78 THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 



stacking and usually does not become thoroughly 

 dry again until about four weeks have passed. 

 It is not advisable to thresh during this period as 

 too much grain is lost in the straw. Grain threshed 

 at this time is also not well fitted for bin storage. 

 As soon as the wheat is out of the sweat, it is 

 ready for threshing ; it can, however, remain in 

 the stack without injury until the winter is well 

 advanced. The actual time of threshing will 

 then depend largely on the conditions of weather, 

 roads, and markets, as well as on the farmer's 

 convenience and the community practice. A 

 farmer rarely likes to be the only one in a com- 

 munity whose wheat is not threshed. 



Where the harvest season is fairly free from 

 rain and the wheat is bound, threshing out of 

 shock is the general practice. In such regions, 

 large machines are popular, for all are anxious to 

 have the jobs finished as quickly as possible. 

 Then threshing begins about a week after the 

 wheat is cut and the end of the cutting period 

 usually marks the beginning of the threshing 

 season. That is the season of early rising. The 

 shrill blast of the steam engine whistle at four 

 o'clock in the morning wakens the farmer from 

 his slumber, and shortly afterward the threshing 

 is in full swing. At top speed the work usually 

 continues, with but an hour's noon intermission, 

 until after eight o'clock in the evening. 



