THRESHING 79 



In some parts of California, Oregon, and Wash- 

 ington, combined harvesters and threshers are 

 used. There the threshing season, though a busy 

 one, is not marked by the almost feverish haste 

 which is so evident where threshing is done out 

 of shock. 



The Threshing Crew. - The number of men in 

 a crew varies widely. It depends on what the size 

 of the machine is and whether the threshing is done 

 from the shock or stack. In the latter case 

 fewer men are necessary. With the outfits in 

 common use from 9 to 30 men are employed. 

 They are in three groups, the machine, the field, 

 and the grain men. The first group includes a 

 fireman-engineer, a coal and water boy, and a 

 thresher tender. The field men are those who 

 deliver the grain in the straw to the machine ; 

 from four to six are employed in stack threshing, 

 from ten to twenty in shock threshing. The 

 grain men are those who care for the threshed 

 wheat and haul it to market or to the farm 

 granaries. 



The machine crew remains with the outfit, going 

 with it from place to place. The field and grain 

 crews are generally furnished by the farmer. In 

 some places, however, the field crew is hired by 

 the thresher owner and always accompanies the 

 outfit. In such cases a complete threshing outfit 

 includes the traction engine, fuel wagon, water 



