HARVESTING CROPS 75 



husk, and, for this reason, corn may be left in the field 

 for a long time after it ripens in the fall. 



Machinery. - - There has been a wonderful change 

 in the possibilities of farming by the invention of har- 



SCYTHE AND CRADLE 



vesting machinery. When the farmer had to gather 

 his wheat by hand with a sickle or a cradle, he could 

 raise only a few acres, for if he raised more, a large part 

 of the crop would become over-ripe, before it could be 



