CEREAL CULTIVATION GREAT PLAINS 371 



there is little danger of damage from rains. Sometimes 

 in the middle and southern districts there are severe 

 storms just at cutting time which delay operations or 

 knock the grain down, so that it is difficult to gather. 

 The one great difficulty generally is to get sufficient help 

 to have the work done in good time as, in the hot dry 

 atmosphere of this region, the crop ripens rapidly and, 

 if cut when over-ripe, much loss results from shattering. 

 The harvest problem is therefore now largely a labor 



FIG. 116. Cutting Swedish Select oats with a self-binder 

 at Edgeley, North Dakota. 



problem, even though machines do much of the work. 

 As the header removes the crop much more rapidly, that 

 machine is- used to a considerable extent in the drier dis- 

 tricts. 



400. Shocking in this area is a quick operation imme- 

 diately following the self-binder. No drying out of the 

 sheaves is necessary. If many weeds are present, they 

 simply furnish moisture to help cure the grain, unless the 

 weather is unusually wet. Cap sheaves are without 

 question an advantage, but it is difficult to prevent the 

 wind from blowing them off, and often they are not used 



