274 MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS. 



a withered appearance, and often will be dead. I have 

 often seen tussocks perfectly dead, aud until this idea was 

 brought to my attention, was unable to account for it. There 

 is also, it is proper to state, a small insect that is peculiar 

 to timothy, and sometimes the death of the plant may 

 properly be attributed to its ravages. The presence of the 

 insect or its burrows in the bulb will enable the observer 

 to attribute it to its proper cause. 



CUTTING. 



Perhaps no invention of agricultural machinery, and their 

 name is legion, has afforded more positive benefit to the 

 farmer than the introduction of the mowing machine. Be- 

 fore its invention, no farmer could, with certainty and suc- 

 cess, secure a large amount of hay. It ripens in the hottest 

 of the weather and at a time when the labor of the country 

 is, as a general thing, all actively employed ; so if a man 

 did get enough, it was at an exorbitant price, fearfully 

 reducing his profits. Then the grass, if of one crop, all 

 needs cutting at once, so it would be impracticable to save 

 it all in prime condition. The oldest instrument used, was 

 a sickle, and for many years the farmer had to content him- 

 self with grasping with one hand what he cut with the 

 other, and woe unto the back during this slow and painful 

 operation. # It was a great improvement on the sickle when 

 the mowing blade or scythe came into use, though there 

 were found then as now plenty of old men who adhered to 

 the way of their fathers, and thought the scythe an inno- 

 vation that would soon disappear. Though a great im- 

 provement, yet it is a most laborious operation, and a man 

 that can cut down an acre a day is rarely to be found. It 

 is a severe test of strength, and brings into play nearly 

 every muscle of the body, so that there is no rest for any. 

 But the mowing machine has rendered it unnecessary to use 

 it, except jn rocky or very broken spots, where the ma- 

 chine will not go. It is altogether unnecessary to adduce 

 any arguments to prove the superiority of the mower over 



