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near the ground, both that as much of the straw as possiblemay be secured ns fodder, and because the best pods are of-ten placed on the stems near the roots. Beans are alwaystied up into sheaves, either by means of short straw-ropesmade on purpose, or bands made of the peas which growamong them. In either case, the reaped beans are merelylaid at first on the bands, and are left for several days in thatloose state to wither, which is termed broad-band; sometimesthey are laid down on the field in large rips or handfuls towither, without bands, which are afterwards supplied. Theyare then bound at a convenient opportunity, and set upontheir buts, in double rows or stooks, to dry or win, but with-out any head-sheaves.
When sufficiently dried, they are led home to the rick-yard, and are usually built up in round ricks, in the man-ner already described. Sometimes, however, they are builtin oblong stacks, provincially called sows, resembling a house ;having interruptions, without any intermediate spaces, divid-ing them into portions of convenient size for being threshedat one time, which divisions are termed leets. The tops ofthese long stacks are drawn up to a ridge, like the roof ofa house; and the whole is thatched with straw, which is se-cured by straw-ropes in the manner formerly described.When the round ricks are made of any considerable size, itis very useful to keep an opening in the centre drawn up fromthe bottom to the top, so as to allow a free circulation of air,by which the grain and straw are materially preserved frominjury; as when stacked in a damp or raw state, both are aptto become mouldy or musty, which lessens their value consi-derably.
Beans may be threshed by the mill or machine, like anyother grain, and are dressed by the fanners or winnowing-machine, as has been previously described. It is only neces-sary therefore to remark in this place, that while riddling, allthe light beans and broken shells have to be carefully skim-med off by hand, which may be easily done, as these rise tothe surface in consequence of their lightness.