166 SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



task. The handle of the hook is about four feet long, 

 and the hook itself is sharpened to a cutting edge on 

 both sides ; so that the weeder has only to pull the 



THE WEED-HOOK. 



handle towards him in a slanting direction, to cut 

 through the stem of the plant he is aiming at. To cut 

 off the plant before it has perfected its seed is the main 

 object, and it is then left on the ground to decay. 



There are many small weeds growing in corn-fields, 

 which are so insignificant as to be little regarded by the 

 farmer ; yet these help to impoverish the soil, and the 

 clearer the ground can be kept of them the better will 

 be the harvest. 



The term " harvest " applies to the gathering in of all 

 the crops, whether of wheat, barley, and oats, or of 

 beans, peas, &c. But it is with the wheat harvest alone 

 that we are now concerned j and this is by far the most 

 important department of the general harvest. The 

 flour of wheat is more nutritious, and at the same time 

 more agreeable to the taste, than that of any other grain 

 used as food by mankind. It also forms one of the 

 most ancient descriptions of food. From the passage in 

 Scripture, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 



