The Washington times., 1901-07-07

mund-The Wheat Being Gathered
by Working at Night - Plenty of
Money TO Buy Their Machinery.
WICHITA. Kan. July 6--The third large
wheat harvest in three successive years
has just been gathered. Oklahoma's is
finished. and the self-binders have been
busy in Kansas. Despite the many scares
and the threatened injury from insects
and unfavorable weather the product IS
of unusual quality and amount In the
Territory il is likely to exceed the crop
Of last year. and in this State. while
the yield per acre Is possibly not so large,
the greater acreage ensures that prac-
ticaIly as many bushels VIII be gathered.
This means a great deal TO the Prairie
States. With 21.G19,010 bushels in Okla
h0ma and 7loe5 90 bushels in Kansas. the
farmers income win be Of large proper
tions To a degree that is quite Unex-
ampled they are now independent Of the
money lender at reapiug time In past
years there has been = large amount OF
Indebtedness to settle before the crop
could be cleared. Mortgages standing
against the wheat had 70 De met This
year the farmers VIII have more ready
money at the close Of the harvest than at
any time In the history Of the West.
Among the trials that have besst the
farmers has been the lack Of help and
the State has undertaken a unique plan
for assisting them. The city clerks Of al
the cities have been made agents of a
free employment bureau. whose object is
10 furnish assistance to the laboring men
and TO the employers. Each city takes
the names OF men seeking work and Of
farmers Of the vicinity desiring laborers,
and the whole is tabulated and the re-
several thousand laborers have been
brought into the State, the railroads fur
nishing low rates for the purpose, and
have gone into the fields. But for their
arrival many promising fields Of wheat
would have rotted before the farmers
with their local aids could have har-
vested th.m.
The harvest this year has been marked
by several improvements over past sea
sens, and the whole method Of gathering
the grain on the plains Is in many ways
changed from the methods used few
years a@o. The self-binder has made
Nmore progress in the West than any other
machine In the earlier days Of grain
raising on the Hrairies the header was
the fayoTite. II is wide machine. forced
ahead Of four horses, and elevates tha
grain 10 "a wagon driven alongside the
machine Only the tops Of The grain
are taken. and the straw is burned when
the# #-Id las been cut This IS a waste Of
material, and modern farming has taken
cognizance Of the need for saving the
straw Tor fertilizer. Hence the seif-Dinder
Is in evidence, and on some Of the big
ranches. like the famous IUl ranches of
Oklahoma, there j. q veritable procession
Of them. On this ranch thirty binders are
used. ana little army OF men assist IL
the harvest
The methods Of thrcshing are also i'm
proved. The Old horsepower IS a thing
Of the past, and the traction-eugine, with
its seIf-propeiiiag power and the cook
house on wheels, that takes from the
farmers wife sll care in time OF harvest.
IS SO common as 90 provoke little interest
among the dweIlers ou the plains though
Eastern visitors md IL a source Of much
curiosity.
The Jhresiing is being done with less in
terEa! between the harvest ard rhresh-
ing than cf old. II is found that th-- loss
OF gram IN quantity and quality sccause
Of the injury frorn water and other causes
more than Offset the possible rise on
price, and the farmers demand machine
as soon after cutting the grain as posi-
bic. Few Of The farmers have room 10
store their grain. In e neral il is hauled
at once 20 the town elevator and there is
stored al the expense % the owner. II
the elevator has not rDGm-aud this Is
the case often in the western part % the
State, whlrC great wheat fields are sur
rounding every little t0wn-then the
grain Is piled on the open prairie for
there Is no danger OF theft and little OF
injury from rain. The heaviest storm
that is likely TO come 10 the plains viii
VII Wet ~ but two inches, and that is
but Jrirc ia O pile Of ten or twenty
thousand bushels Of grain.
one OF the interesting sights when the
Western farmers are busy Ia their grain
is 10 see the teams la the fields at night
With lantern on tho horse that leads
the team. and with plenty OF lights at
the stacks. the work goes on as Il in the
daytime. Some OF the farms put three
sets Ot men et work each with ds own
complement OF horses and using the same
machines. thus making fast time and
keeping everybody ia the best Of health
and humor- The women Of the house
hold are also able TO assist materially
in the work OF harvest time. The cream
cry demands a great deal ~ the atten-
tion on the Western farm. In some Of
the counties not more than 10 per cent
of the milk that s. produced fails to find
lis way to the creamery station each
morning When the harvest time is with
the people this duty falls 20 the women
of the household, and on the prairie roads
one may meet 4 dozen women ana 8 rls
70 one man or boy. They do the market-