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timothy and clover into windrows. Not so interesting or so prestigious were the remaining steps in the haymaking process; piling the hay into coils, and standing atop the farm wagon building loads of the stuff for hauling to the barn loft for storing. At this season, the weather was usually extremely hot and muggy; after a day spent stowing hay in the sweltering loft, the approach of sundown was more than welcome. |

Soon after completion of the haying, the binder was assembled in preparation for the harvest. My father owned the machine on half-shares with my Grandfather Devereux and, after his death, with my uncle Michael. He and his hired man worked at our farm during the harvest season; we, in Caek. worked at his place. The binder was a rather complicated piece of machinery that out the grain, packed it into sheaves which it tied | automatically with heavy twine, and tossed aside for the stooker. Later, an attachment called the "carrier" came into use. This device retained the sheaves until ten had been processed, when it dumped them in a single heap, thus greatly facilitating the work of the stooker. I never attained to the operation of the binder, which had a three-horse hitch and required more Skill and know-how than I possessed.

After drying for four or five days, the sheaves were loaded into the farm wa ZOri and hauled to the barn to be stored or stacked, to await threshing. Building a load of grain was a two-man job that called for a bit of skill on the part of the builder. A row of sheaves was laid,.with the butts out, along the edge of the wagon rack, and another row placed side by side down the middle to serve as a binder. This was continued until the top of the load reached a height of ten feet or more above the ground, when a binding pole was laid down the center of the load and lashed solidly to the front and rear of the wagon frame. Without this precaution, the load

especially if it consisted of wheat or barley sheaves, stood a poor chance