THE WHEAT CULTUKIST. 



349 



the cradle is in use. The point of the first finger should 

 always stand as far back as possible, and not catch any 

 straws beyond the scythe. When some straws are 

 palled down and not cut off, it shows that some of the 

 fingers stand out too far. On the contrary, when the 

 cradle does not gather all the grain that is cut off, some 

 of the fingers are in too far, or are too short. Some- 

 times every finger stands exactly in its most proper 

 position, and the cradle does not gather all the grain. 

 This can be obviated in two ways : first, by using a 

 shorter scythe ; or second, by dulling about two inches 

 of the cutting edge at the point. Sometimes the scythe 

 and lower finger are all right, but the other fingers are 

 so short that the cradle does not gather all the grain 

 the scythe cuts off". This difficulty can be obviated in 

 no other way than by attaching a scythe two or three 

 inches shorter, and cutting ofi' the lower finger to cor- 

 respond with the scythe, as shown by Fig. 55, and to 

 be also of the correct proportional length with the other 

 fingers. Fingers may be " too crooked," or too much 

 curved near the points. It is a common occurrence to 

 see cradle fingers like a sleigh runner — having nearly all 

 the curvature within twelve to twenty inches of the 

 ends. Cradles having such fingers never work well, as 

 they carry most of the grain, after it is cut off, near the 

 forward part of the cradle, which causes it to work hard, 

 and to hang too heavily on the point, as well as to hold 

 the grain too much, when it is being laid in a swath. 

 When selecting a cradle, it is better to get a short 

 scythe than one over four feet long. These two cuts 

 of scythes and some of the matter, I prepared for the 

 "American Agriculturist" when I was one of the edi- 

 torial corps of that paper. 



