With the practical features proposed by a third of a hundred inventors carefully embodied in machines at the close of the first third of the century, came the practical reaping and mowing machine. Nearly one-half of the labor of the harvest field was dispensed with; the ring of the cradle blade, when whetting after the cutting of every round, soon ceased to be heard. The sound of the cutting device of the reaper and mower was not so musical, but may be likened to the chuckle of one in his ecstasy who has succeeded in his accomplishment. The burning sun scorched but half as many laborers as before. The labor of weary ones over the hot stove in the crude habitations on the farms was lessened. The harvest time became less dreaded; the scarcity of help became less felt, and the hours of labor were shortened. Homes became more cheerful, for the farmers' wives and daughters, before called from household duties into the burning sun, had now moments that could be devoted to planting the rose and vines. Reflecting upon those early days, experiences such as can soon only be called by the artist, are brought to mind. In our imagination we see the troop of harvest hands, arisen from an early breakfast, taken after an hour's labor at chores, moving to the fields often before the sun has kissed the dew from the lilies that beckon them on the way, young women as well as young men; though with a hard day's labor before them, they are chatting as merrily as when gathering at school in the winter, when the labors on the farm are not so great. In those days few children who could walk knew leisure. The babe was often taken to the field and a still toddling youngster left in charge while the mother bound after the cradlers. It seems as if the expression "hungry as a hired man" must have originated on these western prairies, for in these early days five meals a day was the rule. About mid-forenoon two boys were spared from the field long enough to go for luncheon, soon to return with a well-filled basket and water jugs. The cloth was spread upon the stubble and a hasty but hearty meal spread. Perhaps a solitary tree shaded them. So far the harvest scene resembled the picnics we enjoy to-day. In the heat of the day an hour was taken for rest. At mid-afternoon another lunch was served. Then at sunset came the supper, only after which, from early morn, the kitchen stove was permitted to lose its blush; and the milking time, far into the starlight, while the night hawk boomed, and the rest for the day came after bob white and the whip-poor-will had ceased their calls. What a change this century has wrought! One man now accomplishes as much as sixteen did in the early days. The self-binding harvester of to-day, through the reaping machine, was of a growth so slow that the efforts of a third of a century were required before the reaper was driven to the hillsides--but of this later. A CHARMING HOME. ANNA R. HENDERSON.