HARVESTING WHEAT I03 



lasts till August ist. Ever}-where east of the Great Plains, 

 wheat is cut as soon as or a little before it is ripe, and the har- 

 vest extends on any one farm not longer than t^vo or three weeks, 

 the wheat being cut as fast as it is ready. In California, where 

 there is no danger from rain, the har\-est extends for many 

 weeks after the wheat is ripe, some of it standing even ten 

 weeks after it is ripe enough to cut. The only damage done to 

 the standing wheat in this section is by occasional sand storms. 

 ' .he t}-pe of wheat usually raised is the club or square head, 

 iphose short culms prevent it from lodging. 



The calendar of the wheat har\-est of the world is given by 

 Edgar as follows : 



*• In Januan-, Australasia, Chili and Argentina ; in Febroar)- and March, East 

 India, Upper Eg}-pt ; in April, Lower Eg}-pt, Asia Minor and Mexico ; in May, Algeria, 

 Central Asia, China, Japan and Texas ; in June, Turkey, Spain, southern France, 

 California, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas, Utah and Missouri : in Jul)-, 

 Roumania, Austria-Hungary, southern Russia, Germany, S^\•itzerland, France, 

 southern England, Oregon, Nebraska, southern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado, 

 "i^'ashington, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, New York, New England, 

 eastern Canada ; in August, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Poland, 

 western Canada, the Dakotas ; in September and October, Scotland, Sweden, Nor- 

 way, North Russia ; in November, Peru and South Africa ; in December, Burmah 

 and Argentina." l 



158. Stage of Maturity on Yield. — The usual practice in the 

 eastern half of the United States is to cut when the straw begins 

 to turn ycx^ow and the grains are in the dough, soft enough to 

 be easily indented with the thumb nail and hard enough not to 

 be easily crushed between the fingers. Investigations indicate 

 that tliere is a continuous increase of the plant during it3 grow+h 

 until the plant is entirely ripe. There is a continuous increase 

 in the weight of the grain from the time it is formed until it is 

 hard and dry. The increase in weight of grain is most rapid 

 up to the time when the grain can be crushed between the 

 thumb and finger. The increase seems to be decided and of 

 economic importance up to the time when the grains indent but 



* Wm. C. Edgar: Story of ? Grain of Wheat (1903). p. 191. 



