The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-03
GREAT WHEAT HARVEST.
BUsF AND INTEREsTING DAYS IN
THE NORTH WESTERN STA TES

The hum OF the threshlng machine will be
heard for the next ninety days from the east
line OF Minnesota to the farther boundaries o,
the Dakotas. The land IL dotted with grain
stacks. usually in groups OF four. though occa.
sionally farmer. who makes n herd or nork
the prominent feature OF his hushandrv will
have his entire crop stacked In semicircle
round the north and west sides OF his corral.
At intervals slender columns OF smoke tell ola
steamer" at work from dawn till dark. 4
stranger in the country seeing the steamer
moving from one job to another might easily
mistake the outfit for an innovation In rail-
roading. First comes the traction engine. not
unlike n locomotive engine. although smaller
and painted in brighter colors. Immediately
behind the engine is the tender wagon fitted
with rack for hauling straw. Nearly every
engine nowadays is n straw burner. Then
comes the sepa rator. n monster machine with
thirty-six to forty eight-inch cylinder. and
often sixty-inch separator. Behind the sepa.
rator comes the tank resembling worry closely
q Standard Oil distributing wagon. which hauls
water for tho engine from tho nearest wind
mill pump. Next the trap wagon" carrying
the loose paraphernalia Of the outfit. and the
clothes and bedding OF the men. II the thresh-
ers board with the owner OF tho grain this
constitutes the train. but II. Ia generally the
case. the owner OF tho machine boards his
crew. the grub shanty," IN ordinary house,
100 to $50 feet long.
The modern separator comes pretty near
being the whole thing" Instead OF the
threshing crew OF our boyhood days-drivera.
feeders. oilers. bandcutters. four to six
pitchers measurers. and half dozen straw
stackers-the crew consists Of a manager, usu-
ally the owner OF the machine; engineer,
oer, waterman. six pitchers and n cook. The
pitchers. three on n stack on each side OF the
nnhi b,,n lad, 1tal,
onto an endless belt the width Of the cylinder.
automatic guides straighten them and the
cut the bands and then feeds them into the
cylinder. The era IN PASSES from the winnower
feet to the w"igher. weighed and sacked @d' or
poured into the farmers wagon box. Tho
automatic stacker. a. steel tube about three
feet in diameter and thirty, feet long, This
ten to iiteen degrees above the harizo 81.
and gradually raised as the straw stack rises
p from an r 1nEe t" OF a n.y. s Gr the sr9 IN
sem circle around the tail of the machine At
the bottom Pm blower or fan forces draft
straw many feet from tho mouth OF the stacker.
A., Some OF the threshers REQUIRE the owner OF
have learned that it pays better to carry their
own boarding house, have meals at regular
farmer has to do is to haul his Wheat TO to III.
granary and pay the biz. RANGING from five TO
ment oyer the old days when he was Obliged TO
scour the neighborhood to get together force
is delighted with the change.
Twenty years ago dollar q bushcl was con-
wheat, Ten years, bnck. when the market had
worked down below seventy-ilve cents. the
eroan Now farmers in the Northwest are %i sell.
ing wheat, aud making money. at iltty cents a
possible. bnt heavier crops and lover er" wages ages
erS n9 among S them Lover briSes
farmer n Snrplna frpT "A n
sum, but the result is brought about most OF
al by improved machinery ami systcmiziny
hcrss ha55r3w, The, broaa GAUGE drill' The
se hG whea % s bSsa nr Of
doubled the producing capacity OF labor
As soon i,s one crop is OF. preparation for the
toward the crop Of 1900 On many farms a Geld
June Then there IS Tie S cornieid. twenty TO
lo9 acres more, needing only to have the corn
As soon ns the grain Is in the stack; and heres
the strong point Of the large and Increasing
earlier he stIbble is turned qniSr the better
inch gang and four good. heavy shires or Per-
an Gd man pbst the age for aTdu9us
cr's daughter can turn 't over five CO. :" or
Recently at G. A. r. cam r2s in BAL Dakota there heE
was slight delay At the last moment tho
q
young man had been despatched for the daugh-
SCI b IN az The
In an hour she had made a hasty toilet and
was PLAYING the organ as prettily as YOU please
which is the area prescribed by the unwrtten
Iaw Tor each gang. Is turned Then comes
AP Sa Of the year
I you should be driving through the realms OF
transformations Yesterday the snowdrifts were
melting in the April sun: to-day, the farmer. or
thirty six foot harrow. smoothing an acre for
the dr at every sweep a. across the
seeded till the crop is in. Tn en- the rush is
Gornfed .plowed planted and cultivated In
any hM rd and preparation for the harvest
i Fortune ha. smiled; IL shower and sun
shine shin haye followed each other in due prppor-
storm ST hare nnd srnceS tornado and hail
Mht ths are rap Poets dream But to the farmer
means long days and short nights. dust
WIZ OIL Esm face hands black
h ~ is the most critical and important part
growers are divided In opinion as to the reia.
tive merits OF binder and header. The headers
sswath. With a tweive-foot header thirty 10 70
thirty five acres a day can be put in the stack
boys and eight or ten horses. With six foot
binder two men with three horses will put in
, ne shock twelve or thirteen acres. But horses
are more plentiful than men in the westarn
harvest fields. BY using a seven-foot binder
ma I, eight horses in two reliefs three men fro
Hnentlv put up twenty acres or more In a day
FOR the header i is contended that the harvest
can be taken on more quickly and cheaply and
the gram ls IN the stack whom II is cut. leaving
! hS HELD ready for 10 pillow earlier than by any
other means The advocates Of the binder
nrcme mat II is not always possible to secure
chouGh hands to MI the header crew while
man. ~
, BY either method the work il pushed from
dawn III dark. The farmer and his help roacn
lhe END oi harvest worn down by hard work
ana long hours. but with sense Of relief that
The !rnts OF the years labor arc measurably
secure against the hazards OF the elements.
" mo wheat is, and must necessarily remain,
ne leading feature Of northwestern griculture
me best farmers have ceased to depend on thu
wheat crop alone for their living. herd Of
,atile: flock Of sheep, few pigs. the great
American hen. and we'll kept garden supply