On Measure Work. 
137 
able machines at a certain price per day ; these are generally 
worked by four horses ; the charge for a machine with a man to 
tend is 12s. a day, besides the expense of moving the machine and 
boarding the man. On an average these will thresh from 20 to 
30 quarters of wheat (reaped), from 15 to 25 of mown wheat, 
and about the same quantity of barley as of mown wheat in a 
day. The annoyance of shifting the machine, with the loss of 
time to the horses and men, renders the practice of hiring by the 
day l)oth inconvenient and expensive. However, as many large 
farmers are beginning to have horse-power machines, it is to be 
hoped that we shall soon see the good example of threshing by 
steam-power which has been set by the northern farmers, followed 
by their brethren of the east. 
1. Threshing Wheat by the flail is much practised by the 
farmers who supply the London market with straw, the gene- 
rality of machines being found to break the straw. In Suffolk 
the price for threshing and dressing reaped wheat costs from 
2s. to 3s. a quarter — should the wheat yield well, a man will 
thresh out a quarter in a day. With the common hand-dressing 
machines 1 5 quarters may be twice winnowed and put into sacks 
by two men in a day. 
2. Threshing Barley. — With us a much larger proportion of 
barley is threshed by hand than of wheat, for it is often done as 
cheap by hand as it is by our present system of hiring machines. 
Allowing one of these to thresh 20 quarters of barley in a day of 
10 hours, the following will be a rough calculation of the 
cost : — 
s. 
d. 
Hire of machine 
. 12 
0 
Board of man 
1 
0 
Six horses 
. 15 
0 
Six men at 206?. 
. 10 
0 
Four boys at %d. 
2 
8 
Dressing 20 quarters at 2d. 
, 3 
4 
Total 
. 44 
0 
The average ex])ense of threshing and dressing 40 quarters of 
barley of the same description is 40s., or 4s. cheaper than the 
machine, which will nevertheless have the advantage of despatch. 
The rate per quarter for threshing and dressing varies from 
Is. Q>d. to 2s. a quarter. I have known two men to thresh and 
dress on an average 15 quarters a week ; at 20rf. a quarter they 
earned 25s. weekly. When barley is harvested in large barns 
2c?. or ?>d. a quarter is given extra, for that laid in the middlestead 
or threshing-floor. 
