SCENES DURING HARVEST. 185 



the scene of operations. Visits and journeys are post- 

 poned, the markets, for a time, unattended, and all his 

 energies are concentrated in his corn fields. If he knows 

 his own interest j he constantly superintends his different 

 bands of reapers, marking the time for them to begin 

 their tasks, and to end them. He restrains and directs 

 hasty and careless hands, while he urges on the slow and 

 cautious. It is his care that the ground shall everywhere 

 be well cleared, and the crop secured in the best con- 

 dition which the weather and other circumstances will 

 permit. Thus the corn field is a busy and interesting 

 scene, and such it appears equally to have been in the 

 days of the poet Homer, who wrote thus : 



" Here stretch'd in ranks the swell'd swathes are found, 

 Sheaves heap'd on sheaves here thicken up the ground ; 

 With sweeping stroke the mowers strow the lands, 

 The gatherers follow and collect in bands ; 

 The rustic monarch of the field descries, 

 With silent glee, the heaps around him rise." 



When the bandster has collected a sufficient number 

 of sheaves, he proceeds to set up the stook, or shock. 

 Taking two sheaves, one in each hand, he sets them a 

 little way apart on the ground, but brings the heads 

 together. In the same manner he sets up others, until 

 a double row of sheaves, seven in length, is set up, each 

 pair supporting itself, and not leaning against the next, 

 although close to it. In the case of barley and oats, 

 the stooks are frequently hooded, that is, covered in by 

 sheaves placed at the top, and spread out in an inverted 

 position. But wheat, which does not remain long in 

 the field, is seldom protected in this manner. 



All the processes of harvest are pleasant to behold, 

 and inspire feelings of gladness and contentment. The 

 prophet Isaiah, in describing a high degree of thankful- 

 ness and joy, says, " They joy before thee according to 

 the joy in harvest" (Isa. ix. 3) ; and this grateful sense 

 of benefits conferred is the right feeling with which we 

 should regard the scene. 



