Of Harvesting. 357 



tions, require less time and labour, and fewer covering ma- 

 terials than the others, yet they are objected to, as inter- 

 rupting the free circulation of the air in the corn-yards, 

 being more liable to injury in damp weather, and, unless 

 carefully placed, more apt to be overturned by wind, thaa 

 those of a round construction. 



Before concluding this subject, it is proper strongly to in- 

 culcate the necessity of unceasing activity, at that critical 

 period when the labours of harvest are going on. Some 

 husbandmen have rarely, if ever, any spoiled grain in their 

 possession ; while others, of more tardy habits, are seldom 

 without it. A disposition to trifle or procrastinate, and to 

 rely on the continuance of good weather, is quite unbecom- 

 ing the character of an industrious and intelligent husband- 

 man ; and there cannot be a better criterion, by which to 

 judge of the agricultural skill and spirit of any particular dis- 

 trict, or the management of those who cultivate it, than to 

 ascertain, how the business of the harvest is conducted ( 198 ) 



SECT. XX. Of Thrashing Grain. 



THE operation of separating corn from the straw, has 

 been recently brought to a degree of perfection in this coun- 

 try, that some years ago, would have been considered as un- 

 attainable. The advantages of the new mode, in a general 

 point of view, have been already explained, (Chap. II.); and it 

 would have been desirable, in this place, to have given a 

 statement, of the pecuniary profit derived from it; but such is 

 the diversity of opinion respecting the expense of keeping 

 horses, and such the difference of wages in the several coun- 

 ties, that it was found impossible to make a calculation that 

 would be generally acceptable, or that would be applicable 

 to more than one or two districts. The average profit from 

 the mill, worked by horses, when compared to the flail, it 

 would appear, is from 3s. to 4s. per quarter for wheat, from 

 2s. to 3s. for barley, and from Is. to 2s. for oats; but where 

 oxen are used, instead of horses, or where the machine is 

 driven by water, or wind, the expense of thrashing by the 

 mill, is considerably reduced, and the advantage compara- 

 tively augmented. 



If the old plan of thrashing by the flail, had continued 

 inuse( 199 ), the task was so severe and irksome, while, in 

 time of war, labourers fit to perform it were so scarce, that 



