Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-08-20
KANSAS IN HARVEST TIME
when Every Farmer wants to Kidnnp
Five Men.
Trom the Topeka Daily Capital)

Trom the Topeka Daily Capital)
There are no bonanza wheat farmers in
Kansas as there were in Dakota in the
early days Of the Northwest country
craze The Kansas wheat farmer owns
anywhere from quarter section to a sec
tion csc to 6io acres). Occasionally, If
he he 1fflucnt. the wheat raiser owns two
or three sections of land. but these are
tho exceptions The average farmer
plants from 100 to 400 acres of wheat.
The lOO-acre man is considered
small farmer, although in the thickly
Hettled parts of tho country east of the
Mississippi River that would be consider
cd urge acreage.
The ground is ploughed narrowed or
dragged and the seed is drilled in at the
ratio Of a bushel to the acre. Occasion
ally in the wheat belt disking is made
to answer the purpose of ploughing and
here and there is farmer who drills his
seed into the stubble of the previous crop
without further preparation
In the wheat belt. as elsewhere, it is
the experience of the men who follow
tho business that the one who makes the
most thorough preparation reaps the
best crop The grower who drills his
seed into the stubble gets fifteen bushels
ner acre and the man who ploughs his
ground gets thirty bushels There are
exceptions to this rule of course as an
instance, the Russians in Ellis County
plough their ground only once every three
or four years, and they get very good
crops. Where wheat ground is poughed
by contract the price is 81 per acre. The
expense of planting, harvesting and mar
kcting runs from $3.50 to 81 an acre. Per
haps fair average would be $3.50.
once his crop Is planted the wheat
grower has nothing more to do with it
until harvest time. During the fall and
ret
ture land. In November the wheat
grower turns his cattle and horses into
his fields and they live on the growing
wheat during the winter and far into
tho String. Once this was thought to
iniurc the crop. Now IT is believed that
4 is Il distinct advantage. 1t prevents
4 too rank growth of straw and keeps
the soil tramped firmly about the roots
of the wheat.
The wheat harvest in the wheat belt
lasts from ton days to two weeks 1t is
tho one busy season of the wheat farmer.
/ Fhrcshing may wait day or a week.
! rhc planting season runs through two
! long months, but tho harvest is always a
thing uf the here and the now.
To the harvest field two processes are
brourht-those of the header and the
sclf-bnder. The former requires a
| larger force, the latter involves a
greater amount Of labor The Kansas
header The header is an instantaneous
process It cuts the grain and gets it in
stack ready for threshing the same day.
Following the binder the bundle. are
shocked and afterward stacked by more
/ loisrrelv process, or hauled to the ma
chine direct from the shock. The header
cuts SWath of grain twelve feet wide
From tho sickle the grain is elevated by a
carrier to a wagon equipped with what
| Is known header box. The
header" box is mounted on farm
wagon. tho motive power of which is fur
| nished by a team Of horses. The wager
is driven parallel to the header and a,
| tho same speed until the box is full
Then it goes to the stack and anothe,
Waron takes its place. From four to sly
! horses are required to operate a header
! ThcY arc pitched to a lever directly be
| hind the sickle and push the machine
| instead Of pulling IT.
| Seven mon make "A header crew. One
| is required to drive the horses attached
to the machine. There are two wagon.
| equipped with "hcadcr" boxes to tax,
care Of the grain. While one Of thes,
wagons is loading at the mahne tn,
other is unloading at the stack. There
are two rlen to each wagon one to drive
| The team and the other to distribute The
| grain rs il comes from the header car
rier. They unite in unloading the grair
at the stack. Then there is a stacker
who is the skilled labor of the whoa
| hld, and a helper. The header will Gu
from twenty. five to thirtY-fvo acres o
grain day. and n crew Of seven moi
, will have it safely at the stack at night
| Headers are 50 called because they Gu
tho grain ut a height of ten to nfteei
inches from the ground,
The binder sickle runs close to tn
ground ana leaves a stuhhle from fou
To elk inches long. The binder process il
slower than the header and requires les
heir. Three horses are required to pull
a binder, and the machine cuts, undo
favorable circumstances, about firtcei
acres day. Following the binder, which
gathers the wheat into bundles and tie
ii automatically. are two men. The.
gather tho bundles Of wheat and Sc
| them M in shocks Of ten or tiftscr
bundles each. The binder is about hal
az fast as the header and requires les
than half tho force, but it imposes tn
additional labor Of stacking later on.
Tie continual call for help from tn
wheat country Is easy to understan,
when one knows that when it comes t.
harvesting wheat it is now or never :
header crew will take care of no NOR
than 3oo acres. In other words durin,
the harvest season a header crew is re
ouired on every farm. The farmer VIII
raises SOC acres of wheat cannot, as
rule furnish more than two members O
the crew from his own farm. He canno
secure these men from among his neigh
hors, for his neighhors also raise wheat
| The result Is that five of the seven mel
required must come from outside tn
community. So long as there is no urbal
population from which to draw tn
wheat raiser must bring his help iron
the outside. And 50 long as there ar
big crops of wheat there will be a de
mond for harvest hands beyond III
aVailal,lc local supply.