HARVEST-MOON. 



HAWKBIT. 



be made in the house for the regular supply 

 of whatever is to be furnished to the labourers, 

 so that every unnecessary delay may be avoid- 

 ed. The strictest order should also be main- 

 tained ; but the work will never be well per- 

 formed unless it be conducted with perfect 

 good temper. Fortunately, the crops do not 

 usually ripen at the same precise period; that 

 of rye be ins the earliest, and wheat about a 

 fortnight later; some of the early species of 

 oats and barley come in between the rye and 

 wheat; but barley more generally comes after- 

 wards, followed by some of the later kinds of 

 oats. Grain, if not reaped until the straw is 

 wholly yellow, will be more than ripe, as the 

 ear generally, except in late seasons, ripens 

 before the entire of the straw; and it is observ- 

 able that the first reaped usually affords the 

 heaviest and fairest sample. 



The indications of ripeness in wheat are few 

 and simple. When the straw exhibits a bright 

 golden colour from the bottom of the stem 

 nearly to the ear, or when the ear begins to 

 bend gently, the grain may be cut. But as 

 the whole crop will not be equally ripe at the 

 same time if, on walking through the field 

 and selecting the greenest heads, the kernels 

 can be separated from the chaff when rubbed 

 through the hands, it is a sure sign that the 

 grain is then out of its milky state, and may 

 be reaped with safety ; for although the straw 

 may be green to some distance downwards 

 from the ear, yet if it be quite yellow from the 

 bottom upwards, the grain then wants no fur- 

 ther nourishment from the earth, and, if pro- 

 perly harvested, it will not shrink. These 

 tokens will be found to sufficiently indicate the 

 ripeness of wheat, barley, and oats; but that 

 of rye arises from the straw losing some of its 

 golden hue, and becoming paler. 



The usual practice in England is to cut 

 down all grain before it is quite ripe, and tu 

 leave it in shocks, or, in the case of barley, on 

 the ledge, until the grain is perfectly matured 

 and hardened; and the same practice prevails 

 in Scotland. Experience, however, has occa- 

 sioned a remarkable distinction in the mode 

 of harvesting barley in the two portions of 

 Great Britain just mentioned. In England, 

 barley is usually cut with the scythe, treated 

 like hay in the saving, and put loose into the 

 rick or mow. In Scotland, it is cut, as in Ire- 

 land, generally with the reaping-hook, and, 

 when sufficiently dry, bound up and stacked. 

 The cause of this different treatment is the 

 difference of climate. See BARLEY, REAPING, 

 WHEAT, &c. 



HARVEST-MOON. That lunation about 

 harvest-time when the moon at full rises near- 

 ly at the same hour for several nights. 



HASEL, HAZEL, or STOCK NUT (Cory- 

 lus aveliana). This small, bushy tree is com- 

 mon everywhere in our hedges and copses, 

 and also grows wild in most parts of Europe. 

 The leaves are two inches wide, doubly ser- 

 rated, light green, downy, especially beneath. 

 The catkins are barren, clustered, or panicled, 

 grayish, long, and pendulous, opening in the 

 early spring before the leaves appear, and, in- 

 deed, formed during the preceding autumn. 

 The ovate scaly buds, containing the fertile 



flowers, become conspicuous at the same time 

 by their tufts of crimson stigmas. The nuts, 

 two or three from each bud, are sessile, round- 

 ish-ovate, half covered by the jagged outer 

 calyx of their respective flowers, greatly en- 

 larged, and permanent. The wood of the hazel- 

 tree is used in England for making hoops for 

 casks, hurdles, crates, springles to fasten down 

 thatch, fishing-rods, &c. It is also reported to 

 make excellent charcoal for drawing, of the 

 preparation of which, and of the whole history 

 of this plant, Dr. Hooker gives a full account, 

 annexed to an admirable figure. It was for- 

 merly much used for making gunpowder. (Eng. 

 Flor. vol. iv. p. 157.) See FILBERT. 



In the country where yeast is scarce, they 

 twist the slender branches of hazel together, 

 and steep them in ale yeast during its fermenta- 

 tion ; they are then hung up to dry, and at the 

 next brewing are put into the wort instead of 

 yeast. The chips of this wood are used to fine 

 \vnifs. (Phi1i>i>s$ Fruits.'] 



HATCHING. See INCUBATION. 



HAULM. A name given to the stalks of 

 beans and pease. When well harvested, these 

 form a very hearty species of fodder. The 

 stalk of the beans is indeed tough and some- 

 what woody, and is therefore commonly thrown 

 out as farm-yard litter; but the coving chaff is 

 very good manger-meat; and even the stalk, 

 if bruised and cut, and then steamed, would be 

 found useful in a farm-stable. 



Pea haulm is very generally given as rack- 

 meat to cart-horses instead of hay, for which 

 purpose it is well adapted, being succulent and 

 nutritious, and nearly as much relished as hay; 

 although it may not go quite so far, yet there 

 is great saving in its use. But both these and 

 all other kinds of straw haulm should be given, 

 as fresh as possible from the flail, for they 

 grow brittle, and lose a portion of whatever 

 sap they possess, by exposure to the air; if 

 long kept they grow musty, and in that state 

 neither are wholesome nor will be eaten by 

 horses. Pea haulm should be given cau- 

 tiously, as it is flatulent, and apt to occasion 

 colic ; it is also said to be productive of bots ; 

 but that, if true, is not so peculiar a property 

 as to prevent its use. Sheep are extremely 

 fond of haulm; so much so, indeed, that it is 

 by no means uncommon for fanners who keep 

 large flocks to grow pease chiefly with a view- 

 to it as winter food in pinching seasons ; the 

 seed being in that case generally sown broad- 

 cast, both to preserve the succulence of the 

 haulm, and to save the trouble of the drill 

 culture. (Brit. Husb. vol. i. p. 133; vol. ii. jpp. 

 219, 463.) See PEASE and BEANS. 



HAVER. A name given to oats (particu- 

 larly to wild oats) income parts of Britain ; 

 hence haver meal is meal made from oats by 

 grinding and sifting through a proper sieve for 

 the purpose. In some parts of Scotland a thick 

 oat cake is used, and called a haver meal ban- 

 nock. 



HAW, BLACK; SLOE. Plum-leaved Vi- 

 burnum. A shrub frequent in Pennsylvania, 

 along fence-rows and in thickets, flowering in 

 May, ripening its sweetish and esculent fruit in 

 October. See HAWTHORN. 



HAWKBIT (Jpargia). A genus of herba- 

 3*2 605 



