The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-08-02
rHRKsHINa DAY.

\ AhRnchAfNo OAhs
An me, how many threshing days do ]
rernember-some sad ones and some pleas.
ant ones. Sometimes the crop proved
almost q failure, and sometimes It turned
out better than VIC expected, and the
good wife rejoiced and gave the thresh-
ers and sI hands the best the house could
furnisS. In my younger days we were
thaTeshing moro or less all winter, Now a
ten horse power steam threshef does the
whole work sometimes in one long day
and always in two days. It is q atrying
time. The hopes and fears of whole
year are brought to the test. II is busy
time for the farmer, and If he is not care
full he will be likely to overtask himself.
If he is wise nothing but absolute neces-
sity should induce him to ''cut bands," or
take away the grain, or build the stack,
or undertake any work that will confine
him to one spot. He can always find
plenty to do. Sometimes the men who
are pitching the grain to the machine
may come across lot of rakings, and a
little help may encourage them. Some
times the man who is carrying away the
grain will find the granary checked up,
and the farmer, by the vigorous use of
scoop shovel, will make all right again in a
few minutes. Sometimes the wind may
bother the men on the stack, and few
words Of encouragement and sympathy,
with little assistance, will put new
spirit into them.
The essential points to look after are:
4st. The granary. 1t may need few
strips of tin to make it rat aud mouse
nlo hat
not only to get the grain into it, but also
to get it out again-and it sometimes
happens that it is necessary to get it out
sooner than you expect. Should 1t get
warm it will be necessary Immediately to
turn it or spread it out on the barn floor,
or run it through tanning mill. I'd.
See that the machine threshes clean. If
not, lower the concave. See that no
grain Is carried over with the chaff
Occasionally the threshers have visitor
who wants to feed the machine, and he
crowds in the sheaves, and the sieves
cannot properly clean the grain, and
more or less of it passes over on to the
straw carrier. Sd. Look to the straw
stack. This is an important matter to
those of us who feed out the straw. The
| SfCot oSSiCe Vi hiohih8 otuSh Iuiu- piool
is to keep the middle full and we'll trodden
down from the start, so that
when It settles, the outside will sink
down lower than the inside. When you
begin to build the roof, the part that
needs the most care is Immediately under
the straw carrier. The chaff is apt to
accumulate there, and when the machine
is removed there will DO IL depression in
the stack at this point that will let in the
rain. Take special pains to put some
layers of long straw under the straw
carrier. Many Of our straw carriers arc
not long enough, and if it is necessary
for man to throw the straw up ON tn,
roof of the stack, drive some long poles
into the stack and place an old door or
them for the man to stand on. If this il
not done, the place where he stand viii
be hole difficult to fill up so that it will
shed the water. Tho farmer, if he j.
wise, will frequently be on the straw
stack during the day and help to tread il
down in the middle, but for his owr
safety and for the good of the stack ht
will not venture too near the outside
4th. Look out for fire from the en-
gine, but in point of fact there is more
danger from tobacco smokers than from
the engine. Agriculturist.