WHEAT IN EUROPE 



Spring wheats, macaroni, and spelts, are extensively 

 grown, and the harvest season comes in May and 

 early June. The grain is cut by sickle or cradle, 

 and bound by hand. The flail is in general use 

 for threshing. Harvesting and threshing machin- 

 ery are of late coming to be used more generally, 



FIG. 1 25. Wheat harvest in Italy. 



but because of the small fields and the lack of 

 capital among the peasants, the introduction is 

 slow. Nearly every farmer raises wheat for his 

 own use, and has some to sell to the city trade. 

 Since not enough wheat is grown to supply the 

 home demand, Italy imports each year from thirty 

 to forty million bushels. 



The average yield of wheat is from 12 to 16 



