Scythe

Reapers are bladed machines that automate the cutting of the scythe, and sometimes subsequent steps in preparing the grain or the straw or hay.

However, in the 15th century some writers began to use the sc- spelling as they thought (wrongly) the word was related to the Latin scindere (meaning "to cut").

The mower holds the top handle in the left hand and the central one in the right, with the arms straight, the blade parallel and very close to the ground.

The mower takes a small step forward and repeats the motion, proceeding with a steady rhythm, stopping at frequent intervals to hone the blade.

The correct technique has a slicing action on the grass, leaving a swathe of uniformly cut stubble, and forming a regular windrow on the left.

Skilled mowers using long-bladed scythes honed very sharp were used to maintain short lawn grass until the invention of the lawnmower.

Many cultures have used a variety of 'cradles' to catch cut different kinds of grain stems, keeping the seed heads aligned and laying them down in an orderly fashion to make them easier to sheaf and winnow.

[citation needed] Initially used mostly for mowing hay, it had replaced the sickle for reaping crops by the 16th century, as the scythe was better ergonomically and consequently more efficient.

[citation needed] According to ancient Greek mythology, Gaia – the Greek goddess and mother of the Titans – gave a sickle made of the strongest metal to her youngest son Kronos, who is also the youngest of the Titans and god of the harvest, to seek vengeance against her husband Ouranos for torturing their eldest sons.

According to Jack Herer and Flesh of The Gods (Emboden, W. A. Jr., Praeger Press, New York, 1974), the ancient Scythians grew hemp and harvested it with a hand reaper that would be considered a scythe.

[citation needed] The Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet in Sheffield, England, is a museum of a scythe-making works that was in operation from the end of the 18th century until the 1930s.

In Romania, for example, in the highland landscape of the Transylvanian Apuseni Mountains,[14] scything is a very important annual activity, taking about 2–3 weeks to complete for a regular house.

[15] In small Serbian towns, scything is treasured as part of the local folklore, and the winners of friendly competitions are rewarded richly[16] with food and drink, which they share with their competitors.

Among Basques scythe-mowing competitions are still a popular traditional sport, called segalaritza (from Spanish verb segar: to mow).

There is an international scything competition held at Goričko[17] where people from Austria, Hungary, Serbia, and Romania, or as far away as Asia enter to showcase their culturally unique method of reaping crops.

In Poland, especially regions surrounding Kraków, the memory of Scythemen (Polish: Kosynierzy) of the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising is still vivid and commemorated.

The emblem of Bnei Akiva, a Jewish religious-Zionist youth movement, contains wheat, scythe and pitchfork, representing agriculture and the combination of land labor with the Torah.