2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Today summer residents have acquired electric and benzo scythes and have forgotten about their old faithful friend - a hand scythe. She walks in the barn, covered with rust, and worries about the owner: what if the electricity is turned off or gasoline runs out, how then will the summer resident cope with these annoying hogweed, burdocks and nettles? And if it hung on a hook, sharp and shiny, that would be useful. "Zipper, zip, zip" - and the podkoshnye (by the way, do not find fault, so the poet said) not asked guests will rustle, falling and refreshing the country air
Nostalgia or gene memory
The bliss of the mower from work in the early morning, when the dew has not yet dried on the grass and annoying mosquitoes are annoying, is a real pleasure in earthly life. Increasing the rhythm of the strokes, the scythe lays the grass in a beautiful semicircle under his feet, and the person no longer notices the mosquitoes, intoxicated by the music of labor.
God! Where did I, who was born and raised in the city, have such nostalgia for haymaking, for the strong shoulders and arms of the mowers? I can smell the morning smells of an endless field in early July, hear the rustling of falling grass and a mosquito squeak. Apparently, the genes of grandfathers and great-grandfathers remind of themselves. Thanks to their selfless work, I am here today on this wonderful and amazing planet. Low bow and thanks to my ancestors!
Scythe device
There are small parts in a simple scythe device, without which it will refuse to work without careful adjustment. In this, the scythe is very different from other peasant instruments of labor: shovels, hoes, rakes and other fraternity.
* The main part of the braid is a knife or braid blade. The knife should be sharp, light, not dull longer. With the help of the protruding wedge of the panel, the knife is attached to the string. Fastening is carried out using two metal rings (other options are possible).
The length of the canvas is different and is determined by the number. Today you can buy braids # 5 in stores; 6; 7; eight; nine; 10. Each person chooses for himself the length that suits him in height and physical strength. Strong men buy numbers 8 and 9, for women it is better to choose smaller numbers. An oblique with a lower number is convenient for mowing hard-to-reach areas, areas with hummocks, around trees.
* Kosovishche - that part of the braid, which in other instruments is called "the handle". Kosovishche must be strong, but at the same time lightweight. The best are aspen mows.
* Handle (handle, trigger) - the movable part of the scythe. Its location in the kosovishte is adjustable in height, depending on the height of the mower. For proper handling, the oblique handle should be at the level of the person's navel. The ends of the handle are held together with a rope.
How to hold a braid correctly
Half of the success of the work depends on how a person holds a braid. The main point is the back. She should not bend, but should look like the back of an aristocrat or a ballerina. Otherwise, the mower will quickly be exhausted, or it will break the scythe without completing the entire amount of work.
The braid handle should be at the level of the braid's navel, not lower or higher.
When mowing, the arms, shoulder girdle and back muscles should be involved. Many people forget about the last participant in the process, because they remember from childhood the poem "Mower" by Alexei Koltsov, in which the hero calls on his hand: "swing," and his shoulder - "wake up," but does not call his back to anything. Only with the coordinated movement of these three parts of the body, a person makes half-turns, allowing the braid to describe a semicircle around the braid.
So that the scythe does not crush the grass, but cuts off everything that it manages to capture in its path, the person must move in small steps, approximately the same as the fashion models walk on the catwalk.
Afterword
Unfortunately, it is difficult to buy a good braid in our stores today. After the purchase, you have to bring it to the "condition" with the help of skillful hands. If there are no such nearby, then the scythe often remains an unclaimed tool. The scythe knife requires periodic sharpening, which is also problematic for people who have no experience with scythe or good mentors nearby. That is why people prefer to buy more expensive electric and gasoline units, which are much easier to deal with.
It's a pity! It is a pity for people who have forgotten the joy of work. It's a pity for the nature, which we poison with gasoline and exhaust gases, forgetting about the simple and affordable tools with which our ancestors fed not only their families, a bunch of parasites, but also supplied other countries with food.
