Found this article on a new technology that improved life and production on the farm 

I sometimes forget how much things have changed, mostly for the good, but do remember my grandfather using a cradle to cut a small paddock that had been seeded to small grains, I expect to seed down for use of livestock since it was near the barns.

I do remember him working away and taking the bundle from the cradle and using a handful of the grain to tie the sheaf 

I think when he wanted a breather he pulled a stone from his back pocket and sharpened the scythe a little and then carried on.

https://www.farms.com/reflections-on-farm-and-food-history/artifact-archive/cradle-scythe