CHAPTER IV. 

 EARNINGS AT HARVEST. 



THE great " overtime " season of the ordinary agri- 

 cultural labourer is the harvest. The word really 

 applies to any ingathering of the fruits of the earth, 

 but is in practice restricted to the corn and hay harvests. 

 When, however, it is used without qualification, the 

 corn harvest is understood, although both hay and corn 

 harvests give extra employment often extended in 

 fine dry weather into the late evening or night, when 

 the moon offers its aid, and hasty ingathering is desirable 

 owing to the weather being unpromising and extra 

 " money." To the harvest the labourer looks forward 

 with keen expectancy, as a means of seriously assisting 

 the finances of the year, and enabling him to wipe off 

 old scores run up against him by the indispensable village 

 tradesman. In corn districts, where ordinary weekly 

 wages are generally the lowest, the emoluments of 

 harvest are the most keenly appreciated. As a rule 

 although we have previously alluded to the exceptions 

 shepherds do not assist in harvest work. Cattlemen 

 and horsekeepers do assist at harvest, unless their 

 occupations at the time should be too urgent to prevent 

 them from doing so. On many, perhaps most, small 

 farms, however, all the hands contribute their quotas of 

 assistance to the great annual ingathering of corn crops ; 

 and every available member of the farmer's family is 

 often also brought into the service. 



As to the earnings at these seasons, there is a great 



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