192 THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 



low type of development. Progress was very 

 slow and each step forward covered much time. 

 As long as man was using his own energy as mo- 

 tive power, he had little left to expend for other 

 purposes and, thus unable to invent better means, 

 he continued to scratch the soil with sticks. Bar- 

 barous and semicivilized people are still found 

 in various parts of the world who raise wheat in 

 much the same manner as did prehistoric man. 

 Among them, conditions are such that human 

 labor is indeed the most economical. 



The Use of Animals in Raising Wheat. - The 

 utilization of animal power marks a great step in 

 advance. Then with the advent of the use of 

 oxen, camels, mules, and horses, man was relieved 

 of much of the drudgery of farm work and was 

 required to make higher use of his intellect. 



The Use of Steam and Gas Power in Raising Wheat. 

 Next came the use of steam and gas power, 

 forms which are now of great importance in the 

 large wheat regions. Though they have been 

 applied to many phases of wheat production, they 

 are most widely used in plowing and threshing. 



Plowing. - The most primitive plow known 

 was merely a crooked stick that man used in 

 loosening the soil. Some of the early plows had 

 a piece of wood attached which projected forward 

 so that two men could pull it. Two men likewise 

 held the plow in the ground by means of a handle 



