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- Cradle Scythe, circa 1860 - Nineteenth-century farmers needed to harvest grain quickly before time or weather could destroy it. Harvesters would swing the cradle scythe's blade through ripened fields. The cut grain would fall onto the wooden fingers -- the cradle -- where it would be dumped in neat rows ready for gathering. Skilled cradlers could harvest more grain than those using traditional sickles.
- circa 1860
- Collections - Artifact
Cradle Scythe, circa 1860
Nineteenth-century farmers needed to harvest grain quickly before time or weather could destroy it. Harvesters would swing the cradle scythe's blade through ripened fields. The cut grain would fall onto the wooden fingers -- the cradle -- where it would be dumped in neat rows ready for gathering. Skilled cradlers could harvest more grain than those using traditional sickles.