e had
generally the largest quantity and best quality of grain. These
preliminaries being settled--and they generally took less time than I
have done to write--we began work, commencing, of course, at the end
of the field by which we entered, and travelling up or down the rigs.

The process of gleaning may be generally considered a very simple one;
but in this, as in everything else, some knowledge is necessary, and
no better proof of this could be had, than in the quantities gathered
by different persons in the same space of time. A careless or
inexperienced gatherer could easily be detected by the size and
_shape_ of his single. The usual method practised by a good gleaner
was as follows:--Placing the left hand upon the knee, or behind the
back, the right was used to lift the ears, care being taken to grasp
them close by the 'neck.' When the right hand had gathered perhaps
twenty or thirty ears, these were changed into the left hand; the
right was again replenished from the ground; and this process was
continued till the left was full, or rather till the gleaner heard one
of his or her party exclaim: 'Tie!' when the single was obliged to be
completed. Thus it is clear that a good eye and a quick hand are
essential to a good gleaner.

Whenever one of the members of the party found that the left hand was
quite full, he or she could compel the others to finish their singles
whether their hand was full or not, by simply crying the
afore-mentioned word 'Tie!' At this sound, the whole band proceeded to
fasten their bundles, and deposit them on the rig chosen for their
reception. The process of 'tying' it is impossible to explain on
paper; but I can assure my readers it afforded great scope for taste
and ingenuity. Few, indeed, could do it properly, though the singles
of some were very neat. The best 'tyer' in our party, and indeed in
the district, was a little, middle-aged woman, who was a diligent,
rapid gatherer, and generally the first to finish her handful. Her
singles were perfectly round, and as flat at the top as if laid with a
plummet. Having finished tying, we laid down our singles according to
order, so that no difficulty might be felt in collecting them again,
and so proceeded with our labour.

When we got to the end of the field, the custom was, to finish our
handfuls there, and retrace our steps for the purpose of collecting
the deposits, when each of us tied up our collected bundles at the
place from which