity. There should be a cradle 

 (d), consisting of three long teeth fastened to an upright stem 

 (c), formed of ash, and as light as the strength of the wood will 

 permit. The upper tooth should be a little more than two feet 

 in length, and the two under ones should be, the lirst three inches, 

 and the second six inches, shorter. The upright stem of the cradle 

 is driven into a socket of iron. The height of the cradle is about 

 thirteen inches ; the left-hand handle (/) is straight, and the 

 right-hand handle (g) is crooked. Tor the construction of this 

 important instrument, further details will he found in the Quart. 

 Jour, of Agr., from which our figure is taken ; but the above 

 outline will suffice for any one who can construct a common 

 scythe. 



8351 . Corn of every description may be reaped with the scythe. 

 Oats make the most perfect work, with the greatest 'ease to all 

 the labourers. Barley, with new grass, is not difficult to cut ; 

 but the clammy juice' from the barley straw lubricates the scythe 

 with a viscid coating like varnish, which must be rubbed off fre- 

 quently with the whetstone. The binders have always hard 

 Jg f ' ' -I — , work among barley. Wheat is beautifully laid in swath when 



J y — g -^zr-3 mown. The takers-tip and binders have less labour among wheat 



Cx f, than the mowers, who must be powerful men to continue a length 



Of time at the work ; but there are modes of equalising the labour, 

 and, of course, of diminishing the fatigue. For example: when a 

 field of wheat and a field of oats are nearly ready for reaping, it is an excellent arrangement to reap the 

 oats in the dewy mornings, before breakfast, or as long as there is any dampness on the corn, and then to 

 go to the wheat, or to the barley, if there be little wheat on the farm, during the dry period of the day. 

 Bv this plan much valuable time can be saved in reaping the whole crop. Oats are not the worse for being 

 reaped in a damp state. It is a remarkable fact, that oats reaped in a damp state, with the scythe, will be 

 nearly as soon ready for the stack as when reaped dry. Not so with barley. Shocks of oats which are 

 reaped dry, but have afterwards been soaked with rain, will be longer before they are ready for the stacks 

 than oats"that have been reaped in a damp state. It is a still more remarkable fact, that damp oats 

 reaped with the scythe will be sooner ready for the stack than would the same oats, reaped in a dry state 

 with the sickle. Oats reaped with the scythe will be quite ready for the stack in eight days, whereas 

 oats reaped with the sickle require at least a fortnight. Shocks that have been reaped with the scythe 

 will keep off much more rain than those reaped with the sickle. ( Quart. Jour., vol. iv. p. 3GG.) 



B862 -5002. Wheat said to be indigenous in the country of the Baschkirs, where the summer tempera- 

 ture is as high as <J7°. It is grown extensively in Egypt and Barbary, in the Caraccas, and in Cuba, in 



