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lu the Middle States steam-power is, in many places, superseding 

 horse-power, a circuiAstance which necessarily modifies the arrange- 

 ments for thrashing. In such cases the thrasher sends one or two hands, 

 an engineer, and a machine-feeder, while the farmer finds coal and water 

 and boards the men, besides furnishiuglabor sufficient to take the straw 

 from the machine and arrange it in stacks. Steam-thrashing on such 

 terms generally costs about 5 cents per bushel for wheat, 4 cents for bar- 

 ley, and 3 cents for oats, besides the extra labor hired by the farmer. 

 In Camden, Kew Jersey, wheat is thrashed by steam at 10 cents per bushel 

 or by horse-power at 8 cents ; in such cases, however, the thrasher fur- 

 nishes a larger proportion of the labor. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, steam- 

 machinery thrashes 400 bushels per day at 6 cents, while in Juniata, the 

 steam-separator delivers the grain ready for market at 5 cents per bushel. 

 Steam-machinery is also used extensively in other counties in Pennsylva- 

 nia, and in New Castle, Delaware. In a few counties the small two-horse 

 tread-machines are used. This is generally the case where farmers us e 

 their own machinery and employ wet or winter weather in thrashing grain 

 in their o wubarns. Such farmers often thrash the grain of their neighbors, 

 tolling every tenth or twelfth bushel for their services. Where men en- 

 gage as professional thrashers, they find it more profitable to invest their 

 capital in machines of greater power and capacity. These machines re- 

 quire from two to six horses for their transportation from farm to farm. 

 This horse-power is utilized in driving the machinery, the farmer supply- 

 ing horses enough to make a team of six to twelve animals. The thrasher 

 either feeds the machine himself or hires a man for this service, and an- 

 other to drive the team ; the farmer hires men enough to make up a gang 

 of twelve or fifteen. The efficiency of these machines is attested by the 

 prices charged for their use, amounting, in some counties, to $10 per day, 

 with board for two men and two horses. Machines of inferior capacity 

 realize about $0 per day. In some cases these machines thrash wheat at 



4 cents per bushel ; barley, 3 cents ; oats or buckwheat, 2 cents. Where 

 the thrasher furnishes the entire horse-power the cost is greater, rising 

 to 10 cents for wheat and 4 cents for oats. In some counties the thrasher 

 tolls the thrashed grain, receiving from 4^ to 8 per cent, of wheat, and 

 nearly double of oats. Occasionally the thrasher receives from 35 to 

 50 cents per hundred sheaves, wheat sheaves averaging about G bushels 

 of thrashed grain per hundred. There is considerable variation in the 

 minor details, but the general usages are mostly the same. The tendency 

 is toward the use of the latest improvements in labor-saving machinery. 



Maryland is usually classed with the South Atlantic Coast States, but 

 its agricultural character is more assimilated to the Middle States. Thrash- 

 ing arrangements especially indicate the more progressive tendencies 

 of States to the north. Steam-machinery is in growing use, and the 

 terms of its employment are about the same as in the Middle States. 

 Labor for thrashing is cheaper than farther north. The owner of the 

 machine generally finds an engineer, feeder, and bagger, and receives 



5 cents a bushel for thrashing wheat, or 8 cents for thrashing, sepa- 

 rating, and delivering ready for market ; the farmer pays for the 

 coal. There is a greater variety of usage than in the Middle States in 

 regard to the proportion of labor and motive-power fiirnished by the 

 farmer and the thrasher, which occasions a different rate of cost. In 

 Frederick Countj^, for instance, where the farmer usually furnishes the 

 teams and all the hands but two, the thrasher gets but three and a half 

 cents per bushel for wheat. Where the thrasher furnishes a large pro- 

 portion of the teams, he gets a larger price for thrashing. Some ma- 

 chines also deliver the grain more completely prepared for market, 



