The National tribune., 1902-09-11

over tne englner'D head Is gay canopy,
and he steers the whole with q glistening
| wheel. Next is the red separator, and
behind that a small house on wheels (the
cook-shanty OF the crew.. A water
| tender is vet in the rear, and that COM
pletes the line. Where, us is the case in
| some sections, igasoline takes the place
Of coal as a fuel for the engine, there is
no need of fuel wagon.
The modern separator does autOmati-
calfy several things that were for many
years done by hand. Once a band-cutter
stood beside the feeder, clipping the band
| that held each bundle together. Then the
feeder. taking hedbunch of straw, slowly
| fed it into the roaring mouth of the ma
chine, careful that he did not meet with
| injury from over-recklessness or the sud
den spewing out of piece of iron OR a
stone by the whirring cylinder. Now the
| bundles are pitched from the stack into
the self-feeding apparatus, which cuts the
| bands and distributes the straw into the
opening of the machine.
Formerly, the straw was carried up an
open slideway by an endless line of stats
and dumped in one place as long as the
machine was not moved. The modern
machine has at the rear end huge pipe
| or funnel, cXtensible to IL or 20 feet. with
curve at the end. 1t is the wind
stacker" At the base, where it joins the
machine. is rapidly revolving fan that
creates strong blast. On the current Of
| air that is blown through the tube goes
| the straw, and the funnel is moved from
| point to point, doing much of the work of
the stacker. 1t is n most welcome inno-
walton to the farm lad whose duty it was
to fight for breath at the gulping mouth
of straw-carrier.
Another thing: the weigher. OF old,
the farmer stood beside the machine and
watched the filling of half-bushel meas
ures, emrtying them and tallying the num-
bcr. Now the red stream of grain is
caught by small carrier, weighed. the
record made, the wheat lifted to the hight
of wagon and poured into the wagon
box. From the time when the bundle is
pitched into the feeder the hand of man
does not touch it.. Going to the elevator
in town. the wagon is dumped by tilt
ing platform: machinery carries the grain
TO the bins, cleaning it on the way, and at
last pours it into the car for shipment.
Where the thrashing is done in the har-
vest-field. the process from the standing
grain to the swaying carload bound for
the city may occupy but n half-dozen
hours.
On the Pacific coast. where everything
is on q large scale, and where the owners
of great farms are impatient of even the
above methods, harvesting is done with
yaster appliances. Huge gang plows.
control. prepare the ground. The harvest
ing is done by n mighty machine. propel-
led by a steam engine. that cuts. thrashes,
and sacks the grain. leaving when it has
passed over the field, only the empty
straw and the plump bags Of wheat.
The hay crop is an important one. To
handle it and its brother. the alfalfa, are
new machines. The mower is lighter; the
rake carries the hay in larger lunches, the
L, tI.n
out the. Touch Of a hand. the lifters by the
power of a team of horses place the whole
on the top of the towering stacks-qHite
different from the weary pitchfork days Of
old.
Sharing the throne with King Wheat is
King Corn. or late years certain i'm
provements have been applied to machin-
cry for taking care Of this crop. The farm
er formerly cut the stalks with long
saberlike knife and carried them together
in shocks ready for husking. The new
method is to drive up each row with a
harvester, that cuts the stalks. binds
them into bundles, and throws them off
to be picked up later. ,,.a.
~ Then, when the farmer is ready for
placing the grain in his barn. comes yet
more interesting process. With q ma
chine arranged for the purpose he. works
a wonder with tho product, The bundles
are thrown into its mouth and rapidly
thrashed The ears are husked and car
ried to wagon. It The stalks and husks
are shredded aud crushed ilt9,a fine, pala-
table. fodder that resembles h3y. and this
is carried =ijyi IL enthusiastically tu5e into
the loft of the barn, or tn II stack. There
is economy in this process as it utilizes
every portion of the corn growth. Other
conditions being favorable. an acre will
produce from two to four tons of this fod-
der-hay.