ver with the
sickle to save what ever grass escaped the mowing, such as that left
standing on tussocks. From this act of cutting (_sectare_) I think
that the word _sicilire_ (to glean with a sickle) is derived.

_Of the wheat harvest_

L. The word harvest (_messis_) is properly used with respect to the
ingathering of those crops which are reaped, and from this action
(_metere_) its name is derived, but it is mostly used in respect of
corn. There are three methods of harvesting corn, one as in Umbria,
where they cradle the straw close to the earth and shock up the
sheaves as they are cut: when a sufficient number of shocks has been
made, they go over them again and cut each sheaf between the spikes
and the straw, the spikes being thrown into baskets and sent off to
the threshing floor, while the straw is left in the field and stacked.
A second method of harvesting is practised in Picenum, where they have
a curved wooden header[96] on the edge of which is fixed an iron saw:
when this instrument engages the spikes of grain it cuts them off,
leaving the straw standing in the field, where it is afterwards cut. A
third method of harvesting, which is used in the vicinity of Rome and
in most places, is to cut the straw in the middle and take away the
upper part with the left hand (whence the word to reap [_metere_] is,
I think, derived from the word _medium_--connoting a cutting in the
middle). The lower part of the straw which remains standing is cut
later,[97] while the rest, which goes with the grain, is hauled off in
baskets to the threshing floor and there in an airy place is winnowed
with a shovel (_pala_) from which perhaps the chaff (_palea_) takes
its name. Some derive the name of straw (_stramentum_) from the fact
that it stands (_stare_), as they think the word _stamen_ is also
derived, while others derive it from the fact that it is spread
(_strare_), because straw is used as litter for cattle.

The grain should be harvested when it is ripe: it is considered that
under normal conditions and in an easy field one man should reap
almost a jugerum a day and still have time to carry the grain in
baskets to the threshing floor.

_The threshing floor_

LI. The threshing floor should be on high ground so that the wind can
blow upon it from all directions. It should be constructed of a size
proportioned to your crops, preferably round and with the centre
slightly raised so that if it rains the water may not stand o