98 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



from a fan within the machine. But even with " blowers, " as 

 the latter are called, the straw pile often becomes awkwardly 

 high, and the machine is moved from it. Sometimes the straw 

 is also dragged away by horses hitched to a large rack, an op- 

 eration which is called " bucking the straw." The cleaned 

 grain is delivered from the machine through a spout. On the 

 bonanza farms it is run into grain tanks holding about 150 

 bushels, which are hauled to the elevators or railroads, by 

 four-horse teams. About 30 men are employed with each ma- 

 chine, and they thresh and haul away from 2,000 to 3,000 bushels 

 per day; 1,300 acres is the minimum capacity of one machine. 

 Ordinarily it will thresh 2,400 acres, 2,500 acres require two 

 machines, and 6,500 acres require three. Straw is usually 

 burned in the engine. During the season of 1903 one of the 



SECTION OP A MODERN THRESHING MACHINE 



largest threshers in Kansas turned out 3,500 bushels of wheat 

 in 9 hours and 45 minutes. This seems to be the usual maxi- 

 mum. Only 4 men are required to operate this machine. It 

 takes 18 men and 10 two-horse wagons to bring the shocked 

 wheat to the thresher. The largest amount of wheat which the 

 writer has found recorded as being threshed in one day is 6,183 

 bushels in 1879. The work was done under the most favorable 

 circumstances by a steam thresher having a 48-inch cylinder. x 



A complete threshing outfit consists of a traction engine 

 (which also hauls the whole outfit from place to place), a 

 separator, a straw or coal wagon, a water wagon, a "cook- 

 shack," and a sleeping tent. The cook-shack, a product of 

 the west, is a small house on wheels which serves as a kitchen 

 1 10th U. S. Census. 3:457. 



