PHASES OF FARM LIFE 



lions haying is the period of " storm and stress " in 

 the farmer's year. To get the hay in, in good con- 

 dition, and before the grass gets too ripe, is a great 

 matter. All the energies and resources of the farm 

 are bent to this purpose. It is a thirty or forty 

 days' war, in which the fanner and his " hands " 

 are pitted against the heat and the rain and the 

 legions of timothy and clover. Everything about it 

 has the urge, the hurry, the excitement of a battle. 

 Outside help is procured; men flock in from adjoin- 

 ing counties, where the ruling industry is something 

 else and is less imperative; coopers, blacksmiths, 

 and laborers of various kinds drop their tools, and 

 take down their scythes and go in quest of a job 

 in haying. Every man is expected to pitch his 

 endeavors in a little higher key than at any other 

 kind of work. The wages are extra, and the work 

 must correspond. The men are in the meadow by 

 half -past four or five in the morning, and mow an 

 hour or two before breakfast. A good mower is 

 proud of his skill. He does not " lop in," and his 

 " pointing out " is perfect, and you can hardly see 

 the ribs of his swath. He stands up to his grass 

 and strikes level and sure. He will turn a double 

 down through the stoutest grass, and when the hay 

 is raked away you will not find a spear left stand- 

 ing. The Americans are or were the best 

 mowers. A foreigner could never quite give the 

 masterly touch. The hayfield has its code. One 

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