350 Of Reaping. 



SECT. XVIII. Of Reaping. 



EXPERIENCED husbandmen think, that wheat should be 

 cut down some days before it is dead ripe ( l ^ 3 ), for the grain 

 hardens well in the sheaf, and the sample is often better. 

 The harvest thus begins earlier, and its labours are more 

 equally distributed ( l74 ). 



Barley ought likewise to be cut before it is too ripe, other- 

 wise the straw becomes brittle, which occasions much loss 

 by the heads breaking off. 



Though oats are reckoned a hardy grain, yet the more 

 early varieties, are liable to damage from high winds, or from 

 exposure to much wet, and ought to be cut as soon as they 

 are nearly ripe, in order to lessen the risks to which they 

 are exposed ( 17S ). The advantage of cutting early, was ex- 

 perienced in Scotland by those farmers who cut down their 

 crops greener than usual in the dismal years of 1782 and 

 1783, and cannot be too strongly recommended in unfavour- 

 able seasons ( 176 ). 



Beans should be cut down, as soon as the eye has attained 

 a deep colour, and if the weather be dry, made up as soon 

 as possible, into sheaves. The straw will thus be of triple 

 value, and the grain of superior quality ( 177 ). 



Where the crop is lodged, whatever may be the state of 

 ripeness, it should be immediately cut down ; more espe- 

 cially if grass-seeds have been sown with it, which may 

 otherwise be lost ( l78 ). 



The nature of the instruments for cutting down the crops 

 is the next point to be considered ( l79 ). 



Various plans have been devised for that purpose, as, 

 reaping by a sickle, or reaping-hook ; mowing by a scythe ; 

 and bagging. The plan of cutting down corn by machi- 

 nery, though it has made some progress, has not yet been 

 brought beyond the line of partial experiment. 



1. Reaping by the Sickle, or Reaping-Hook. 



.-.'..- . U) 



For districts in which a sufficient number of hands can 

 be procured, reaping, either by the sickle, or the reaping- 

 hook, are excellent modes of cutting down the crop, if at- 

 tention is paid to low cutting. With careful reapers, there 

 is very little waste ; the heads of the corn are all put in 

 regular order ; and the crop placed in a position favourable 

 to being thrashed, either by the flail, or by machinery. 



