Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1907-11-21
MERITS OF THE COMBINE.
Comparison Made With Old Method
of Harvesting.

of Harvesting.
A Spokane man wrote to the Wash.
ington State Experiment station staff
Pullman, recently, inquiring relative tc
the growing and cutting Of wheat, the
and f1our-making content of the berry
as affected by soil, climate and meth DDS
OF cutting. Professor r. w. Thatcher,
director of the station, answered the
inquiries as follows:
| l. Does the wheat lose any of the
essential elements for good -four by
standing until ripe enough to cut and
thresh at one operation.
Wheat does not lose any of it's con-
Btituents by standing until it is thor
oughly ripe 1t does, however, manu-
facture and store up somewhat larger
proportion of starch than if cut when
in the dough, resulting in slightly
softer wheat with larger proportion
OF starch and a smaller proportion of
gluten. The difference in this respect
is rather small, however"
2. Are the berries as plump when
cut by combined machine as when
the grain is harvested by a binder or
header, and threshed after standing in
the shock, or having been stacked?
We are informed that the wheat buyers
and millers make difference between
grain harvested with the combined ma
chine and that cut with the binder or
header.
"The berries are plumper than when
cut by the binder and left standing in
the shock, for the same reason; that lie,
greater production of starch fills the
berries plumper."
3. Do the berries lost their color
when left growing until ripe enough to
cut with combined machine?
'The color of the berry is not chang
ed materially until after the grain is
dead ripe, after which it may be bleach
ed out to varying extent, depending
upon the length Of time and the cli-
matte conditions"
4. Is all the wheat in one sack of an
even grade when harvested with the
combined machine?
"The wheat in a single sack of grain
by com mbined machine is not
of an even grade. Since the
machine is run up or down hill, it may
,ut and run into the sack wheat growing
lnder quite different conditions. This,
however, is equally true of any other
method Of harvesting 1t is we'll
Known that grain from the top of clay
point is different from that of north
lill slope, and both Of these are differ
mt from that Of south hill slope, or
lpon fat. l do not think any meth
I'd OF harvesting will secure absolutely
he uniformity you suggest
5. lie there more wheat lost during
be operation of the combined machine
han through harvesting and threshing
" the old method? II SO, how much?
"We have no information which
7ould make it possible for us to state
efnitely whether there is more or less
7heat lost during the operation of
ombined machine, than by harvesting {
nd threshing by the old method. We
re aware of the objection that has been
aised in California to the use of com.
ined machine, but do not think it is Il
great objection, as has been stated.
There is no question but that the
rain cut with combined machine is
lightly lower in proportion Of gluten
hich it will show. The yield per acre
certainly little later, if the grain is
lowed to become ripe. 1 am person. a
ly of the opinion that the most seri- K
ls objection to the combined machine n
in the distribution over the field of Il
e threshed out weed seeds" K