346 THE WHEAT CULTUEIST. 



ing usually occurs later, when- there is a greater amount 

 of warmth and moisture, which is no doubt the cause 

 of the grain rusting. To prove this, wheat, oats, or 

 barley, sown on our hilly lake land, where the drainage 

 is quick and immediate, are seldom struck with rust of 

 any kind." 



If wheat-growers will observe this suggestion, they will 

 perceive that when grain is harvested and cured in cloudy 

 weather, the yield will always be larger than if the weather 

 were burning hot while the grain is curing. If wheat 

 could be cut when the straw is quite green and cured 

 under shelter, without being put into a mass so large 

 as to heat, we should perceive a vast difference in the 

 quality of the flour which is made of the grain. When 

 grain is designed for seed, I always let it lie in the 

 swath, one day or more, for the purpose of curing the 

 straw as soon as practicable, so that the sheaves might 

 be garnered immediately. 



Suggestions about Grain Cradles. 



Every man who ever uses a cradle, ought to under- 

 stand why every part is made as it is — with its peculiar 

 form. He ought to be able to tell what is the best 

 form of the scythe, and the best curvature of the fingers, 

 and how the fingers should stand with reference to the 

 scythe. Although the great bulk of harvesting grain 

 will probably be done with horse-power, still grain 

 cradles will always be needed, even if horse-reapers are 

 used to cut nearly the whole crop. Cradles must be 

 employed to cut the grain around stumps, trees, along 

 fences, to cut the corners of a piece of grain, when the 

 reaper is in motion, and so forth. No farmer can get 



