the thrashing floor in the Bible. Here we have it as it was in the days of the kings of Israel. It is usually near the house in the most level piece of ground that can be had, which is often the village street. Many times have I found it difficult to pass along the village streets because of the thrashing floors that were covered with grain and busy men and boys thrashing out the same. The thrashing machine would not take the gold medal at a world's exposition, though it does the work just the same. For the rice it consists of a piece of a log a foot or more in diameter and twice or three times that long, with a man to swing the sheaf of grain over his head, striking the heads of it on the log as hard as he can. This knocks off the grain, at the same time leaving the straw unbroken, which fact means much to the farmer, since the straw is used for many things about the farm. The grain is separated from the chaff now as of old. With a fan or scoop the grain is thrown up and the wind drives the chaff away. "Whose fan is in his hand" — these words have often been called to memory when I have seen the farmer thus cleaning his grain. That other saying of John's is very vividly brought to memory as we stand by the thrashing floor: "The wheat he will gather in his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." There on the edge of the thrashing floor is seen the smoldering heap of damp chaff as it burns for days, fitting type of the "unquenchable fire."
I said that the straw is valuable. The farmer's house is covered with it, and must be renewed at least once in every two years. There is hardly any other
