Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1910-07-22

experiences would convince anyone
that they had better take their own
little force and on dry days coOlly
get the golden sheaves into the plump
and well-built stacks. Some will say
they do not know how to stack. That
may all be true, but you can and
should learn. Another instance where
our country schools do not teach our
farmer boys how to do things. Then
there is almost always some one III
the neighborhood who can stack, SO
by changing work with him or hiring
him outright, even though you have
to pay him 81 or So day, you will
sleep that much better when the grain
is in the stack than if it were standing
in the field in the rain for three or four
weeks waiting for the worried and
hurried tlrasiler. Besides, the price
is not too much for skilled work.
man, and rs soon as the shocks are in
the stack YOU can get the lambs in
the stubble and make mutton out of
those morning-glOries and other
weeds that are now worth about $3.50
per cut in Chicago.
W. c. STROCK: have been
farming now for forty years and have
raised all kinds of small grain, and
my experience has been that stack
threshing is the best for several rea-
sons. First, thrashing out of the shock
is far more expensive as it takes from
four to six teams busy to keep the
thrasller going. There is always more
or less hurry and by rough handling
the grain is apt to be wasted. In the
next place the farmers have to change
their crops often, 50 they SOW small
grain and clover together. The grain
is cut and shocked and the young
clover crop may have to stand waiting
on the thrasher until the young clover
under the shocks is all killed out. 1t
then grows up to weeds and takes
from two to three years to get it
seeded down to clover. Now have
in years passed run thrasher and
generally had grief in trying to thrash
out of the shock. Here in Iowa we
have shOwery weather and after har-
vest | have driven thrasher in the
field to thrash out of the shock and
stayed right there for from five to
eight days trying to pound out thirty
or forty acres OF shock grain. The
shocks get weather beaten often and
the straw is of but little account.
Again, grain should go through what
we call a sweat, and if thrashed out
of the shock it has to go through this
process III the bin and is apt to heat
or mold, where if thrashed out of the
stack and has gone through the sweat
in the stack the grain is more plump,
has a better color, makes better flour
and brings a better price. My expe-
rience has been to always stack as
soon AS dry and if properly stacked
will stay in good condition till ready
to thrash. Now the straw, when wheat
has been properly stacked, has be-
come valuable here in Iowa and l
have seldom seen any good bright
straw thrasl,ed from the shock. When
grain is stacked it will stand quite Il
heavy rain and can be thrashed in
tWentv-fOur hours, but if in shock it
would likely have to stand two or
three days. 1t often happens in
thrashing from the shock that the
machine is started after il rain, when
neither grain nor straw is ready or
dry enough to handle, and thrashing
then is done at loss to the farmer.
OK. CRITCHFIELD: From past
experience feel that l can contrib
ute little advice on this subject that
may be a benefit to $ income. take
the stand that it does not pay to
thrash grain out of the shock: first,
because it is got in shape to thrash
as it has not gone through the proper
sweat which all grain must go through
before it is in shape to keep after be-
ing put into bins: second, it will not
thrash the grain out Of the straw, as
can be proved by visit to my straw
stacks: and third, the expense is al
most double that of stacking the
grain. TO illustrate this will give
my own experience of last year. My
son and | had 40 acres in shock for
two weeks after being cut, waiting for
the machine. And during all this
time the two of us were helping our
neighbors who were more fortunate
than we were in getting the machine
first. After it came it took us four
days to thrash ours out, with twenty
five men and ten teams. We thel,
helped our neighbors for two more
weeks and when ii came to settle with
them | paid out S47 to different ones
that had worked longer for me than
| did for them. Now, Mr.. Farmer, if
Won can tiuurp nut any nrnfit il, III, .