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to secure a sufficient supply of straw upon every emergency;and this addition does not require any very material increaseof expence, perhaps not exceeding sixty or seventy pounds.On their being first used by farmers, windmills were in a greatmeasure new to Scotland , and the management of their sailswas exceedingly tronblesome and even dangerous; but by pro-gressive improvements upon their machinery, they are nowmade to turn their sails to the wind, to reef and unreef theirown sails in just proportion to every change of wind, and arealmost as safe and manageable as watermills having backsluices.
In threshing grain by the flail, the customary payment inScotland teas one twenty-fifth part to the thresher or lot-man :besides which, it is estimated that a twentieth part of the graincrop, while threshed in that way, was lost, both to the indivi-dual farmers and the country at large, by imperfect work, be-ing left adhering to the ears. A strong instance of this loss,and of the superior cleanness, and consequent economy ofthe threshing-machine, was communicated to the Reporter aconsiderable number of years ago, by an eminent collar-ma-ker in Edinburgh . Before the introduction of the threshing-machine, the wheat combed out at his manufactory fromwheat-straw, to be used in making horse-collars, was sufficientfor the supply of a considerable poultry-yard. After thresh-ing-machines became general around Edinburgh , this sourceof feeding his poultry entirely failed. What might have beenthe additional loss sustained by the farmer, in consequence ofhis grain crop being continually exposed to depredation bythe dishonesty of his servants, it is altogether impossible evento guess at; but it must have been considerable.
Besides the losses and expences occasioned by flail thresh-ing, there was a farther injury produced to the grain itself,by remaining on the damp earthen floors of barns for manydays, owing to which it was very liable to acquire a disagree-able musty flavour. Added to all this, the unthreshed grainin the bay of the barn, and the threshed grain on the barn-