The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1948-07-08
BINDERS START
WHEAT HARVEST
IN FIELDS HERE
First Cutting Reported on
Farms West of
BlufftOn
Combines Are Expected To
Start i'm Fields by Last of
This Week

Bluffton district wheat, rapidly
ripening under rays of a hct July
sun, will be ready for combining
within the next week, farmers said
Tuesday in appraising prospects for
harvest. Harvest in which binders
will be used are ready for cutting
this week.
This summers yields, they es-
innate, will be about average, which
growers say is "about 25 bushels to
the acre" Generally speaking this
years harvest is expected to vary
little from that of last summer when
an average yield of around 28
bushels was general.
Altho the area stand of wheat is
ripening at about the usual ime
there were no reports of any Hhrv.
lesting under way on the Fourth OF
July, date which in earlier years
often saw wheat cutting at it's peak
First wheat reported cut in
this area was on the John
Habegger farm three miles west
of Bluffton on the Columbus
Grove road, Tuesday. The field
was "opened" Monday. Harvest
ing is being done with binder.
Habegger says he will use both
binder and combine this year.
William Althaus, south of
Hilty school also cut a field of
wheat on his farm Tuesday.
Corn Prospects Bright
This is due to a change from
binder harvesting to the combine
method; the latter handling the
grain at considerably later stage
in its maturity. Harvest this sum-
mer, however, will be about week
earlier than that of last year, which
did not start until around July %
an unusually late date for wheat
cutting,
Corn PROJECTS Bright
Outlook for the Bluffton district
corn crop continues the best in many
years. In fact, farmers who admit
prospects never have been better are
putting a note of caution into their
opinions. On the theory that it's
"too good to be true" they feel
something is bound to happen" as
one grower put it this week.
This pessimistic note may have
arisen. from the areas disappointing
experience with the hay crop. A
bumper hay stand-in fact one ot
the best in recent years-has
represented a continuing headache
for farmers because of heavy rains
the past week that prevented prope,
curing and handling.
Very few farmers escaped some
loss of hay by spoilage in the con,
tinuing rains, and in some cases the
loss ran into considerable portion
of the entire crop. Not only did the
rain spoil hay which was down il
the fields after being cut, but il
also prevented the cutting of alfalfa
and the clovers which reach the peal
of feeding value at first bloom.
Those hay crops should have beer
cut the first two weeks of June this
season, when the protein proportion
was highest in relation to fibre con
tent, but intermittent rainfall pre-
vented handling the crop on wha
should have been a normal schedule
Oats Maturing
Oats, beneftting from a coo
spring and fairly early seeding. ha
sufficiently matured, so that hot Jul.
weather over the weekend had littl
unfavorable effect on the crop.
| On the whole, district prospect
for feed crops are much better thal
average, and some farmers are look
ing into the coming fall and winte
with the thought there may we'll b
reversal Of last winters situation