20 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 

 THE WHEAT HARVEST 



When wheat begins to turn yellow, the time of 

 harvest is near. The farmer dents a kernel with 

 his thumb nail. If it does not burst, it is ready for 

 the sickle. The best flour is made from wheat 

 that is dead ripe when harvested. But it is not 

 possible to get a large field cut at just the best time. 

 So it is usual to begin the reaping before the grain 

 is quite ripe, trusting to the after care to offset the 

 disadvantages of cutting it under-ripe. If over- 

 ripe the standing grain is attacked by birds, the 

 wind breaks the brittle stalks, and shells out the 

 loose grain. Rainy weather fades the color of the 

 kernels and sets them to sprouting. A few days' 

 delay at harvest time may lose the farmer half the 

 value of his entire wheat crop. In regions of 

 little or no summer rain, the harvest hurry is not 

 so great. 



The first harvesting tool was the hand sickle, 

 some form of knife that gathered and cut off a 

 bundle of straws as they grew. Before the sickle 

 was invented, the wheat was pulled up in handfuls 

 as flax is pulled to-day. After the sickle came 

 scythes, and then the "cradle," swung by both 

 hands, and followed by a man who bound the 

 grain. Expert cradlers cut three and four acres 



