ii2 THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 



regions a great deal of the work is done by 

 horses. 



In contrast to the conditions described there 

 may be mentioned some of the countries such as 

 Palestine, Asia Minor, and Egypt, where other 

 animals are used. Here cattle are quite generally 

 made use of to pull the plows. In Egypt a team 

 made up of a cow and a camel is so common that 

 the sight arouses no comment. Here, likewise, 

 for seeding and harvesting hand labor prevails. 

 In the Mediterranean countries, manual labor is 

 cheap and therefore plays a much more prominent 

 part in wheat production than it does in the 

 United States or Canada. 



We may consider, then, that the power employed 

 in the world's wheat production varies from the 

 cow and camel method to that of mighty machin- 

 ery, great engines, and practically no hand 

 labor. These are real and interesting extremes. 

 But after all the bulk of the world's wheat is 

 produced by men who use up-to-date machinery 

 of moderate size with horses as the pulling force. 



The Importance of Machinery.- -Few of us 

 realize the tremendous saving in time and expense 

 that we enjoy because of modern machinery. It 

 is estimated that as recently as 1830 the average 

 amount of human labor required to produce a 

 bushel of wheat in the United States was about 

 3 hours and 3 minutes. In 1899 it required but 



