WHEAT IN EUROPE 311 



Most of the farms are less than 45 acres in extent. 

 Since great advances have been made in providing 

 machinery suitable for the small fields, hand labor 

 is now much less important here than in former 

 times. Small harvesters and threshers have quite 

 generally replaced the cradle and the flail. In 

 many cases several farmers unite in purchasing 

 one machine. Exchange of machinery is also 

 much practiced. By such methods the amount 

 of capital invested is kept low and still labor- 

 saving machinery is placed within reach of the 

 mass of the people. 



The Production of Wheat in This Region. - - Al- 

 though the total amount of wheat produced in 

 Austria has increased over 75 per cent since 1880, 

 the production is still not equal to the home demand. 

 The total production in 1912 was 257,347,000 

 bushels and the yield per acre was 20.4 bushels. 

 The yield in the wheat centers of Austria and 

 Hungary is higher than the figure given, but the 

 average is reduced by the unfavorably situated 

 fields of hilly and mountainous sections. 



The wheat is of exceptionally high milling 

 quality. This is a result of the hot, dry ripening 

 season. The harvests are almost free from rain 

 so that the grain is seldom bleached or damaged 

 by moisture. Flour is made throughout the coun- 

 try, and many small flouring mills are in operation. 

 Budapest, however, is the great milling center of 



