HARVESTING 



53 



machines, however, due to excessive use or careless 

 handling, last only from three to five years. Dif- 

 ferent makes of binders vary in details ; some 

 have minor advantages ; but all are pretty well 

 standardized in essentials. 



After the grain is shocked it is left standing in 



FIG. 31. Beginning the shock. 



the field until it is thoroughly dry. It is then 

 either stacked or threshed. 



The Header. - - Very different from the above 

 is the header. Like the reaper, it delivers the 

 grain unbound, but it neither bunches nor keeps 

 it suitably arranged for binding, as does the 

 former machine. The header cuts a swath, usu- 

 ally ten or twelve feet in width, and is moved by 



