86 Tlie Agriculture of Pembrokeshire. 
sheaves are stood in a bunch on their butt-ends, and three or 
four more placed on top of these with their butts up, and bound 
round securely with straw-bands. These small mows stand a 
lot of wind. 
It does not seem to be so much the custom now as in former 
years to make what are knovvn as "knee-mows" in the field; 
these contained about 90 or 100 sheaves, and the person making 
them knelt on the top. 
Harvesting. — Reaping-machines have been introduced into 
the county, but probably they will not supersede the scythe here, 
for, in the first place, no one will have much wheat to cut, and 
when these machines cut barley, it is more liable to sprout if the 
weather is bad at the time, in consequence of being delivered 
in a bundle instead of an even swath. Corn in this county 
requires some time for the straw and grain to mature and dry 
after being cut, and therefore there cannot be such despatch as 
is commonly seen in dryer districts. When carted to the hag- 
gard, moderate-sized stacks are adopted, and most frequently 
they are round ; perhaps each stack may contain about 100 
bushels of corn. These are small enough to obviate any heating, 
as well as being a convenient quantity to thrash out at once, 
and the round shape is more convenient where there are some 
ten or a dozen stacks in a haggard . 
Thatching is generally done in a very neat manner ; in fact, 
in some of the more exposed parts of the coast-line — about 
St. David's, for instance — the haggards at the end of October 
present one of the trimmest sights in the county. It is cus- 
tomary in thatching to use twisted straw-bands with single 
sharpened sticks, about 2 feet long, for spiggots. Where neat- 
ness excels, the straw-bands are placed diagonally across the 
dome-shaped top, about 8 inches apart, the longest extending 
some two-thirds around it, and as the bands cross, they form 
diamond spaces. 
Formerly the threshing was all done by small machines — 
driven by horse- or water-power — attached to most farm-build- 
ings ; but at present " steam-threshers " are commonly hired 
throughout the county, when a considerable quantity is to be 
threshed at once. 
Turnips, ^~c. — Of the root-crops grown, the turnip — in many 
varieties — occupies the first place ; next, in extent of land 
occupied, comes the potato, and lastly, at present, the mangold- 
wurzel. Often all three species are in the same field, occupying 
the soil between two corn-crops. As before mentioned, it is 
customary to manure the roots heavily, so that the following 
crop will not require any more ; about 20 tons of farmvard- 
manure, with 5 cwt. of dissolved bones or superphosphate 
