Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-09-21
Too Much Grain Wasted.

From he Rlchland County ID. II Gazette,
From reports received it appears that
considerable wheat has been lost in all
parts of the county, just because it shells
out SO easily. The hull appears to be
thinner than usual, while the kernel is
very large and heavy. Eyen while the:
heads and straw both locked quite green
the grain was ratified ont considerably
by the most careful handling. The
wind caused considerable loss in wheat
that was whipped out during the two or
three days it was Moving so hard. Some
Of the standing grain was bent over by
the wind and heavy heads so thatit was
difficult to cut il with 4 machine and a
large loss Of scafterin go was aa,s. result
Il is quite unpleasant, to the farmer 10
see his beautiful grain goingsto waste in
This way after he has been to mi the ey-
pense Of raising it, asloss which often
equals the aneunt;o of seed sown:4 j IF the
exact amount could be ascertained of the
loss Of grain, in this county; ;'out of the
present seasons crop, the figures would
be surprising For there is constant
waste. before harvest, during harvest,
stacking, marketing, and, i'll fact, every
time it is moved, and frequently while it
is not being handled. But while there is
much waste that cannot be prevented,
the amount is often increased through
careIessness. When grain is stacked
proportion of it is trod out on the wagon
by the man on the load, the most of
which falls to the ground and is lost, as
the load is pitched to the stack. With
little trouble some provision can be made
for catching the most Of these scatterings
which soon amount to many bushels.
Then there is usually large quantity of
scatterings that fall from the stack at
threshing time, and if the ground is not
smooth where the stack is built these
scatterings are lost. We have seen
stacks placed where there was tall stub
ble or grass, out Of which the threshed
grain could not be gathered and perhaps
twenty bushels wouldbe left to rot. AS
a general rule, people are not so careful
as they should be to have their stacks on
smooth ground. And when it comes to
cleaning up the last of a setting an un-
necessary amount oftime is occupied in
cleaning np or great deal is wasted.
"a threshing floor should be on dry
ground, free from all stubble or grass,
and rolled or pounded down hard and
and smooth. Then when it comes to
cleaning up all Of the loose heads can be
raked in and even a broom can be used
to sweep together the shelled grain,
enough more of which can be saved in
connection with the saving in time to-
much more than pay for preparing the
'g1snllta. But Vile IA ost of farmers will
say they have SO much to do they can.
not attend to these sualE matters. B1t
what is the benefit Of running over so
much ground and ]e1tiug half of your
crop go to waste? Here seems to be one
great mistake in western farming. Men
are anxious to cultivate as many acres as
possible, and all of their work is none in
hurry and much Of it is poorly doae
And when it comes to gathering up the
scatterings that noDe Of them need he
wasted, why, they cannot stop for that.
If the sane aHaout Of time was given to
sixty acres that is now devoted to one
hundred in the way of preparing and
seeding, the amount of yield TO the acre
would be largely increased and saying
in seed be effected A great change in
some Of these respects can be made for
the better, and many farmers are coming
to see how they can improve upon their
present methods and make more money
from less outlay. But a wide field for
improvement in this direction'js still be-
fore them, which should receive careful
inspection.