Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-11-19
(Hugh J. Hughes, Cooperstown, n. D., In Tril
une Farmer.)

ploughs on bouts a half mile long MAKE
from sixteen to twenty-four miles day
ploughing from four and one-half to si1
acres of stubble land.
After the ploughing, which, with u
in the northern part of the grain belt, II
largely done in the autumn, the disl
harrow, spriug tooth harrow or smooth
ing harrow fines aud fits the soil for tn,
drill. Again the four or six horse team
is used, and strip of land from eight Il
thirty-two feet wide is prepared at eacl
passage of the team. Days are agaiu
counted in miles, but to the grain grow
er miles suggest acres. For instance
an eight-foOt disk harrow passing dowr
and back across half mile field ha'
pulverized one acre, and the team has
travelled just one mile. The use of the
packer either before or after seeding IL
growing slowly, in common with the in
creasing practice of deeper ploughing
and better seed bed preparation.
The soil having been put into propei
tilth the drills begin their work. The
end gate seeder and the broadcast seed
er are merely curiositieS. A great six,
teen or twenty or twenty-five shoe OF
disk drill, seeding the grain in rows six
inches apart and putting it at depth anC
in quantity absolutely under the con
troll of the driver, has done more, in all
probability, toward rendering seedtime
"A certain foreruDner of harvest than any
other one thing in our somewhat com
plex system of farming. While much
remains to be desired in the way OF bet
A. 4 aaaA don hf.
full if any essential betterment can be
made in the practical workings of the
tools at present used for growing the
crop.
So the crop-two hundred acres oil
more To the team-iS sown, and barring
the midsummer frost, or the hot winds
from the south, or the hail, it comes &c
the reapiug. In the southern part OF the
grain belt headers clip off the tops ol
the wheat, leaving the bulk of the straw
on the ground and saving the farmer the
expense of twine bill. But in the
northern portion the uneven ripening
and the lateness of the cutting season
make the use of the binder more prac'
tical. The header is pushed before SIN
or eight horses and cuts swath some
times as great as twenty feet wide. The
cut grain is delivered into box racks
which move along with the machine
and is stacked in ricks from which 1T is
later thrashed. A header will cut from
thirty to fifty acres day; binder halt
as much Either method OF cutting
calls for a large force of men TO care FOL
the grain properly. The annual vast
age of grain due to poor stacking OF
shocking is unknown, but it certainly
runs into the tens of millions OF dollars.
A header crew consists of at least foul
men-the driver, two rack teamster'
and the stacker. A crew cutting anC
shocking an equal number of acres con-
sists of two binder men and two ol
three shockers. Where either method
NAV be followed at will the preference
seems to be for the header, for not only
is the twine bill saved but the stacked
grain has a better color when marketed
rhan that thraShed direct from th'
shock, where il has been subjected t.
the bleaching influence of sun and rain
The binders are still cutting oats anC
flax when the thrashing machines oeglT
their work. A machine, costing com
plete not far from $4,000 with its coot
car, sleeping tent, feeding rack fol
horses aud its crew of twenty-five horse;
and two dozen men, is far cry from thu
wooden cylinder machine of our fathers
A cook, drawing a salary of $50 to $40,
mouth, provides for the crew, auC
from sun up TO dark the engine throo'
on, save for brief stop at noon, pour
ing a stream of golden grain into the
waiting 100 to $50 bushel grain tanks
Grain for as much as eight or ten miles
away is delivered direct from the ma
chine to the elevator, and the farmer
and his family know little rest until th'
thrashing season is past. Ii the farmer
delivers direct" it means that he has tc
change works with his neighbors IN or
der to get enough teams TO handle th'
grain, and thirty to forty days are giver
up to grain hauling.
Wide tired wagons, capable OF sustain
ing five-ton load, are used almost ex
clusively, and with from 100 to l5t
bushels of wheat loose in the tiaring SID
ed tank the four-horse team moves l
across the prairie to the elevators tha
stand out in relief against the horizon
Before and behind are teams from othe
machines-I once counted the smok
from thirty three visible within radius
of five miles-all anxious To get unload
ed as quickly as possible and get oacl
to the machine for another load or u
the barn for feed and rest.
The man in front of you jumps int
his wagon, and with sharp comman'
Il L ktla, lnxyn fha aNit frDu
the elevator. "Come on" calls TN
elevator man. You speak to you
horses, they throw themselves into tn
collar and up you go under the hig
roof of the weighing room. The loa
stands a moment while the welghe
takes and records the weight, then
lever is thrown and the back end OF tn
wagon drops slowly down while tb
front end lifts. The end gate, hinged,
removed, aud the grain rushes down
ward into the pit, to be caught up an.
carried away 10 the shipping, or graC
ing, or storage, bin, as need may occa
sion. Another turn of the lever, FOL
ward move of the horses. Here's you
grain check. Nextl" and you are ou
in the air once more, headed for Walt
barn aud Petite Pete's restaurant. =
Ii is a big work. 1t is doing big farm
ing in big way, and not even the fa'
that expenses sometimes overtake r.
ceipts can quite subdue the thrill tn;
goes through a man as he stands on
taukful of the golden grain and heal
the thrashers far afleld grooming, thro'
bing, singing far into the shadows
the night the song of the golden heec