The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-08-22
WOMEN FOLKS
LEAVE THE KITCHEN
TO WORK IN FIELDS
Despite Hail Storms and Wei
Summer South Dakota Will
Have an Average Crop.

Vorable weather of II past ten days or
1.-TWO weeks has been taken advantage
lof by the farmers of South Dakota in
harvesting what from all reports will
be good average crop in the state at
large. The farmers have worked early
,and late, and in numerous Instances all
the members Of families. including the
daughters and other women folks"
have cast aside their household duties
for the time being and aided in the har-
vest fields.
! The harvesting Of small grain In a
few localities OF the state. especially
the southern part, has been completed,
but the spring wheat harvest has just
lopened in many localities, while In 9TH
.er places only few fields OF this crop
iare ripe enough to cut and harvesting
operations will not begin until the COM
ing week.
: Big Money for Help.
!; A shortage of harvest hands is re-
ported In some sections. but the farm
,ers have Jared very well In this re-
Ispect. Wages of harvest hands rule
nigh, II being nothing uncommon Tor
farmers to pay $3.50 and 50 per day.
The excessively hot weather Of last
Saturday and Sunday ripened spring
wheat very rapidly in part or the
state, and the harvesting OF this grain
has since been of the rush order.
In some fields the early oats ripened
SO rapidly that farmers were compelled
ito continue harvesting operations on
Sunday in order to save the crop. In
most parts of the state small grain Is
reported to be of good quality. Owing
to the frequent rains during the early
summer months the stalks OF small
grain attained very rank growth, re-
quiring more than the customary
amount Of binder twine when the grain
was harvested. In numerous instances
as much as between three and four
pounds of twine per acre was used.
While some localities have expert
enced severe hail storms, which de-
stroyed crops over quite an extensive
area, the state has been very fortunate
this season. :
Threshing Has Commenced.
I In the southern part of the state, and
lin some localities in the central and
northern portions, threshing has COM
,menced, and the stories told by the
threshing machines are interesting
,ones, as bearing on the volume OF the
crops raised in the state this year. In
the vicinity of Avon winter wheat
fields are yielding forty bushels to the
spring wheat Of from fifteen to eigh-
teen bushels to the acre and sixty OF
toats are nothing uncommon.
; One Charles Mix county farmer. John
Lundberg, threshed rye which yielded
an average OF twenty-five bushels per
acre. Barley averaging forty bushels
per acre, and wheat twenty-five bush
els to the acre, is reported from the VII
cinity OF Iroquois, Kingsbury county.
Oats in Clay county is yielding about
thirty bushels to the acre. Notwith-
standing the unusually wet season the
quality of the grain is reported as good.
Winter wheat In Hanson county Is
running from twenty-five to thirty-f1ve
bushels to the acre. Early oats In the
vicinity Of Hudson, Lincoln county, is
averaging from thirty to thirty-f1ve
bushels per acre, and It is thought
later oats will yield much more than
this, as the heads filled out much bet
ter. .t,
The first of the new grain to be mark
eted at Lake Andes, Charles Mix coun-
ty, was winter wheat from the farm
OF the Home Owners Investment COM
pany, which, notwithstanding that IL
had been badly damaged by a hail
storm early In the season, yielded an
average Of about twenty bushels per
acre. p
Live In Wagons.
For the convenience of threshing
crews many OF the threshermen have
constructed houses on wagons, on
which the men live and eat, while the
wagons can easily be transported from
farm to farm in company with the
threshing outfit. u.
Corn has grown rapidly during the
hot weather Of the past two weeks, but
In most localities in the state, except iR
the extreme southern part, is yet be-
hind its accustomed growth for this
period of the growing season. However.
1t is believed that 1t will have matured
well in advance Of the killing frosts of
the latter part Of September.