REAR  , the back or

hind portion of anything, particularly a military or naval term for that part of a force which is placed last in order, in opposition to " van." As the last word, shortened from " van-guard," is an aphetic form of Fr. avant, in front, Lat. ab ante, so " rear " is an aphetic form of " arrear," 0 . Fr. arere, mod. arriere, Med . Lat. ad retro, to the back, back-ward . From this word must be distinguished the verb " to rear," used in two main senses: of a horse, to stand up on its hind legs, and to raise up or lift, of the construction of a building or of the breeding and bringing to maturity of domestic or put one couple on and one couple off for meals and resting alternately . By this means the binder is kept going continuously without any stoppage for perhaps 14 hours daily in fine harvest weather . With a six-feet cutting width an acre per hour is fair work, but some have exceeded that, especially with wider cutting widths . A ball of twine weighing 3 to 4 lb is the usual requisite per acre for binding the sheaves, and it ought to be of Manilla hemp: " sizal " fibre (derived from the American agaves and named after the port on the coast of Yucatan) is not so strong and good, though cheaper . Good twine is desirable, as otherwise frequent breakages leave many sheaves in a loose state . The sheaves are dropped off on to the ground as tied, but some farmers use the " sheaf-carrier," which catches these as they are shot out from the binding apparatus, and dumps them in lots of six or so—sufficient to make a stook or shock . The stooking—that is, the setting up of the sheaves on end to dry—is a separate operation, and from two to three men can set up an ordinary good crop as fast as the binder can cut it . In this work the sheaves are set with their butts wide apart and the heads leaning against one another like the two legs of the letter A: a full-sized stook or " threave " is 24 sheaves—a relic of the days when the crop was all hand-reaped by piecework at so much per threave—but in practice now seldom more than 6 sheaves (3 each side) are put to each stook . When sufficiently dried or " fielded " the sheaves are then carried by cart or wagon to theother animals, often used also of young children .