Scythe cradle

Scythe cradle is a tool used for mowing and collecting cut cereal in an effective and easy manner. It consists of two, three and rarely four long teeth attached to the scythe. For as long as the scythe was used as the primary tool in harvesting work, cradles of this type were also used. They were, however, mounted at will; some farmers used them constantly, others not at all. Similarly, there were regions where they were popular, while in others, even nearby, they were used by a handful of farmers. Some farmers found them easier to work with, others found them an added burden. Certainly, mowing with cradles required more skill and experience than using a scythe without them. This is probably one reason cradles were used much shorter than a scythe itself. As late as the last quarter of the 20th century, and even later, mowing with a scythe was still to be found; however, the use of this interesting tooling was not noted by then. Iwona Karwowska