Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/668

* HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 610 HARVEST AND HARVESTING. vard College; and The Harvard Unirersity Cata- logue. HARVEST AND HARVESTING (AS. hwrfest, ORG. hcrhist, Ger. Herbal ; probiibly eou- nected with Lat. carpere, to pluck, Gk. Kapwis, kurpos, fruit). The season and the process of gathering ripened crops. Formerly the terms were applied to the time of reaping and garnering cereals, but with the growth and extension of other branches of agriculture, especially in the fruit industry in America, they are more loose- ly applied, as 'hay harvest,' 'clierry harvest,' 'po- tato harvest,' etc. As in other agricultural lines, the development of the methods of harvest- ing lias been marked, and during no period so strikingly as during the last half of the nine- teenth century. In former times the single- handed sickle and two-handed scythe, which ap- peared somewhat later, seem to have been the sole implements for cutting the stalks of grain. In using the sickle the operator would catch the severer! stems with his free arm, and when he had obtained enough for a sheaf, would either stop to bind the bundle or would leave it to be tied by another; in using the scythe he would leave the stalks somewhat disarranged in a more or less uniform row for the sheaf-nuiker to work upon ; in using the cradle — a much more recent invention, which consists of a .scythe to the handle of which is fastened a set of three or moi-e fingers of light but strong wood as long as the blade and parallel with it — the skillful operator would leave the stalks all parallel as they were caught by the cradle-fingers when the blade severed them. A feature of primitive methods of harvesting was the gleaner, who went over the field to pick up the heads of grain overlooked by the reapers. Jlethods of separating the grain from the straw and the chaff were not less crude than those of cutting. The sheaves were spread upon a floor, which was often the bare rock or even the earth, and animals yoked to hea'y planks studded with flints or iron were driven across it until the separation of the grain from the stalk seemed complete. Then the straw was removed with crude forks, and the chaff blown away by the wind or by hand fans. In contrast with this picture of primitive agri- culture the present stands out boldly. The slow, laborious, uncleanly methods of the ancients have mostly disappeared among civilized peoples, but there ai'e countries where the traveler may find them still in vogue, though perhaps somewhat modified. Even in sections of enlightened lands many of the modern implements and methods are unknown. Even within fifty miles of the city of New York there are farms upon which the grain is still reaped with the cradle. But such eases are exceptional. The cradle has given place to the mower, which was at first used onl.y in cut- titig gi"ass for hay, but which genius soon adapted to cut grain and lay it in piles of con- venient size for binding into sheaves. The same inventive spirit produced the self-binder, a still more highly modified mower which not only does all the work of the reaper, but ties the sheaves with twine or wire. Yet more recently has ap- peared the heading-machine, hich, drawn by a score or more of horses or propelled across the field, severs only the heads of the plants, and threshes and winnows the grain and places it in sacks ready for market. On many of the West- ern wheat farms, more especially of the arid districts, this machine has supplanted not only the reaper, but the threshing-machine, since it performs the office of each. Vet the threshing- machine is still popular where grain must be allowed to stand in the shock to dry for a few days after cutting. This machine has long since replaced the flail and the fanning-mill. conihin- ing as it does the purpose of both. Formerly it was operated by horse-iiowcr, but is now general- ly driven by .a portable engine which, in many instances, has also traction gearing, and takes the place of horses in drawing the macliine from farm to farm. A revolution has also taken place in hay-making. Hand lal)or has been re- duced to a minimum. The mower has supplanted the scythe in cutting; the hay-tedder, which tosses the grass. as it lies in the field, has replaced the hay-fork in caring: the hay-loader, drawn behind the wagon to be loaded, has largely taken the place of loading by hand forks, and the horse-power hay-fork, which will dispose of a large load of liay in three or four forkfuls, has become a common implement on farms where » stock-raising or dairying are leading features. In fact, throughout the whole domain of agri- culture the methods of harvesting, so far as has been possible, have been improved to a remark- able extent. Corn, beets, beans, indeed, nearly every important crop has its special harvesting machinery. Cotton is the most notable excep- tion; machines adapted to its method of ripening seem impossible. No less remarkable have been the developments in methods of fruit-harvesting. It is highly prob- able that in all countries methods were at first crude and Avasteful. In America, during the first half of the nineteenth centui"y. apples rarely ar- rived in market except in bulk by the wagon- load, and peaches at first were treated no better. During the last half, reform has taken place; the former rarely arrive, except in local markets, in any other package than the barrel, and the latter, it is probable, never in bulk as formerly, but al- most always in baskets. In olden times when there was little or no market for fruits, except in the towns and their immediate neighborhood, the tree-fruits were shaken or beaten to the ground, a nicthod still popular with those apples the chief end of which is cider. But with the development of a fresh-fruit market, increased care was taken to avoid bruising. With increas- ing prosperity the demand for fino specimens in- ci'eased, and the grOAver was compelled not only to produce a superior article, but he was forced to present it for sale in an attractive package. All details of modern fruit haiwest depend upon the peculiar demands of the market, the distance the product must be shipped, the means of transpor- tation, and the shipping qualities of the kind or the variety of fruit. These four factors determine the time of picking, which, with perishable fniits, especially when sent to distant markets, is several days before maturity, a stage learned only by experience with tiie individual kind or even variety. In general, for shipping to distant markets, strawberries are gathered when they have colored well; red raspberries when they be- come soft: peaches when an experienced picker detects, with the ball of his thumb, a very slight softness of the tisstie; plums while still too green to be pleasantly edible: pears when, upon lifting the fruit, the twig and the stem separate with- out either one breaking; apples when they readily