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Harvestiufi in a Bad Season. 
I had neither housed nor stacked one sheaf of barley, and very 
little of wheat or oats. In the South of England they often begin' 
in July. Contrast the length of day and power of the sun, and 
it needs no argument to show how important it is for us to be as 
early as we can. On Laminas-day (the 1st of August) the sun 
rises about 4h. 25m. in the morning, and sets about 7h. 45m. at 
night. On Michaelmas-day (29th of September), which is often 
the middle of my harvest, the sun rises about six, and sets about 
six ; the days are rapidly shortening, the dews stronger, the 
nights longer, and the sun has less power to overcome the damp- 
ness : so that, however fine the weather, we rarely can begin to 
house or stack the corn until half-past ten or eleven o'clock in. 
tlie morning, and must usually leave work at six o\ seven at 
night. Contrast this with Lammas-day, when, the sun being in 
full power and heavy dews exceptional, you can often cart from 
six or seven in the morning to eight or nine at night, or about 
double the time. So much for the benefit of cutting early. But 
again we come to the question liow early, and I fear nothing but 
local experience can answer this question. 
With wheat and oats, if the straw be ripe and of a good 
healthy " straw yellow " colour two or three inches from the top, 
and if the ear of the oat feel hard to the hand, and the ear of the 
wheat feel prickly on being squeezed, they are ready to cut. 
The grains should not yield a milky fluid, but feel firm on pres- 
sure laetween the finger and thumb, and the straw should yield 
no juice on being twisted or crushed. These signs will be 
sufficient if the crop be ripening kindly ; under other circum- 
stances, when you find the straw ripe at the ground reap imme- 
diately, the crop will not improve by standing. 
Barley should be of a uniform straw or yellow colour in the 
grain and awns, and the ear should be bent downwards nearly 
double. I have had barley out seven weeks, the straw of which 
was freely eaten by the cattle in the yards in winter ; and though 
there was much clover in it, and the stooks were several times 
moved from one site to another to dry the butt-ends, nevertheless 
the sample was not so bad in colour as I have sometimes seen in 
barley that has been out only half the time ; but I was particular 
in having it dry at last. It is very bad management, after all 
your patience, to house or stack the corn when at all damp. 
Never do that ; its long weatherbeaten endurance fairly entitles 
it to a dry lair at last. 
2. As to Small Sheaves. — A sheaf of 9 inches' diameter has the 
following advantages. It gets dry rapidly, whether by wind or 
sun, often in less than half the time required by one that is a 
foot or 15 inches in diameter. It is more easily " set up " when 
the harvester, at the close of his day, is almost worn-out with 
