4 HANDLING WHEAT FROM FIELD TO MILL. 



is used but little. On the other hand, if the ripening process goes on 

 rapidly and the weather remains dry, headers are used, because more 

 acres can be harvested in the same length of time. In the latter case 

 the irrain is stacked as soon as it is cut. 



On the Pacific coast and in the extreme Northwest the combnied 

 harvester and thrasher is used quite generally. By this method the 

 grain is cut, thrashed, and sacked in one operation. Dry weather 

 nearly always prevails throughout this section during the harvest sea- 

 son, and little injury results from exposure to weather. 



Each of these methods has its advantages and its disadvantages, 

 but many of the disadvantages grow out of the abuse of the method, 



EFFECT OF METHODS OF HARVESTING ON QUALITY AND MARKET 



VALUE. 



Owing to the fact that such a large proportion of the wheat of the 

 United States is produced in the area lying between the Mississippi 

 River and the Rocky Mountains, commonly referred to as the Great 

 Plains area, a very large percentage of the total crop is, by reason of 

 the methods of handling, exposed for a considerable time to weather 

 conditions which cause it to deteriorate. 



Statistics for the years 1908 and 1909 show that more than 44.3 

 per cent of the total yearly acreage of winter wheat, producing a 

 yearly average of more than 192 million bushels, has been grown 

 within this section. During the same period 94.7 per cent of the 

 total yearly acreage of spring wheat, with a yearly average of 228 

 million bushels, has also been produced within this Great Plains 

 area. 



These figures show also that a yearly average of more than 29 

 million acres of wheat is grown in a region where a very large pro- 

 portion of it is allowed to stand in the shock from three to six weeks, 

 or even longer, and often there is a heavy rainfall on it during this 

 time. The man who will take proper precautions with soil and seed 

 is also more likely to take proper care of his crop after maturity. It 

 can not be denied that many a farmer's crop of wheat is allowed to 

 be practically ruined for flour-making purposes after a very good 

 quality of grain has matured in the field. Sometimes this is un- 

 avoidable, but more often it is the result of carelessness. Many times 

 it happens because the farmer does not realize that these unfavorable 

 weather conditions materially injure the quality of his wheat. Much 

 of the wheat in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and 

 the Dakotas is not even carefully shocked, the shocks being set up 

 carelessly and not protected at all by cap bundles. This is especially 

 true of the larger fields in the western portions of these States. 



This exposure to the effect of alternating rain and hot sun causes 

 the kernels to swell and the branny coats to loosen, destroying the nat- 



[Cir. 68] 



